Devotionals

Robes Dipped in Blood

by Terry Barlow
12/28/12
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As I read in Revelation 19 of Christ astride the white horse and wearing a robe dipped in blood my thoughts turned this time to Joseph whose coat of many colors was dipped in blood also, but by his brothers who were jealous over the favor Joseph was receiving fron his father Jacob. His brothers were hoping to deceive their father into thinking that Joseph had died. In both cases the blood speaks of a death as Christ's blood-saturated robe speaks of his sacrifice on our behalf, but also of the many martyred for his namesake. Their blood is also claimed by Jesus as his own, as those who persecute his followers are really persecuting him. ( see Saul in Acts 9 v5)Martyrdom for the cause of Christ is not mainly a matter of history, but is increasing in our day. Joseph's robe was dipped in goat's blood, but Yeshua's was dipped in his own blood, the blood of his own body in every sense of the word, indicating the mounting intensity of the warfare, warfare waged with a vengeance where vengeance belongs to God. I am seeing Him and his rugged cross in more and more places, at the center and at the circumference as Luther would say, it is woven throughout. We are highly favored by our Father too, even as Joseph was to wear the coat of many colors and even as Mary was to be the one chosen to bear the Christ child, because each of us is chosen('eclectic' in Greek)to deliver a unique expression of Christ to the waiting worlds, an expression no other can duplicate. But as with Joseph as with Mary so with us, it won't always feel good to be highly favored. As the favor is high, so is the cost.