Murder and the return of the fig leaf …

What do you do when you commit sin that results in death?

You try to cover it up.

In the case of Adam and Eve, their ushering sin into God’s pristine world resulted in spiritual death, and would eventually include the consequence of physical death. As soon as they disobeyed God, they suddenly became aware of their nakedness, so they tried to cover themselves with fig leaves, and then hid from God:

“The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees,” Genesis 3:6-8.

What do you do when you commit the sin of murder?

You try to cover it up.

At least, that’s what the religious leaders who had schemed for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ tried to do. The day after what they identified as their sin of murder (Mt. 27:6), they wanted to make sure their evil scheme wouldn’t come unraveled:

“The next day, on the Sabbath, the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate. They told him, ‘Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: “After three days I will rise from the dead.” So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.’ Pilate replied, ‘Take guards and secure it the best you can.’ So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it,” Matthew 27:62-66.

Jesus had come into the world He created preaching “… Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near” (Mt. 4:17) but what do you when you refuse to repent but won’t confess your sins … and don’t want to be caught in the nakedness of the guilt of your sin?

You look for a fig leaf.

You try to cover up the obviousness of your sin to others so they won’t see what really lurks in the mind and heart and eventually reveals itself in action.

How do you sin and try to not be caught, or not have your sinful deeds unravel on you? Like the leading priests and Pharisees, we try to put in place a cover so that we can’t be caught.

Even if the fig leafs we employ fool others, we can never hide our sin, our desires, our thoughts, our emotions, our behaviors from God:

“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable,” Hebrews 4:13.

So, this day of “Holy Week” between the death of Christ, and the defeat of death, the religious leaders were busy employing a fig leaf for murder.

When Adam and Eve tried the same thing, God shed blood to provide a covering for them:

“Then the man — Adam — named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live. And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife,” Genesis 3:20.

What the leading priests and Pharisees didn’t understand was that, on the previous day, Jesus willingly shed His blood so that we would never again have to hunt for fig leaves, hide from God, or scheme to cover sin. Instead, Jesus provided the cover of His blood for our sin so that we can come clean … confess our sin, repent, and receive the gracious forgiveness of God. Instead of being separated from God, we can be reconciled to Him:

“He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins,” Ephesians 1:7.

Are you still looking for a fig leaf, or have you finally repented from your sin and truly turned to God?

Scotty