Therefore, she answers, "I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on?" In her outward walk, the cross has put off the old man with its deeds. Should she rise up to accept the loneliness and shame of the cross and to bear the misunderstanding, like putting on a coat that she has put off? Is it not enough for a person to experience the cross to the extent of being genuinely delivered from the old man? Many believers who have reached this stage do not see that there are two aspects to the cross, the negative aspect and the positive aspect. The maiden knows resurrection and the cross, but she only knows the negative aspects. Her attention is on the cross's work in dealing with the old creation; she does not see how the cross also deals with the new creation. She only sees the cross in its work of deliverance; she does not see the cross in its work of initiation. She may misunderstand and think that these works belong to the realm of resurrection. Actually, they belong to the realm of the cross. On the positive side, the cross brings a stamp of shame, suffering, and misunderstanding to the new creation. The Lord Jesus' life is a life in the new creation. Yet do we not see a mark of suffering in Him that comes from the cross?

"I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?" We have taken a bath and are clean before the Lord. When we walk through the world, we come into contact with the dust and dirt of the world, yet we are cleansed through a continual cleansing. The maiden may think that she needs to preserve her cleanliness, to no longer defile herself, and to not give the appearance that she has stopped progressing but is regressing instead. All that she sees is the preservation of her own cleanliness; she does not see that the defilement one receives in opening the door to the Lord is not really defilement at all. She must put on her coat and be willing to be defiled again before she can open the door. But this does not imply putting on her old man once more or a defilement by the world once again. Rather, it means a putting on and a defilement by misunderstandings. The refusal here is a refusal of the best thing and a settling for the next best thing.

This is a picture of a person's contentment in his own experience, and a failure to see the importance of experiencing Philippians 3:10 in a full way. Subconsciously, the self has crept in. The maiden sees only herself. It seems that her past experiences in God's work and glory have occupied a place in her already. Her questions indicate that she does not want to change her present spiritual condition. But the Lord's calling interrupts our present condition. All spiritual progress involves a change of our present order. This is where the price lies. An attachment to spiritual ease is often the reason behind a rejection of higher callings. When we are spiritually at ease and our conscience does not condemn us concerning any error, and when we find ourselves having many spiritual experiences that issue from the Lord's death and resurrection, we are reluctant to pursue after the goal Christ has set for us. We prefer to live in the same way, not spending additional effort to pursue new things and not losing our present peace.