In fact, these strained relations are already reflected in the Jacob-Esau narratives (e.g., Gen 25:23; 27:39–40). Although Edom became Israel’s slave (e.g., 1 Sam 14:47; 2 Sam 8:13–14; 1 Ki 11:15–17), the nation gained independence during the time of Jehoram, king of Judah, in the mid-ninth century (2 Ki 8:20–22). Edom later became one of Israel’s chief enemies (e.g., the book of Obadiah), and represents humanity at its worst—despising God, consumed in worldly pleasure, and persecuting the faithful.
The Warrior in our text "is coming from Edom. Look at him. His cadence is firm. He is marching with vigor and great strength. He defeated Edom, Israel’s greatest enemy. But our greatest enemy isn’t Edom. It is death. Jesus knows, oh how he knows.
Pilate sentenced him, scourged him just inches short of death and then marched him through the city on the Via Dolorosa. But it was at Golgotha that Jesus was stripped, shoved to the ground and nailed to a cross, naked. Though artists depict Christ on a cross with a loin cloth, writings by Romans like Seneca the Younger suggest that the empire’s victims were crucified completely naked. No wonder Cicero, in a speech that was an early bid for its removal, described crucifixion as "a most cruel and disgusting punishment," and suggested that "the very mention of the cross should be far removed not only from a Roman citizen’s body, but from his mind, his eyes, his ears."
Listen closely. Before Jesus announces judgment; he receives it, full bore, from the Father. Before Jesus stains his garments with the blood of the nations he pours out his blood for the sins of the world. Before Jesus comes in anger and wrath he lovingly announces the full pardon for all your sins. And before Jesus uses his feet to trample "out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored" he allows soldiers to spike those feet to wood where they writhe in pain until they finally hang lifeless and limp.
It all ended "crucified, dead and buried." Nothing is as bottomless as a pit, as lifeless as a grave, as hopeless as a tomb. Smell the mildew, the odor of blood, the of stench death. See the confines, the darkness, the sealed stone …
Witness the charred marks of a divine explosion to life! "Jesus Christ is Risen Today" – "I Know that My Redeemer Lives! – "Ye Sons and Daughters of the King" – "This Joyful Eastertide" – "The Strife is O’er, the Battle Won" … "Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds," and our hymn of the day, "Jesus Lives, the Victory’s Won."
Hear the word of the Lord in 1 John 3:8, "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work." Acts 2:24 – "But God raised Christ from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." The ultimate Mission Impossible! Hold him in the grave, lock it, seal it, guard it, and secure it. IMPOSSIBLE!
This victory over death is ours by faith for we have been baptized into both the death and the resurrection of Christ. But there is more. The one coming from Edom will one day come again. On the day when clouds no longer bring nourishing rains but rather carry the Warrior and the thunder of his judgment the enemy will be thrown into the lake of fire. Sin, death and Satan will be trampled underfoot. The Garden of Eden will be restored and we will live in the pristine perfection of paradise.
On that day and in that place you and I will wear the most electric and dynamic clothes ever designed. Isaiah 61:10, "I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh; 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."
And then we will sing the song of eternal victory, "Glory, glory hallelujah, our God is marching on!"
Amen.
