Wednesday, March 16, 2005
John 19:23-24 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the under-garment 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." ... So this is what the soldiers did.
CONTRAST ON CALVARY
One of the things that makes the Passion account so remarkable is the stark contrasts that we see throughout the history. We see contrast between the self-serving hatred of the Pharisees and the self-less sacrifice of Jesus. We see contrast between the guilty Barabbas set free and the innocent Jesus condemned. And in the text for today we see yet another contrast that grabs our attention.
The detail of Roman soldiers assigned to the cross of Christ were callous men. In their thoughtlessness they stooped down before the dying Jesus, to gamble for His last remaining possession. And it is here that we see a brilliant and precious contrast. For as the soldiers cast lots to win a garment for themselves, just a few feet behind them and a few feet up, the Son of God sought a garment as well.
But the garment that Jesus sought was not a seamless garment to cover Himself. The garment that Jesus sought was a spotless robe of righteousness that was to be a gift for all mankind, even the men huddled greedily below.
Only through the eyes of faith do we see the value of this robe, and only through this same faith do we see that this robe is our apparel, placed on us by nail pierced hands. 