Pause In Lent #1

Last Sunday, as we continued studying the life of Daniel, we reached the events of Belshazzar's Feast in chapter 5. Rembrandt's great painting captures the story so well

But the part of the sermon which has stuck with me all week is Bob's final paragraph. The story explains that the King presents Daniel with a gold chain and a purple robe.
Bob pointed out that 'a purple robe' is mentioned just three times in scripture.
Mordecai gets one, along with a gold crown, in Esther chapter 8 - just after he has saved the Jewish people from annihilation by the evil Haman [who is executed]
Daniel gets one, and he too was responsible for saving the Jews from destruction by the Medes and Persians [and Belshazzar gets killed]
...and the one we all will be remembering in a few weeks time - the soldiers put a purple robe on Jesus and a crown of thorns on his head. They mocked him, nd jeered at him 'King of the Jews'...but Jesus was the one who came to save not only the Jews, but the whole world. He died that we might be forgiven.