THESIS: To show the shame Christ endured for us, the sin of ignoring His sacrifice & the inerrancy of the Scriptures.
INTRO:
A. "And, sitting down, they watched him there, The soldiers did; There, while they played at dice, He made his sacrifice, And died upon his Cross to rid God's world of sin. He was a gambler, too, my Christ He took his life and threw It for a world redeemed. And ere the agony was done, Before the westering sun went down, Crowning that day with its crimson crown, He knew that he had won."
B. Everything connected with true greatness becomes interesting. The birthplace of a President, the hometown of a hero, the library of a genius, the personal effects of a "star", etc. In our text the garments of Jesus are given special notice.
NOTE: 👉The Scriptures make it abundantly clear that the garments gambled for at the feet of the cross are NOT the purple & scarlet robes of Mt. 27:28 & Jn. 19:1-4! 👉Neither of these "robes" are Christ's & neither are holy! 👉They ARE purple & scarlet, & we are not surprised to find them on "the mother of harlots" in Rev. 17:1-4 connected with a church that likes to assign holiness to "things"! 💥Christ marched robe-less to the cross; "…they took the robe off Him and put His own raiment (not robe) on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him." (Mt. 27:31) Lloyd Douglas' "The Robe" notwithstanding!
TRANS: Now, let's look in on the scene which includes both "DICE & SACRIFICE".
I. THE SHAME TO OUR SAVIOR: v. 23a
A.The Curse Of His Cross: v. 23a "crucified Jesus..."
NOTE: The Old Testament ends with the word "curse" in Malachi (the 39th book - 3 X 13!) & the New Testament begins with the "curse" of the cross!
1. Heb. 12:2 says He "endured the cross, despising the shame". 2. Gal. 3:13 declares "Christ has redeemed us from the CURSE of the Law, being made a CURSE for us: for it is written, CURSED is everyone that hangeth on a tree."
B.The Notoriety Qf His Nakedness: "took His garments..."
1. Barclay says, "Every Jew wore 5 articles of apparel: his shoes, turban, girdle, tunic & outer robe." 2. The Scripture speaks of "4 parts" + 1 & 4 soldiers: (4 is the number of the world, thus all guilty).
NOTE: The garments of the executed became the property of the executioners. It was their pay.
a. He Who was the very epitome of modesty was exposed to the gaze of wicked, sinful man. b. He Who came to clothe us in the righteous garments of salvation was unclothed by the sinners He came to cover. c. The first Adam exposed his nakedness in Eden & tried to cover himself (God unclothed & reclothed him); the last Adam was unclothed on Calvary so that we might be clothed with His righteousness!
II. THE SINFULNESS OF THE SOLDIERS: v. 23b, 24a
A.Gambling For His Garments; v.24a
1. Each of the 4 soldiers received one of the 4 garments. 2. One garment is singled out for special mention.
a. Perhaps, they had hoped that more miracles would be wrought by this outer "coat":
1) They no doubt had heard stories of healing as in Mk.5:25-30 but didn't realize that it is not the garment but the One Who wore it! 2) They probably ascribed magical properties to the coat due to its unusual manufacture: "without seam..."
NOTE: Garments in Scripture speak of conduct & character. His "coat" was of one price speaking of His unbroken perfection. (Unlike our "garments" which are so much patchwork!) It was "woven from the top throughout" pointing to the origin & control of His conduct & character.
b. Perhaps, they expected His followers would purchase it for a great price.
NOTE: God saw to it that none of His garments fell to His friends lest they should idolize them! The same reason we have no pictures preserved of His likeness
1)Prov. 16:33 "The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole dis posing thereof is of the Lord." 2) Thus, the "best robe" (Lk. 15) is not left to the caprice of man's will, but to God's direction.
B. Slighting The Sacrifice:
1. No scene more graphically portrays the world's indifference to Christ's atoning work! 2. No sin is more damning to men's souls than to treat the cross of Christ as of no consequence! "Is it nothing to all you that pass by?"
III. THE SATISFACTION OF THE SCRIPTURES: v. 24b
A.Unbroken Absolutes!:
1. Here, the Inspiration, Inerrancy & Preservation of Scripture is set forth: "that the Scripture might be fulfilled."
NOTE: The passage is from Psalm 22:18. It is interesting that this is the same Psalm from which Jesus quoted as He cried out, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
2. Here, the integrity of the Scriptures is demonstrated: "These things therefore the soldiers did."
B.Unconscious Agents:
1. Not that some supernatural force was exercised to make these soldiers conform to the Scriptures, 2. But, that the prophetic Scripture was a perfect reading of these future events.
a. God is in control of every detail of history. b. No Word of God can fail. c. The One on the central cross was unmistakably the Messiah of Israel of Whom the prophets wrote.
CONCL: 🖐Praise the Lord that "The Scriptures cannot be broken!" 🙏Thank God for His infallible Word! ⚠ Be careful we are not guilty of slighting His sacrifice for us by the way we live.