Martin Wickens

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

The Bible, Isaiah 1:18

Have you ever wondered why snow appears white? People much smarter than me explain why. 

When photons of light strike an object, they may bounce back (reflection), bounce to the sides (scattering), pass right through (transmission), or give up their energy (absorption). Grass is green because it reflects the green light to our eyes and absorbs all the other colors. 

https://www.foxnews.com/science/ask-a-science-teacher-why-is-snow-white-and-where-does-its-color-go-when-the-snow-melts

When photos of light strike snow, or rather the myriad ice crystals that form snow, the snow reflects all of the light wavelengths completely. When all the wavelengths of light combine they make white light. 

In Isaiah 1:18 God draws His rebellious people near. For 17 verses the prophet has rebuked Israel. But having sternly accused them of their sin and made His anger clear, God now invites them to draw near and proclaims to them that though their sins appear as scarlet He can make them white like snow! 

How?

Every shade of sin, in its myriad forms, struck Jesus as He hung upon the cross. Jesus took that sin upon Himself and He suffered the just punishment we deserved and paid our debt. 

The result? Somehow He took the wavelengths of our sin and in return gifts to us the pure, white, righteousness we need to meet His holy demands.

This is the Gospel, the message that begins with the quiet birth of Christ in Bethlehem at Christmas but then boldly proclaimed at Calvary at Easter. As sinful as we are, when we ask God to forgive us because of what Christ has done and receive Him as our Saviour, then He saves us and receives as His own. 

Greater than the seeming miracle of snow, is the true miracle of salvation!