When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining.
As I read John’s gospel, my mind tries to form a picture of what is going on. Taking the text slowly, one or two verses at a time helps pull out details that I would otherwise miss. For example, In today’s passage, we learn how many soldiers were assigned to the crucifixion.
In the post, “Garbage”, we took note of how little attention was paid to our Lord’s crucifixion. At the time, it was not an earth-shaking event. (Oh wait, it was! See Matthew 27: 51-54) Finally, in verse 16, Pilate hands Jesus over to “the soldiers.” But we don’t know how many soldiers. This is the key event for Christians. In my imagination, I picture many soldiers. Maybe as many as twenty or more. After all, this is an important prisoner!
No. It wasn’t like that.
Four soldiers are assigned the grim duty of executing three men. Many details are missing from the story. Were they shackled? Chained together? Chained by the waist or by the ankle? How did four men keep track of three condemned men?
This is something that happened often. The soldiers had a routine. They had to deal with angry rebels, violent men, some of whom were likely very strong. All of them would want to get away. In Jesus’ case, he was flogged first. Were all of them flogged?
The fact that there are only four soldiers tells us an important detail about the picture John is painting for us.
Application: How do you picture the crucifixion? Does it matter? Do you understand what our Lord did to ensure your salvation? Details matter. Taking time to meditate on the details of scripture pays dividends. A deeper understanding of our Lord’s time on earth helps us respond to him more appropriately. It also equips us to better share His story with others.
Food for Thought: What other detail(s) of the crucifixion do we learn in this short passage?
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People debate who crucified Jesus. Was it the Jews? Was it the Romans? Here it mentions the soldiers. I think the answer is yes. We all crucified Him – Jews, Gentiles, everyone. I have also always found it fascinating that they took the only thing Jesus really had – His clothes. He truly gave it all away.