They Took His Clothes
Author: Frank Tunstall
“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. 24 "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 which said, "They divided My garments among them and cast lots for My clothing" (John 19:23-24).
At the foot of Jesus’ cross were four pagan Roman warriors, hard hearted in the face of death and ruled by greed and covetousness.
One would think the soldiers would be sensitive and caring enough to save Jesus’ clothing for His mother, but not so. “They took His clothes,” thus fulfilling prophecy (Psalm 22:18; Mark 15:24; John 19:24). This illustrates clearly Roman crucifixion was designed to humiliate to the ultimate degree. Jesus might have been left with a loincloth that gave him a trace of dignity. Roman “justice” was cruel enough to crucify in the nude. Jesus “despised the shame” that He endured on the cross, but He did endure it (Hebrews 12:1-2).
The soldiers gambled for Jesus’ undergarment. It was seamless and was woven in one piece from top to bottom. That piece of cloth was worth more to them than was Jesus. They realized the garment was a rare item of clothing because of how it was made. But Jesus? It is heartbreaking these soldiers saw Jesus as valueless. They did not comprehend Him as the rarest of jewels, nor did they perceive they were fulfilling prophecy (Matthew 13:45-46).
Death leaves every person naked and penniless, but the Grim Reaper cannot even touch the inestimable value of the eternal soul (Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:37). Neither can death take away a child of God’s relationship with His Heavenly Father and His pending reunion in heaven with Him. Death only makes the prospect sweeter.
It was in Jesus’ power to take them to paradise with Him that very day, but they had no spiritual sensitivity, none at all as they rolled their dice at the foot of His cross. These tough men did begin to soften though as they watched Jesus slowly die. One of the two thieves even cried out to Jesus for mercy.
As long as those soldiers lived, they had a story to tell. The Gospel writers do not record any of them became a disciple after Jesus’ resurrection. When we reach heaven, however, it will not be surprising to find them there and we will get to hear their testimonies.
How to reach the masses, men of every birth,
For an answer, Jesus gave the key:
“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
Will draw all men unto Me.”
Lift Him up, lift Him up;
Still He speaks from eternity:
“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
Will draw all men unto Me.”
By: Johnson Oatman
Jesus was bruised and bloody, and His holy body mangled. His flesh dangled from His bones. The splinters on His cross, that stabbed into His back, multiplied His already damaged and screaming nerves. Some of the blood that trickled down His forehead had seeped into His eyes, burning like fire and blurring His vision. In time the coagulation would seal His vision completely. The smell of blood was in the air, and insects of all kinds including flies, and even the big blow flies, swooped in to eat their fill. But Jesus had no hands to swat the pests away. An army of ants caught the stench too and marched in formation to those three crosses to gorge themselves. Jesus was helpless before the invasion of insects.
As time slipped by, Jesus’ breathing became more and more laborious. If He pushed up with His feet to try to get more air into His lungs, the nail in His feet made the pain unbearable and the splinters caught in His badly lacerated back made the agony only worse. When He sank down on the cross, the pain in his hands multiplied along with his shoulder muscles, and his rib cage was pulled up. It squeezed out almost all of the air left in His lungs and Jesus felt like He was suffocating.
Ah! the commitment of our Lord; the price He paid for our salvation. He “endured the cross, despising the shame,” and without even an aspirin (Hebrews 12:2). How did He do it? The soldiers did indeed take his clothing and even gambled for His seamless robe. It was in their power to humiliate. But Jesus was clothed with the righteousness of His Heavenly Father, and they could not take that from Him. Instead, Jesus walked out of His tomb in triumph on the third day, and forty days later sat down at the right hand of His Father (see Hebrews 12:2-3).
Author: Frank Tunstall
“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. 24 "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 which said, "They divided My garments among them and cast lots for My clothing" (John 19:23-24).
At the foot of Jesus’ cross were four pagan Roman warriors, hard hearted in the face of death and ruled by greed and covetousness.
One would think the soldiers would be sensitive and caring enough to save Jesus’ clothing for His mother, but not so. “They took His clothes,” thus fulfilling prophecy (Psalm 22:18; Mark 15:24; John 19:24). This illustrates clearly Roman crucifixion was designed to humiliate to the ultimate degree. Jesus might have been left with a loincloth that gave him a trace of dignity. Roman “justice” was cruel enough to crucify in the nude. Jesus “despised the shame” that He endured on the cross, but He did endure it (Hebrews 12:1-2).
The soldiers gambled for Jesus’ undergarment. It was seamless and was woven in one piece from top to bottom. That piece of cloth was worth more to them than was Jesus. They realized the garment was a rare item of clothing because of how it was made. But Jesus? It is heartbreaking these soldiers saw Jesus as valueless. They did not comprehend Him as the rarest of jewels, nor did they perceive they were fulfilling prophecy (Matthew 13:45-46).
Death leaves every person naked and penniless, but the Grim Reaper cannot even touch the inestimable value of the eternal soul (Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:37). Neither can death take away a child of God’s relationship with His Heavenly Father and His pending reunion in heaven with Him. Death only makes the prospect sweeter.
It was in Jesus’ power to take them to paradise with Him that very day, but they had no spiritual sensitivity, none at all as they rolled their dice at the foot of His cross. These tough men did begin to soften though as they watched Jesus slowly die. One of the two thieves even cried out to Jesus for mercy.
As long as those soldiers lived, they had a story to tell. The Gospel writers do not record any of them became a disciple after Jesus’ resurrection. When we reach heaven, however, it will not be surprising to find them there and we will get to hear their testimonies.
How to reach the masses, men of every birth,
For an answer, Jesus gave the key:
“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
Will draw all men unto Me.”
Lift Him up, lift Him up;
Still He speaks from eternity:
“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
Will draw all men unto Me.”
By: Johnson Oatman
Jesus was bruised and bloody, and His holy body mangled. His flesh dangled from His bones. The splinters on His cross, that stabbed into His back, multiplied His already damaged and screaming nerves. Some of the blood that trickled down His forehead had seeped into His eyes, burning like fire and blurring His vision. In time the coagulation would seal His vision completely. The smell of blood was in the air, and insects of all kinds including flies, and even the big blow flies, swooped in to eat their fill. But Jesus had no hands to swat the pests away. An army of ants caught the stench too and marched in formation to those three crosses to gorge themselves. Jesus was helpless before the invasion of insects.
As time slipped by, Jesus’ breathing became more and more laborious. If He pushed up with His feet to try to get more air into His lungs, the nail in His feet made the pain unbearable and the splinters caught in His badly lacerated back made the agony only worse. When He sank down on the cross, the pain in his hands multiplied along with his shoulder muscles, and his rib cage was pulled up. It squeezed out almost all of the air left in His lungs and Jesus felt like He was suffocating.
Ah! the commitment of our Lord; the price He paid for our salvation. He “endured the cross, despising the shame,” and without even an aspirin (Hebrews 12:2). How did He do it? The soldiers did indeed take his clothing and even gambled for His seamless robe. It was in their power to humiliate. But Jesus was clothed with the righteousness of His Heavenly Father, and they could not take that from Him. Instead, Jesus walked out of His tomb in triumph on the third day, and forty days later sat down at the right hand of His Father (see Hebrews 12:2-3).