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Clothed in White
Revelation 7:14, Isaiah 64:6, 1 John 1:7
Blood is not a very good detergent. In fact, it leaves some of the worst and most difficult stains. I have an undershirt that still has little specks of faded orange on it, from a nosebleed that I had over a year ago. If you wash something in blood, it’s not going to be white.
In the book of Revelation, the apostle John has a vision, and he sees all the believers in heaven, and they’re dressed in white robes, and he is told
They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:14)
That’s an odd image, but see what it tells us. Isaiah says,
All our righteous acts are like a filthy rag. (Isaiah 64:6)
Standing on our own before God were dressed rather shoddily. We are stained by our sin, but we wash our robes in the blood of the Lamb. As John writes in his first epistle.
The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)
Jesus shed his innocent blood for us as he suffered, and he died so that our sins might be forgiven, his innocent blood for ours. And Jesus blood not only washes away the dirt of our sin, it also bleaches our garments, makes them white. We are clothed in Christ’s righteousness. We are covered in his merits. And that’s a blood stain that you’ll never be able to get out. No matter how dirty we are or how filthy our sin is, we are washed in the blood of the Lamb and made pure and white and clean.
That’s why most pastors will wear a white robe called an alb, from the Latin word for white, as a reminder that we are washed in the blood of the Lamb. That’s why babies, when they’re baptized, will usually wear a white robe, a baptismal gown, as a picture of the forgiveness that they receive in the sacrament. We baptized Christians are clothed in white, covered by Christ and His righteousness and his blood. Amen.
