The Seamless Tunic - Guilt and Shame
A Sermon on Guilt and Shame
John 19:23-24 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece.
24So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be”; this was to fulfill the Scripture: “THEY DIVIDED MY OUTER GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS.”
What is shame?
It is an uncomfortable feeling of intense humiliation caused by an awareness of wrongdoing, hurt ego, or guilt.
1. Kinds of Shame
a. Shame of Identity
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
b. Shame of Activity
Hosea 4:7 The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame.
Ezra 9:6 and I said, “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, for our iniquities have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown even to the heavens.
2 Corinthians 7:9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance…
c. Shame of Passivity
2. Responses to Shame
a. Proper response
Jeremiah 6:15 “Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.
b. Improper response
Guilt vs Shame
Guilt - Romans 7:19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
Shame - Romans 7:24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
3. The remedy for shame: The Cross
Jesus Christ bore shame:
a. Phil 2:5-8: 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
b. 2 Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
c. John 19:23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece.
1 Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness.
Hebrews 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
There's a place
Where sin and shame
Are powerless
Where my heart
Has peace with God
And forgiveness
At the cross, at the cross
I surrender my life
I'm in awe of You - Chris Tomlin, At the Cross, Love Ran Red
Photo by Gage Walker on Unsplash
