John 19:24
They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.
At Calvary outside Jerusalem Christ was crucified between thieves as a bleeding victim, and the soldiers who hung Him on the cross took His clothing for themselves and quarreled over it while He heard their contention. His tunic was woven throughout without seam, so they agreed not to tear it but to cast lots to decide whose it would be. This dividing of His garments and gambling for His vesture had been foretold hundreds of years earlier in Psalm 22 and was literally and exactly fulfilled by the soldiers themselves without counsel or interference from His friends or enemies. He suffered outside Jerusalem as substitute and surety for humanity, counted as a transgressor and made a curse to redeem men from the curse of the law, and His blood shed there is the price that provides salvation and grace and power to His people. The seamless robe left whole represents the unity that must exist in His church, which must not be torn by divisions and coldness that disfigure that unity and dishonor Him.
The Soldiers Divide Garments
Christ was taken to Calvary outside the gate of Jerusalem, the place where felons and murderers were executed, and there crucified between two thieves as if He were the chief of sinners. There He hung on the cross as a bleeding victim. His clothing was given to the soldiers who placed Him on the cross.
Those soldiers took His clothing for themselves and disputed and quarreled over it while He hung on the cross. His enemies stood at the foot as they divided His garments among them. He heard their contention as they divided them.
His coat or tunic was plain and woven throughout without seam. Rather than tearing it, they said among themselves not to rend it but to cast lots to decide whose it would be.
The dividing of His garments belongs to the taking away of the Bridegroom and His descent into humiliation. It came with His own nation clamoring for His blood, with the crown of thorns plaited for His brow, with being clad in the purple robe and mocked by persecutors bowing before Him and striking Him with the reed placed in His hand. He was scourged as the worst of criminals though He was expected to take His place on David's throne, the murderous Barabbas was chosen in place of their Teacher, and He was lifted up on the cross dying as a malefactor. It stands among the great trials He prepared for through a night of prayer to His Father.
Fulfilled Prophecy and Redemption
The dividing of His clothing and the gambling for His garment at His death had been foretold and was literally and exactly fulfilled. What was written hundreds of years earlier in Psalm 22 was fulfilled, that they parted His raiment among them and for His vesture they did cast lots. This fulfillment happened without counsel or interference from His friends or enemies, for the soldiers themselves carried it out as they divided His garments. It stands as one of the prophecies of His sufferings and death, along with the piercing of His hands and feet and that no bone of Him would be broken, and He Himself declared again and again that He died as it was written of Him.
His suffering without the boundaries of Jerusalem means He suffered as substitute for Adam and Eve banished from Eden for transgression of God's law. He did this that He might sanctify the people with His own blood. He bore humanity's iniquity as its substitute and surety, counted as a transgressor, to redeem people from the curse of the law by being made a curse for them. His blood at Calvary was the price paid to redeem humanity, so His death provides salvation. That death as a bleeding victim made grace and power available to His people.
The executioners casting lots for His seamless coat recalls Joseph's brothers stripping him of his coat. Joseph's suffering at his brothers' hands foreshadowed Jesus' rejection and suffering. Jesus' suffering resembled Joseph's, though Jesus was innocent and righteous.
Lessons for Christ's Followers
The unrent, seamless robe left whole when the soldiers chose to cast lots rather than tear it is the unity that should exist in His church, which must not be torn by divisions that would destroy it. Divisions and coldness among believers disfigure that unity and dishonor Christ, and all must see that the seamless robe must remain undivided. His coat was plain and seamless, and that plainness stands as a rebuke to vanity and elaborate dress and to the time and care spent on personal decoration.
His agony and humiliation on the cross show what He endured and gave up for humanity, beside which the self-denial He asks of His followers is small. At Calvary His blood was the price paid to redeem humanity and provide salvation, and those bought by that price are called to surrender themselves to Him and bring their lives into conformity with His will. Hanging upon the cross while His enemies stood at the foot and divided His garments among them, He did not refuse to die for men but for their sakes submitted to abuse and mockery, with His life taken away in cruelty. How much He endured proves that no experience can come to believers that He does not fully understand, and it calls believers to be led by a spirit entirely opposite to that which inspired His enemies, helping and sustaining one another and thus showing that the Spirit of God is working in heart and mind and character.
The taking away of the Bridegroom in His approach to the cross and descent into humiliation gives the disciples cause to mourn and fast, for in Him their hopes of eternal life were centered as He was put into the hands of wicked men. His own nation clamored for His blood, Herod and his soldiers plaited the crown of thorns for His brow, He was clad in the purple robe and mocked by persecutors bowing before Him and striking Him with the reed placed in His hand, He was scourged as the worst of criminals though they had thought He was to take His place on David's throne, the murderous Barabbas was chosen in place of their Teacher, and He was lifted up on the cross dying as a malefactor. That hour when the Son of God was dying was a terrible, trying hour of gloom and darkness that brought the disciples over the ground of test and trial, in which their faith was tried and their hope and courage failed. Overcome with sleep and failing to watch and pray, they had not received the light God desired to give them in the knowledge of Christ's sufferings and the glory that should follow, and being slow of heart to believe and little appreciative of the treasure Heaven sought to enrich them with, they lost the blessings that might have been theirs by sharing His self-sacrifice, with Peter denying his Lord before His enemies. Had they remained watching, some rays of hope from that knowledge would have lighted the darkness and sustained their faith.