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An intimate invitation of pure and perfect love from our most wonderful Creator is contained within this scripture of Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool”.
The contrast from crimson and scarlet to white as snow is profoundly dramatic and indelibly obvious to anyone with sight. We know we are NOTHING in, of, and by ourselves without God as it is written in John 15:5. We know we cannot cleanse ourselves spiritually without God as it is written in Proverbs 20:9 “Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin?” Furthermore, Job 14:4 exclaims “Who can bring clean out of unclean? No one!” We sin until we die, and the only hope we have is to repent from a sincere and contrite heart, filling up on Christ with daily practice, until we are made ready for His divine and ultimate purpose to serve the whole of humanity eternally.
Now that we have examined ourselves intently, kept the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread, we have been keenly reminded of Christ’s sacrifice for our sins. Staring at this mental image all these thousands of years later, of a bloody mess of a man who was so severely flogged, whipped, beaten and tortured, enduring the pain, shame, and agony of the most brutally painful death ever devised at human hands, is acutely shocking. Some will barely glimpse at this image in order to quickly look away in horror because it is much too difficult to bear, but it is a necessary reminder for us in order to soberly and effectively increase our righteous obedience and devotion so that we are in complete alignment with God’s ways. We must continue to develop healthy fear of God in awesome wonder and respect through our thoughts, words and actions. We must learn to hate sin daily with a passion that causes us to flee immediately.
There is a very interesting account in scripture where David laments “But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people”. This sixth verse is taken from Psalm 22 which is a prophetic piece of scripture by King David entitled “The Suffering, Praise, and Posterity of the Messiah” written about 1,000 years before the birth of Jesus. David, under inspiration, accurately encapsulated what would happen to our Saviour incredibly meaningfully. There were many physical parallels in David’s life to which he related to our Saviour, as well as others involving spiritual symbolism. Just like King David, we were not physically present at the crucifixion, but we know that we are all guilty of Christ’s death because we are all sinners. Why does David refer to himself as a worm? Why does Job refer to man as a maggot and to the son of man as a worm? (Job 25:6). The use of the word “worm” may be curious to us living in these modern day end times. We need to look at this within the context of the environment and culture of the Jews.
It is interesting to discover that within Jewish hermeneutics, which is the interpretation of Scripture, a remez is a hidden message or a deeper meaning. It is said to be a “treasure” that is found below the surface of, or behind the actual words used. The word “tola’ath” used in Psalm 22:6 denotes not only a worm but also a crimson or scarlet worm that is common to the Middle East, predominantly in Israel. Crimson and scarlet represent the colours of blood – a very deep, blackish red consistent with deep internal blood. And so, in this crimson or scarlet worm we find a hidden meaning of biblical significance related to blood, the symbolism and typology of which are no doubt staggeringly meaningful as we contemplate and commemorate Christ’s death.
Jesus Christ was crushed and bruised for our iniquities, scourged beyond any recognition, emptied of his blood which He poured forth willingly so that we might live (Isaiah 53:5, Revelation 1:5). As King David poured forth his thoughts and words through heartfelt prayer in Psalm 22, we too are able to share in the suffering of our Saviour as we live our lives in grateful and humble thanksgiving for the new life that is given to us and was only made possible by His great sacrifice (Romans 8:17, 2 Corinthians 1:5, Philippians 1:29, 1 Peter 4:1).
Now we go forth for another year remembering well these words from Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me”. May each one of us do all to the glory of God in this coming year or for however long we have to do good to others, always keeping in the forefront of our minds the incredible sacrifice Christ made so that we may have life. The best way to show our deepest appreciation is through “dying” daily and thanking our Father as soon as we wake up each morning for the breath we breathe as we begin another day showing righteous Godly behaviour and fleeing from sin.