THE ROBE OF HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS

" "In Arabic culture, when a person is running away, he runs to the tent of any great sheikh he can find. He goes in and kneels down before the sheikh and says, 'I am thy suppliant'. The sheikh is then obligated to put his caftan over his katef which is the same as shoulder - to put the hem of his garment over his shoulder and say, 'Ahlan wa-sahlan wa-marhaban'. This is your tent, this is your family'....He says, 'We'll make a place for you'. Then the lord or the chief is under obligation to defend you against the enemies that are chasing you. You are now under his protection, and he will protect you."  - Hugh Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 1. (Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies), p. 252

There was in the city of Capernaum a woman who had suffered for 12 years with 'an issue of blood'. She had spent everything she had on treatments that had been fruitless and had brought her no relief from her chronic condition. Then there came a ray of hope. She had heard of Jesus whom many proclaimed to be the Messiah who spoke with authority and when He spoke people were healed. The possibility of healing worked in her to the point of complete faith that this man was her only hope. When she pressed through the crowds, however, she did not pat the Messiah on His back, she descended to the hem of his robe for the point of contact to release her faith for a miracle in her life. The touch needed, the robe crucial, for attached to the robe of His garment were tassels which represented the word of God (Numbers 15:37-41) and the authority of Yeshua whose divinity she was acknowledging. One would think this sacred act of faith is sufficient for a faith promoting story but this story teaches us about more than faith on behalf of this woman. This story teaches us about the protective nature of the Lord's robe of righteousness. According to Levitical law it was forbidden this woman to be in public for she was considered socially unclean (Lev. 15:25). The Saviour knew that she was healed when she touched His robe and she knew that she was healed but nobody else would have known had He not made her faith known to the gathered crowd. How else could she have proved her healing to those who would have proclaimed her clean? The Saviour knew this and announced her cleanliness amidst many witnesses.

In the country of the Gadarenes there was a man who was beset by a legion of devils who lived in tombs and cried night and day, cutting himself with stones (Mark 5:1-5). The Gospel of Luke tells us this man wore no clothes (Luke 8:27). In scripture, to be naked is to have your sins, vulnerabilities and weaknesses exposed. When all Jewish men wore robes and prayer shawls with tassels which reminded them of God, the legions of devils residing in this man must have wanted his nakedness exposed to signify lack of God's protection from his sins. The idea of having our sins and vulnerabilities enfolded in the Saviour's robes, which can offer us protection from the same, is seen when John the Baptist rebuked the Pharisses and Sadduccees, warning them: "If ye receive not me, ye receive not him of whom I am sent to bear record; and for your sins ye have no cloak" (JST Matthew 3:34). This man was not only freed from devil possession but was given protection from his sins by His robe of righteousness as he sat, fully clothed, in his right mind, at the feet of the Saviour (Luke 8:35). It is by virtue of His righteousness that we come unto the Father for forgiveness of our sins. This is the true meaning of this metaphor.

Acknowledging his faith in Jesus's power to heal, Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue at Capernaum, approached Jesus beginning Him to come to heal his seriously ill daughter who was at the point of death. During His journey to the ruler's house, there came word to the ruler that it was too late, that his daughter was dead. 'As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken' (Mark 5:36), His first reaction was to turn to the father of the dead girl, and offer Him the exquisite words of hope: "Be not afraid, only believe" (Mark 5:36). At the perfect moment when Jesus could have elevated Himself by saying : "Don't worry, I can fix this", His concern instead was for the fragile heart of a parent who had just received the worst news he could possibly receive. Placing over his shoulders His robe of righteousness He offered the devastated father peace and compassion only He could give.  Into the room of grieving came the Master who would later say: "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:25). Once again, not wanting to draw attention to Himself, the Saviour raised Jairus' daughter to life in the intimate presence of her parents by calling her "Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel ('little one' or 'little lamb'), I say unto thee, arise".
(Mark 5:41).

"Oh Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies! Wilt thou make my path straight before me! ......Oh Lord, I have trusted in thee and I will trust in thee forever.........I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God."   - 2 Nephi 4:33,35