My hubby and I are going to a wedding next month, so I’ve been thinking about what to wear. I could wear the khaki skirt I already have, but it’s tight enough around the knees that I find it challenging to get in and out of the car. And my black skirt is, as the Brits say, “Right out!”, not at a wedding!
That reminded me of the parable Jesus told about the wedding feast in Matthew 22. The king’s son was getting married, and a large crowd attended the occasion. During the feast the king saw a man who wasn’t wearing a wedding garment. The king asked the man how he had gotten in without it and told the attendants to throw the man out.
You may be wondering, “What’s the big deal? He was dressed, just not in wedding clothes.” Well, the custom at the time was that the king would give each guest a special wedding garment, or robe, to wear. This was to ensure that everyone in attendance was dressed appropriately. Not to wear the garment given to you by the king would have been a great insult. Mike Verdicchio asserts that “…you didn’t come showing your own social standing, wealth, or prestige, but rather you were showing the king’s power and prestige.” (Read his article at https://confidenceandjoy.com/he-got-kicked-out-of-the-wedding.)
Like the man wearing his own robe, some people try to be “good” and do “good” things, hoping that if they are “good enough” they’ll earn their way into heaven. But the truth is that “…all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). Even our best isn’t good enough. Only Jesus’ righteousness puts us in right relationship with him, not anything we do. We have to wear his righteousness, not our own, like putting on the king’s wedding garment.
So thread up with Jesus’ gift of his righteousness, from start to finish.