Articles

John / Chapter 19 / V23-24

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Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be"; this was to fulfill the Scripture: "THEY DIVIDED MY OUTER GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS."   ~Jn 19:23-24 [NASB]

After the Roman soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross, they divided His clothes among themselves – this is a privilege given to the soldiers in charge of crucifying the criminals. During the time of Jesus, the common people lived in poverty, as such, even the outer garment and the inner garment (tunic) worn by an individual meant much since these items certainly had some monetary value. This was the case with Jesus and the four soldiers responsible for nailing Him to the cross. The soldiers then took His outer garment and divided it into four equal parts among themselves. But when they saw the Lord’s inner garment was seamlessly woven in one piece, they decided against tearing it apart, because the value of the torn inner garment would be greatly diminished. Finally, they decided to cast lots so that one of them would get the whole inner garment. By doing so, it miraculously fulfilled an Old Testament prophecy concerning the Messiah:

Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.
I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.
They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.

This passage was recorded in Psalm 22:16-18 about one thousand years ago before the crucifixion of Jesus took place. It was written by the Israeli Monarch, David. We are well aware that King David was never pierced in his hands or feet, neither were his garments ever been taken from him and divided. These verses had been written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and not a literal life experience of David. This prophecy spoke of the predicament of the coming Messiah, when the world would nail Him to the cross and strip Him of His garments. All that had been prophesied of Christ were proven true confirming Jesus as the Messiah, the Saviour whom God has sent to deliver the world of their sins. 

Crucifixion was one of the cruellest forms of capital punishment; other than being afflicted with excruciating pain, it was also used to cause great humiliation and emotional distress to the criminals. The criminals were stripped of their clothes and made to bare themselves like animals, taking away their basic dignity as a human being.  This might not mean much to the criminals who robbed and killed, but for our Lord who was delicate and sensitive, He must have suffered great shame. Being the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, it further amplified His humiliation. Therefore, “they divided my outer garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots,” the actual actions by the soldiers meant more than just a fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecy. It also demonstrated how the Lord of hosts, for our sakes, allowed Himself to be nailed to the cross naked, suffered the most humiliating and painful death. He was stripped of His garments so that we are now clothed in garments of white; with His inner and outer garments taken away, we are now clothed with the robes of righteousness.

Although the ordeal caused the Lord great sufferings, the words “they divided my outer garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots” had a deeper significance that completely broke His heart. On that very day when He was nailed to the cross, He witnessed how the Roman soldiers had carefully divided the outer garment into four equal portions, but in order to receive the most value from the inner garment, three of them rather suffered loss than to see the garment torn up. Seeing that, the Lord became completely devastated! For the soldiers knew how to appreciate the intrinsic value of the inner garment, yet they did not know how to cherish the most majestic King of Kings and Lord of Lords! They knew how to preserve the garments to prevent it from being buried in the grave, yet they failed to preserve the life of the Sovereign of the universe and crucified Him unto death! The Lord came into the world that was created through Him, yet the world did not recognize Him; He came to His own abode, but His people did not receive Him. Mankind knew how to appreciate the rain that falls from heaven, to enjoy the harvest gathered from the ground, and yet we nailed to death the Giver and Creator of all these things! It is no wonder that the Lord was heartbroken and completely devastated. To have nailed our Maker to death must have been the greatest mockery in the history of mankind!