Luke 23:1–25
Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.”
3 So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”
5 But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”
6 On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. 7 When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.
8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. 9 He 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 an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. 12 That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.
13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.” [17]
18 But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” 19 (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)
20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
22 For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”
23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.
New Clothes and a New Name
Every day, when you wake up you have a choice to make—what clothes you are going to wear. Your alarm goes off, you crawl out of bed, hit the shower, brush your teeth, and get dressed. Maybe you don’t put a lot of thought into your wardrobe that day, but you do make a choice.
The Bible uses this imagery of being clothed all throughout the scriptures. Here are a couple of those examples:
I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10)
The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” (Zechariah 3:4)
Similar to taking the place of the criminal who was scheduled to be crucified (seen in verse 25), by clothing us in something new, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). This concept is what scholars call the “great exchange.” Jesus asks us to give him our filthy rags and in turn hands us new clothes, and with those clothes, we bear the mark and right to be heirs of a King—sons and daughters of the Most High.
Much of the imagery we see in scripture of being clothed is not merely a fashion statement, but the imagery has a deeper meaning. When we are clothed, it is a sign or mark of who we belong to and the new identity we carry. Think about the parable of the prodigal son. Upon his return, the father gives the son a robe and a ring and accepts him back. With that, he is reinstated with all privileges (Luke 15:11-32). Or, think of the parable of the banquet feast and needing the wedding clothes to enter the party (Matthew 22:1-14).
Notice a similar image in today's passage. When Jesus is mocked and beaten, he is clothed with a robe. Or as we read the same story in the account of Matthew, where he is clothed with a robe and given a crown of thorns (Matthew 27:27-31). This imagery is saying something at this moment, but also tying back to all the other imagery of clothing mentioned above, and also toward the positional authority we will have through the act he will fulfil at this moment: his death on the cross, and his resurrection and ascension.
Though this signifies the Kingdom he is bringing into our existence, it also bears the marks of the mess and brokenness of the world that he bears—or clothes—onto himself. He is taking our filthy rags, nailing them to the cross and ultimately leaving it in the grave when he rises, three days later. Despite how truly wonderful this is, we have a nasty tendency to go back and dig up those old filthy rags and put them back on.
Each day, when we wake up, we have a choice. We can put on the old filthy rags of our old self or choose to put on the new royal robe—our new clothes. We don’t need to buy new clothes, gain new clothes, earn new clothes, or even find new clothes because the new clothes have already been given to us. Much too often, we either forget about them, don’t think we deserve them or even crave the comfort and familiarity of the old clothes.
This is the power of the great exchange. Jesus takes all this and gives us freely the gift of new clothes. In the same way that he takes the place of the criminal and goes to the cross while the criminal goes free, Jesus takes on the punishment for our sins and gives us new life, with a new identity, new clothes, and a new name.
When my wife was pregnant with our first child, we had spent months deciding on both a boy and girl name—since we decide not to know the gender beforehand. When the time came, she gave birth to a boy, and we named him Davnn Rènier Farmer.
When my wife was pregnant with our second child, we were not as prepared as the first time. We had a girl's name picked out already but couldn’t settle on a boy’s name. I think we secretly hoped that we would have a girl this time and wouldn't need to worry about picking another name that we both loved and could settle on.
Why is picking a name so hard? Why do we spend so much time toiling over it? Because there is something about a name, isn't there? It is so much more than a declaration to get someone's attention. It is part of our identity, who we are, how people see us, and how we see ourselves. It is how people identify us through our IDs, and our lives are attached to our names.
You can't buy a house without a name or get a driver's license, for that matter. You are attached to a particular family and heritage, and ultimately, our names are intimate parts of who we are. We may not spend a lot of time thinking about it, but our names are so much more than random letters put together to form a declarative word.
Let's take this a step further. Names have specific meanings too. When we named our children, we didn't merely choose names that sounded nice to us, but we looked into the meaning of each name we were considering. Each name had a meaning, and each meaning had weight. Besides, our children would carry these names for the rest of their lives.
As you can suspect, we did agree on a name for our second-born son. We named him Elijah LaJoie. Elijah is a Hebrew derivative, אֱלִיָּהוּ (Eliyyahu). It is two words put together Elohim (Eli) and Jehovah (Jah), which means: My God is LORD (Jehovah or YAHWEH). LaJoie is the maiden name of my grandmother, which is a French derivative, which means: The Joy.
So, combined, my son’s name means: ‘My God is YAHWEH the Joy’ or “My God is YAHWEH my Joy.” We even have a nickname for him, JAHJOIE, which would read, in short, God-Joy. Our son bears the name that reminds us that our heavenly Father is both our God and our joy! Now, isn’t that a fantastic name and an amazing reminder?
In the Bible, God had the habit of giving people new names. It not only signified a moment of change and transformation in someone's life, but the new name gave them a new identity. The new name meant something! It was a significant preset, a declaration, to their future calling and the fulfilment of his great plans, both in and through them.
God changed Abram's “high father” name to Abraham, "father of a multitude" (Genesis 17:5) and his wife's name from Sarai, “my princess,” to Sarah, “mother of nations” (Genesis 17:15–16). God also changed Jacob's "He grasps the heel, Supplanter" name to “Israel,” "God-wrestler" (Genesis 32:28). As well, Jesus changed Simon's "Hear, Listen" name to “Peter,” "Stone, Rock" (John 1:42).
In the same way we are given a new name or better, a new identity. No longer are we guilty but forgiven (Hebrews 8:12; Romans 8:1-39). No longer are we slaves to sin but free in Christ (Romans 6). No longer dead but alive in Jesus (Colossians 2:13). No longer a mess but God’s great masterpiece (Ephesians 2:1-10). The real question is, how do you identify yourself? Or better yet, whom defines you?
What is even more incredible than this is that we don’t only receive a new name and a new identity, but through this new identity, we are entirely new creations: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Notice the language Paul uses. It is past tense. We are not being made into a new creation; we are new creations. The work has already been done. Do you understand this reality? Do you believe this truth? And will you choose to live in it? By realizing we have a new identity defined by God, we can, in turn, stand on the authority of that identity and live it out. The question is, will we clothe ourselves in this new reality or resolve to live in the old one?
1. What feelings or thoughts come to mind when you think about how Jesus took our place and accrued our brokenness and sin so we can have new life and be new creations?
2. What things in your life might be holding you back from receiving a new name and identity in him?
3. What things in your life are old clothe that you need to give to Jesus so you can fully accept his new clothe in your life? Take a moment, close your eyes and visualize handing your old clothe to him. Next, ask him what these old clothe represent. And finally visualize taking new clothe from him and ask him what they represent.
4. Who could you reach out to who could pray with and for you? If you are not part of a church community already, consider searching for a church nearby that could walk with you.
Author Bio
As a pastor, speaker, and author of the book
Addicted To Hope, Drake De Long-Farmer is passionate about inviting people into the deeper life with God and creating spaces for people to wrestle with what they believe about themselves, God, and the world around them. His hope is that, in some way, through his words and work, he can inspire people to become Full Of Love, Fuelled By Faith, and Addicted To Hope. Drake currently serves on the leadership team of
Beulah Alliance Church in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (
www.beulah.ca). Growing up in a military family, he has moved a lot in his lifetime and has had the privilege to travel across Canada and Europe, but he is most at home when he spends time with his wife and four kids.
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Beulah Alliance Church
Luke and Acts taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®
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