Beauty for Ashes

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"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations…”

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations (Isaiah 61:1-4, 10–11).

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Imagine a woman dressed for a funeral who suddenly receives word that a mistake has been made. “Instead of a funeral, you are going to your own wedding! You are going to get married to the love of your life!” What does she do? She quickly washes the ashes from her face, puts on her makeup, changes out of her somber black funeral attire and into her beautiful white wedding gown, styles her hair, and crowns it with a garland of flowers. What a reversal! Beauty for ashes. It’s time to celebrate!

Similarly, Isaiah uses our text to foretell the day the Lord will turn Zion’s wailing to rejoicing. Her sackcloth and ashes will be replaced by the oil of gladness, garments of salvation and praise, and the robe of Christ’s righteousness. Her mourning will be turned to rejoicing. Zion’s beauty comes from the Lord. And it is everlasting! What good news!

We all need to hear this Good News. Our lives are already too filled with misery and trouble. We endure defeat and failure more than we experience triumph. Our hearts get broken. We are disappointed repeatedly. Our loved ones suffer pain, and we watch them die. Sometimes, those we love inflict pain upon us and then desert us; other times, we are responsible for the betrayal.

We are captives. We cannot escape the consequences of our failures. The mistakes and sins of others control us —the bitterness of a spouse, the loveless attitude of a parent, or the harsh criticisms of others. Our lives are often a series of episodes of mourning and grief. Moments of happiness and joy pass quickly, and then we mourn another loss or failure. Our lives are filled with our struggle with sin or the consequences of other’s sin: greed, jealousy, pride, lust, envy, hatred, and anger pile up in our hearts and minds like last year’s garbage. Then, at the end of life stands death—inescapable, dark, and undeniable.

The Lord, however, does not want to abandon us to such a fate. He has sent His own Messiah to announce the good news of a different future. Rather than have mourning, ashes, and despair, we find comfort, a crown of beauty, the oil of gladness, and a garment of praise. The Lord has provided the alternative to tears, sadness, hopelessness—God’s love in Jesus Christ. Words—spoken, written, and remembered—express the good news. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). The Lord chooses to work in our hearts through the Gospel, words in which God imparts comfort, joy, freedom, and strength.

The primary teaching of our text is that salvation is something God clothes us with and not something we manufacture. We brought the ashes to the party, the mourning, the faint spirit, the shame, and the dishonor. In their place, Jesus gives us all His glory, righteousness, salvation, beauty, gladness, and praise.

In The Freedom of a Christian, Luther talks about this great exchange:

Thus the believing soul by means of the pledge of its faith is free in Christ, its Bridegroom, free from all sins, secure against death and hell, and is endowed with the eternal righteousness, life, and salvation of Christ its Bridegroom. So He takes to Himself a glorious bride, “without spot or wrinkle, cleansing her by the washing of water with the word” [cf. Ephesians 5:26–27] of life, that is, by faith in the Word of life, righteousness, and salvation. In this way He marries her in faith, steadfast love, and in mercies, righteousness, and justice, as Hosea 2[:19–20] says.

Who then can fully appreciate what this royal marriage means? Who can understand the riches of the glory of this grace? Here this rich and divine Bridegroom Christ marries this poor, wicked harlot, redeems her from all her evil, and adorns her with all His goodness. Her sins cannot now destroy her, since they are laid upon Christ and swallowed up by Him. And she has that righteousness in Christ, her husband, of which she may boast as of her own and which she can confidently display alongside her sins in the face of death and hell and say, “If I have sinned, yet my Christ, in whom I believe, has not sinned, and all His is mine and all mine is His,” as the bride in the Song of Solomon [2:16] says, “My beloved is mine and I am His.” This is what Paul means when he says in 1 Corinthians 15[:57], “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ,” that is, the victory over sin and death, as he also says there, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law” [1 Corinthians 15:56].[i]

What a powerful truth this text proclaims. We receive so much from our Savior, Jesus, and He takes on all of our filth to have us as His own. I wonder if there is a moment when we, who have received so much beauty and a kingdom, would look at what it cost to obtain it and be stunned in wonder. What would happen if we saw the significant cost of taking away our shame, ashes, and dishonor? Would we be faint again in spirit? Would we mourn even as we rejoice about our new status to think of what it took to have received such grace for life at the cost of our Messiah’s own life on the cross?

Look up to Christ’s cross. There is your Redeemer. The almighty God took on human flesh and a fallen world’s load of sin so that He might be humiliated, tortured, and killed to pay the penalty for all your sins! He was wounded—for you. He was crucified to bring about peace with God—for you. Through His work as the Suffering Servant, He brings healing—for you. There is no other God who loves and forgives like your God. The salvation story is truly one of rags (see Isaiah 64:6) to riches because Christ went from riches to rags—for you (cf. John 19:23-24; 2 Corinthians 8:9).[ii] Beauty for ashes.

Reflect upon your Bridegroom "who loved the Church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, so that He might present the Church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:25-27).

Rejoice that God has covered your sinful life with His robe of righteousness. Jesus fashioned this robe from the threads of His perfect life. Then He wove it on the loom of the cross and colored it with His red blood. God freely gives you the cloak of His Son’s perfect life, covering every sin, rebellion, and deviation from God’s standard. This robe of righteousness is long and wide enough to cover every twisted human thought, word, and deed.

But this robe comes only from God. No human can atone for a single sin. We are poor, miserable sinners who justly deserve God’s present and eternal wrath. All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment (Isaiah 64:6). Only God’s grace in Christ can cover human sin. Human effort cannot achieve forgiveness, no matter how godly that effort may appear to other human eyes. You are justified; you are declared righteous, freely by grace. By faith, you put Christ’s spotless robe on your shoulders and make it your own.

Christ, the Anointed One, does not simply throw words at His faithful remnant. Instead, His performative speaking accomplishes what His words announce (cf. 55:10-11). He promises—indeed, He gives—the best for the worst. Heightened reversal. It’s as though the people are dressed for a funeral. They are wearing ashes and weeping over the loss of a loved one. But, wonderfully, the funeral clothes will be swapped out for wedding garments! The mourner, with ashes on his head and wrapped in sackcloth, crushed in spirit with despair, becomes the party-goer with a beautiful headdress, smelling of costly oil and wearing a garment of praise. Jesus says that when He is raised from the dead, the disciples will experience a similar radical reversal: "You will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy" (John 16:20). So we sing:   

Jesus, Your blood and righteousness

My beauty are, my glorious dress;

Mid flaming worlds, in these arrayed,

With joy shall I lift up my head. (LSB 563)

Because this robe covers the deepest stain of sin, it also becomes a garment of your salvation. You stand before God dressed in this robe. God sees you clothed with the perfection of His own Son and welcomes you into His presence. Without the righteousness of Christ, you would be turned away from God and sent to the eternal torment of hell. But the perfection of Christ wrapped about you by faith brings eternal life and deliverance from judgment. Rejoice because God has given you such a garment of salvation and claimed you as His own.

Wherever the Gospel is preached, and the Sacraments of Baptism and the Supper are administered according to the Lord’s institution, Jesus is releasing people from the burden of sin and setting them free from everything that weighs them down. There, He is bringing Good News to the poor in spirit. There, Christ binds up the brokenhearted. There, He comforts those who mourn. There, He is gathering citizens to reside forever in the new Zion’s splendor (Isaiah 60). History truly is in the making at the pulpit, font, and altar![iii]

In the baptismal flood, Jesus changes us from denizens of hell into citizens of heaven, from faithless lover to radiant bride. With His Eucharistic body and blood, Christ turns your emptiness into His fullness and your temporary sorrow into everlasting joy. In the absolution, you are repeatedly told that you have been freed from sin’s death and brought into abundant life. This life is forgiven and free and forever.[iv]

Go in the peace of the Lord. Serve your neighbor with joy. You are forgiven for all your sins. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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[i] Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 31: Career of the Reformer I, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 31 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999), 352.

[ii] [ii] R. Reed Lessing, Isaiah 56-66. Concordia Commentary (St. Louis: Concordia, 2014). 292-93.

[iii] R. Reed Lessing, Isaiah 56-66. Concordia Commentary (St. Louis: Concordia, 2014). 272.

[iv]R. Reed Lessing, Isaiah 56-66. Concordia Commentary (St. Louis: Concordia, 2014). 272.