The Dress Code
“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing the wedding garment. He asked, “How did you get in here without the wedding garment, friend?” The man was speechless (Matthew 22:11-12).
Did you know there’s a dress code to get into heaven?
Absolutely, there is!
In fact, there’s only one requirement to enter the gates of God’s paradise:
You must be wearing the garment.
The Bible frequently uses clothing as a metaphor to teach spiritual truths.
Ever since Adam and Eve sinned, there was a need for such coverings.
In the beginning, it seems “He who wraps Himself in light” (Psalm 104:2), wrapped us in the same glorious way. Like Father, like sons and daughters–we bore His radiant image.
For two chapters, anyways.
By chapter 3, we fell for the lie, and unplugged ourselves from the Light of the World; and as a result of that power outage, we were left naked and afraid.
Fear.
Guilt.
Shame.
And so, the immediate and desperate need to cover up.
And mankind has been busy ever since trying to make ourselves presentable before a holy God whom we have sinned against.
The guilty pair, in their frenzied attempt to conceal their shame, tried their best on their own, but the leaves of a fig tree, leave much to be desired!
No, no, no.
A thousand times NO.
Human sin cannot be erased by good deeds!
Will mankind ever get it?
If an offense is to be forgiven, the standard by which that forgiveness can happen, is determined by the One offended.
And, in this case, the One offended decreed that pardon could come vicariously, through a death on the behalf of the perpetrator.
So the Lord made coverings, but they came at an ugly cost.
To make atonement (means to cover), something had to be killed, something had to die; blood had to be spilled, a life had to be offered on behalf of the offender.
The hides of animals.
Imagine the holy revulsion on the part of the angelic onlookers as the butchering began and blood began to pool on the ground of paradise.
Mankind has been trying for ages to dress themselves for that special occasion: their impending death and subsequent appearance before their Maker.
But to no avail. Nothing short of the shedding of blood will do (Hebrews 9:22).
Just like Cain had to learn, the father of false religion.
Cain approached the Lord with the labors of his own hands: “I come before You on the merit of my own sweat and blood.”
But the only sweat and blood that counts in God’s sight is His Son’s, which began to flow in a place called Gethsemane.
So yes. Mankind loves…
The robes of religious activity.
Cloaks of kindness.
An entire wardrobe of good deeds, some folks have.
Only one problem:
No amount of good deeds can forgive sins and put us right with God.
It’s like the guy who steals a car and tells the judge: “Hey, I do a lot of good things, too! I am basically a good person, but once in a while I take stuff that doesn’t belong to me because I want it.”
No, it doesn’t work that way.
The wrongdoer must be punished in order for justice to be satisfied and to keep a just universe (created by God) from imploding.
What unspeakable shock awaits some of the nicest people on the planet when they show up at the throne of the Almighty woefully underdressed.
The elevator doors open, if you will, they step out into the dazzling light of heaven and into the glorious presence of the Lord, where everyone present is arrayed in shimmering gold, decked out with precious gemstones, and clothed to the nines in regal, royal raiment.
And there stands some poor soul in dirty jeans and a dingy t-shirt, yellowed rings under the arms.
There’s a gasp.
And actually Isaiah says it’s far worse than a dingy t!
“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).
The Hebrew word for filthy is tied to the idea of sewerage.
Enough said.
All of us:
The nice.
The sweet.
The valiant.
The generous.
Splattered in defilement.
I guess you could douse cologne on an unwashed body and soiled clothes, but…
Ew.
Those going to the Royal Wedding, as Jesus likes to call it, must be thoroughly cleansed and appropriately clothed.
In ancient times, the palace provided guests ornate robes, since most didn’t have fancy threads.
Jesus is teaching that unless you’re wearing the garment the King provides, (unless your sins are covered), you’ll be turned away into the night.
So where do we get those “robes of linen, white and clean,” as described in the Book of Revelation?
“These have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,” the angel tells John (Revelation 7:14).
The wedding garment.
Trust in Jesus and His finished work on the cross, and be cleansed of sin and clothed in the moral purity of God’s Son.
Oh, precious is that flow,
That makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
And at any moment the trumpet will sound, and it will be time for the Grand Event of All Time: The Royal Wedding of the King’s Son.
And you, my believing friend, are ready. You have nothing to worry about.
You won’t be underdressed and humiliated.
You’ll be wearing the garment, the garment the King gave you for this very occasion.
White as snow.
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exalt in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10).
