As we have been looking at the man suffering on the cross, as described by the victim of the cross in Psalm 22, we have seen in detail how Jesus fulfilled this amazing prophecy of Messiah’s suffering and death. The last thing I want us to consider on this Good Friday, as we focus on the cross, is the comment the psalmist records in verse 18 when he writes, “They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots,” (Ps.22:18 NKJV). At this point the man on the cross is near death, His hands and His feet have been pierced and He can count all of His bones as they are disjointed in the agony of crucifixion. He watches helplessly as His murderers gamble for His lone garment. Interestingly, all four of the gospel writers’ record this gambling for the Jesus’ garment. It’s one of the few times in the Gospels where all four writers report the same incident with the same details. We read John’s comments on this where he writes, “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: “They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.” (John 19:23 – 24 NKJV). This also supports what I shared last week in my blog when I talked about Jesus having been crucified naked. Here the soldiers are gambling for the last piece of His clothing as His other clothing had already been divided among them. Think that all of our Lord’s earthly possessions had now been distributed among the soldiers who crucified Him.
David, as the author of Psalm 22, is describing some physical distress and mockery by his opponents and he used this picture of the casting lots for the victims clothing at an execution scene which was very common in biblical times. Yet the execution that David is describing in detail is not something that he himself ever experienced and his comments transcend over 1000 years, from the time that David gave this prophecy until the time when Jesus fulfilled it. The attitude of the soldiers at the foot of the cross reminds us of the heartless condition of Joseph’s brothers, who coldly ate their lunch while Joseph cried from a pit for his deliverance, before they sold him into slavery. So many prophecies that are fulfilled in the death and suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ. The interweaving of the Old Testament into the events of the Lord Jesus Christ's last days is profound.
Fulfilled prophecy is one of the strongest pieces of evidence that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be. This Good Friday we are reminded that the things that happened to the Lord Jesus Christ did not happen by chance or because of man’s actions. God was superintending the events that resulted in the shed blood and death of Jesus Christ on what we call Good Friday. But what is it that makes it good? I think Paul has a very powerful answer to that question when he writes, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were yet sinners Christ died for us,” (Rom.5:8 NKJV). Jesus suffered and died for us so that He may bring us into God’s family. So, on this Good Friday won’t you please take time to consider the significance and power of Jesus’s sacrifice on your behalf. While the events that took place in Jesus’s death and burial are deeply distressful, we also know it’s not the end of the story. Remember -“It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming”.
Surrendered to Jesus, Pastor Rich Sivo
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