Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The text on which this evening's message is based comes from Luke 23: "9 He (Herod) plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. 11 Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in a gorgeous robe, they sent him back to Pilate".

Through our time of Lent we have considered many symbols of Christ's passion for us: The thorns, the nails, the gall, the spear, the cross, the dice. Each symbol has helped us to contemplate the extent of our Savior's love for us. The thorns, Christ's first crown, a painful crown. The nails, good construction tools perverted into symbols of torture. The gall, Jesus' chance to anesthetize, to tranquilize, to lessen the pain of our sin upon himself. But he chose not to lessen that pain, but to take the full brunt of it. The spear, generally a symbol for war and death, instead was turned into a symbol of faith, assuring us that our Lord was truly dead, so that we can know that he truly rose from the dead. The dice, the casting of lots, are generally symbols of chance and luck. But in the case of Jesus' crucifixion these symbols were not chance events. Just as Jesus' death and resurrection had been foretold in the Old Testament, even the specifics of his crucifixion, like the dice, had been foretold, revealed centuries before in prophecy. The major symbol of Lent and this night is the cross. Tonight we have a large, plain wood constructed cross. Chaplain Nagler reminded us of how we now construct beautiful crosses as ornaments, but that Jesus' cross was constructed as instrument of torture and death.

Last night, Maundy Thursday, we considered the Bread and the Wine of the Lord's Supper, symbols, but more than symbols alone. The Bread and the Wine are actual physical means that Christ has given to us to physically, directly touch us with his forgiveness. We could have considered other symbols as well. The whip that beat our Lord. The sign that was placed over his head that stated so clearly who he was: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. That sign "INRI" actually hangs here from the pulpit with the "I" in Latin being our "J", Jesus of Nazareth, Rex (King) of the Jews". Tonight, through our service, we consider the words of Jesus from the cross, words of forgiveness and eternal life shown through all these symbols. But before we do let us consider the last of our Lenten symbols, the Robe of Jesus.

There were apparently numerous cloaks and robes involved in Jesus' life and death. Throughout his ministry Jesus apparently wore an outer cloak, a typical garment of the day, perhaps not to dissimilar in appearance to the white albs I generally wear. This cloak, when connected with Jesus, brought healing to many. Matthew 14: 36 – "People brought all their sick to him 36 and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed." The woman who had been bleeding for 12 years believed that if she only touched his cloak, she would be healed. She did, and she was.

But by the time Jesus was standing trial, his healing cloak was no more. In Herod's palace the guards put him in an gorgeous, elegant robe. We're not told what color that robe was. But we are told what it symbolized. It was a symbol of humiliation, of ridicule and satire. Jesus was forced to wear kingly robes just so evil people could deride and taunt him as the King of the Jews. Historians tell us that this type of humiliation was not unique to Jesus. Other "Kings" who were defeated and captured were also sometimes dragged before their captors and derided before the court. Ancient rulers like to toy and ridicule those they captured and then to have them imprisoned or killed.

But Herod only wanted to toy with Jesus. He didn't want the responsibility of actually sentencing him. So he sends Jesus back to Pilate. Pilate's soldiers take up the same game to play. In the courtyard of the Roman governor, another robe is thrown across Jesus' shoulders, in contempt. Matthew says the robe was scarlet, Mark and John describe it as purple. Perhaps there were two robes or one that blended red and purple together. Regardless, this robe was one of dishonor. This robe was Jesus' raiment for his beating, for his ridicule. Jesus' cloak during his ministry had been one of healing. His robes of the crucifixion are for humiliation and dishonor.   Ironically though, after these robes of dishonor, Jesus goes to the cross to actually do more healing than his previous cloak had done. After these robes of dishonor, Jesus is crowned with thorns, and nails fasten him to the cross. There Jesus cloaks himself in the sin of the world. There Jesus wears our filthy rags of sin. There Jesus redeems and forgives those who have mocked and ridiculed him, for they didn't know what they were doing. There, among all those symbols, Jesus dies, dies for us all.

But that is not the last we hear of Jesus' robes in Scripture. If Good Friday were only the end, and Jesus' robes were only humiliation, then this would be the saddest, most hopeless story of all time. But these robes of humiliation before Pilate and Herod are not the last of Jesus' robes. After the resurrection, after Jesus' Ascension back into heaven, we learn of another robe wrapped around our Lord. From Revelation 19, we read of the resurrected, ascended Jesus in heaven, riding a white horse before his army: "12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns." "13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God" "16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS."

In this very picturesque language of Revelation we see Jesus in his glory, clothed in his final robe. This is not the healing robe of an itinerant Hebrew prophet. This is not a robe of humiliation, dishonor, and ridicule before earthly kings and governors. No, his last robe symbolizes the power our Lord has now, the power he showed in his love, the power he showed by shedding his blood, the power he now has over life and death, even the power he has over the nations when he returns again.

And now the really good news for us about Jesus' robe. Paul writes to the Galatian Christians (3: 26-27) "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." Jesus came to earth, clothed himself in human likeness, wore the clothing of an itinerant preacher, was humiliated in royal clothing before his death. But now, because of his loving sacrifice, he is clothed in power and glory in heaven, and we, the redeemed children of God through Christ's sacrifice have clothed ourselves with Christ in Baptism. His holy robe, dipped in his blood becomes ours. His holy robe covers over our sin. Through the rest of our service, as you hear the words of Jesus from his ministry and from his cross, remember that he has clothed you with his robe of righteousness, his holy robe, in baptism and continues to clothe you through his Word and Sacrament. Amen