When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
“They divided my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.”
So this is what the soldiers did.
As Rich pointed out in yesterday’s comments, the soldiers stripped Jesus of the last vestige of decency; they took his clothes.
John doesn’t do this nearly as much as Matthew does. He references the Old Testament prophecy that is fulfilled when this happens.
Maybe this was one of the few “perks” of being an executioner? You get to have whatever is left on the prisoner when they are sent out to die.
The end result is the final humiliation of Jesus before he is nailed to the cross.
Application: As we think about the power of our resurrected Lord, it is useful to reflect on what he went through to pay the price for being able to redeem us from Satan’s grasp. It was not only a physically painful sacrifice but an emotionally painful one, too.
Food for Thought: How is it that scripture can accurately predict the soldiers casting lots for the clothing hundreds of years before it happens?
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Because there is a God who knows the future. And that God is the God of the Bible: Yahweh.
Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
I think of us as being woven into a tapestry. We are a small part of a much larger whole. I think of God as viewing the tapestry from the front and seeing me as I appear here but also seeing the tapestry from the back, seeing how all of the parts are woven together.