The Bloody Robe of Jesus

In Isaiah 63 the first three verses, Isaiah makes a prediction about the coming Messiah that sounds very much like this. And quite often we make a connection between Isaiah 63 and this robe being described here in chapter 19 of Revelation, verse 13. Listen to this, Isaiah 63:1:

"Who is this Who comes from Edom,
With dyed garments from Bozrah,
This One Who is glorious in His apparel,
Traveling in the greatness of His strength?—
'I Who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.'
Why is Your apparel red,
And Your garments like one who treads in the winepress?
'I have trodden the winepress alone,
And from the peoples no one was with Me.
I have trodden them in My anger,
And trampled them in My fury;
Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments,
And I have stained all My robes.'"

Now it’s pretty easy for us take that prophecy of Isaiah and say, "Look, that’s exactly what’s happening here." I mean he talks about treading the winepress of the wrath of Almighty God in this passage.

He talks about the red on His robes. And Isaiah 63 says, this Messiah, this One of God comes and He does battle, and in the process of doing battle, He gets His robes bloodied because He’s treading the winepress of God’s wrath. He’s bringing judgment finally to the world.

That’s the way most people would view this passage as a fulfillment of Isaiah 63. I, however, do not think these two passages go together.

And here’s why I don’t think this is evidence of Jesus doing battle on earth. This passage describes Jesus before He does any battle at all. This passage describes Jesus as He rides out of heaven, not as He rides on the earth doing battle.

Jesus doesn’t get His robe bloody because of the Battle of Armageddon; He hasn’t fought the Battle of Armageddon yet. He comes out of heaven with a robe that’s already stained with blood.

My personal opinion is this is His blood. My personal opinion is that, while His robes are robes of royalty and robes of beauty, there is this constant reminder that He shed His blood which gives Him the right to wear that robe.

Jesus as nail-scarred and a pierced side are not the only eternal reminders of what Jesus did for you. I think on His robe, you will see the blood of Calvary which is an eternal reminder that the King is also the Savior.

There’s a very interesting book written by Robert Coleman; the book is entitled Written in Blood. And while it’s about the Lord Jesus, he tells a story in there about a little boy who had a sister who needed a blood transfusion.

This sister has a very, very rare disease and, as a result, they needed a transfusion from a donor who had also had that disease and had beaten the disease; someone who had recovered from that disease, and someone who had the same blood type.

And interesting enough her brother had the same disease and beat it two years earlier and had the same blood type. He was the perfect donor to save the life of his sister.

So the doctors and the mother and father went to the little boy, and said, "Johnny, I know this is hard for you to understand, but your sister is going to die. She needs to have a blood transfusion, and this must come from someone who’s had the same disease that she’s had.

And you’ve had it, and you’ve recovered from it. Johnny, would you be willing to give your blood to your sister?" Johnny thought about it a little bit, and as Robert Coleman tells the story in his book, with a quiver in his lip, he finally agreed.

So they put them side by side in the hospital in beds and tubes from one to the other, and Johnny watched as blood flowed from his body into his sister. And after a few minutes Johnny asked the question that had probed his mind ever since he agreed to give his blood, he said, "Doctor, when will I die?"

See Johnny thought giving his blood to his sister meant giving all of his blood to his sister. Johnny thought the only way his sister could live was for Johnny to die.

Jesus on a cross one day, said to the Father, “Father, when do I die?” Because the blood that Jesus shed there provided for the atonement for all the world.

And I think the robes that He wears out of heaven on the greatest day in history future; the day when He puts an end to evil; I think those robes reflect the day that Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe.

Have a great day!

-Pastor Randy