Putting on Jesus Christ

We have a tendency as human beings to ascribe honour to what is undeserving and not give honour to whom it is due.  We credit a person with being a good teacher when it is Jesus Christ Who teaches them.  I have been to "holy sites" in Israel that are crawling with people (literally crawling!) to venerate slabs of stone believed that were  supposedly touched by the body of Jesus.  In the church I attended in my youth, effort was to prevent kids running or wearing hats in the sanctuary because it was "God's house," a place set apart for worship and ministry of the word.  It was easy to think being in that room meant you were closer to God than somewhere else--like in a movie theatre, bowling alley or video game arcade.

There were occasions in the scripture where the LORD told people to remove the shoes off their feet because they stood on "holy ground."  With childlike understanding I imagined Moses and Joshua happened by chance to wander onto a patch of ground that was somehow holy.  It was like the restaurant sign that said, "No shoes, no service."  It seemed as a prerequisite to walking on holy ground, shoes were not to be worn.  What I didn't understand was the ground was holy because the presence the holy God was there!  In the high priest's attire sandals or shoes were not mentioned, and thus many believe those who ministered in the tabernacle and temple did not wear them.  In every case when a person was instructed to remove their shoes, they did so without hesitation.

When Jesus was transfigured and His glory was revealed on the mount with Moses and Elijah, three disciples were with Jesus.  They awoke from sleep to behold Jesus shining like the sun, speaking about His decease and all He would accomplish in Jerusalem.  Not knowing what he was saying, Peter piped up it would be good to build 3 tabernacles, one for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.  He would have memorialised the spot when the presence of God the Father surrounded them.  Luke 9:35 said, "And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!"  The voice of Jesus, God-made-flesh, was to trump the voice of the Law and Prophets who spoke of Him.  Rather than setting up tabernacles that would likely become shrines of a moment or place in history, God directed His people to look to Jesus as their stand-alone Saviour.

It is intriguing after Jesus Christ the Son of God assumed human form and put sandals on his feet, there is no mention of holy ground.  Peter, James and John did not need to remove their sandals from their feet or even wipe the sleep from their eyes before beholding the glory of Jesus Christ.  Jesus has revealed the glory of God to us lost sinners, and by grace through faith we stand with feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace.  We are not to put off the Holy Spirit, the spiritual armour He provides, His fruitfulness or gifts, for it is only through Him we are empowered to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Jesus.  It is ourselves we are called to put off having been made holy by spiritual regeneration:  by faith in Jesus it is by denying ourselves we discover the true, abundant life God provides by grace.  It is not places, things or people we are to venerate but Christ Whom we love, trust, follow and hear.

Rather than taking shoes off our feet to stand in God's presence Romans 13:12-14 tells us:  "The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. ¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts."  The shoes we wear or the life we lived before Christ did not lead us or result in us finding life, but putting on the LORD Jesus Christ by faith Who is our life is to walk in holiness.  Whether we are on a mountain or wearing shoes on our feet is of little consequence to our good standing before God by grace through faith.  Praise the LORD for all Jesus accomplished!