This inner tunic was extremely well made by someone highly skilled in weaving. The construction so far superior, that all the guards saw it as a prized possession, not to be torn into pieces. They decided instead to cast lots for it, which meant that they would all place a marked lot into a vessel which was shaken by one of them with his face turned away…the first lot to fall out would indicate the person chosen. This game of chance that the guards took part in was foretold of in Psalm 22:18, which is considered a Messianic Psalm…one pertaining to Jesus. Those guards had no idea they were fulfilling Messianic prophecy that day at Golgotha.
Tag: theology
John 19:36 ” These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: ‘Not one of His bones will be broken,’ and, as another scripture says, ‘They will look on the one they have pierced.’ “
The Lord gave Moses many regulations and restrictions about the Passover Lamb, one being, the breaking of the lamb’s bones was forbidden. As it was with the Lamb of God…none of His bones were broken by the guards as He hung on the Cross. David prophesied this in Psalm 34:20 when he wrote, ” He protects all His bones, not one of them will be broken.” The Old Testament Prophet Zechariah gave us insight into the last bit of this scripture…”And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on Me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a first-born son.” God fulfilled to the letter what was foretold in the Old Testament about His Son.
Hebrews 13: 11-12 ” The High Priest carries the blood of animals into the Most High Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through His own blood.”
The Law specifically dictated how the body of the sacrificed animal was to be disposed of…it was to be burned outside the camp. And so it was with Jesus, who was taken by the guards outside the city gate to the place of the Skull…Golgotha. There, God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement…not only appointed as the place to come with our sins, but He Himself being the very means by which this atonement was made. The Church was now sanctified and made holy by the shedding of Jesus blood.
Matthew 16:21 ” From that time on, Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the Elders, Chief Priests, and Teachers of the Law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
Jesus had just asked the disciples who they thought He was, and Peter had answered…”You are the Messiah, the Son of God!” So now Jesus was proceeding with the next aspect of His journey towards the cross. He started to make very plain to them the horrific experiences He would have to undergo at the hands of the Jewish Leaders…but on the third day He would be resurrected from the dead. I can only imagine that His disciples had a very difficult time wrapping their minds around the things He was telling them…not wanting to believe Him, but also remembering Isaiah’s prophecy…”He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised and we esteemed Him not. Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”
Hebrews 10: 9-10 ” …Here I am, I have come to do Your will. He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Unlike the other priests, Jesus didn’t have to keep offering sacrifices day after day for the people. He sacrificed for their sins, once for all when He offered Himself. He willingly gave Himself up as the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf, and by doing so destroyed the power of Death and the grave. As it says in I Peter 2:24 ” He bore our sins in His body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.” Jesus came to do His Father’s Will…once, for all.
Matthew 26:31 ” Then Jesus told them, ‘This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ “
For three years Jesus had lived, laughed, worked, and traveled with His disciples, but now they couldn’t believe their ears when He told them they were all going to abandon Him. The scripture Jesus is quoting comes from Zechariah 13:7 ” Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me! declares the Lord Almighty. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones.” He was using Old Testament prophecy to foretell what was about to happen…even if all the disciples insisted otherwise. As they sat around the table, none of them could imagine what He was telling them would come true in a few short hours…none of them could envision deserting Jesus…but they all did.
Jeremiah 31:34 ” No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.”
This scripture shows perfectly the vast difference between the Old and New Covenant. No longer would we have to be instructed about the Lord, from someone who was also instructed about Him…now, we could experience Him personally, with no middleman. No longer would we only be able to read about His love and mercy…now, we could encounter it ourselves intimately from our loving Heavenly Father. No longer would we just gaze at a painting of God longingly, wishing to know Him better….now, with the Holy Spirit dwelling inside us, we have that unshakeable confidence of knowing Him profoundly. The New covenant… a covenant of peace, and personal relationship with the Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 52:7 ” How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, your God reigns.”
The watchmen on the city wall kept their eyes fixed on the horizon for the lone messenger running from battle bringing good news. In your young walk with the Lord did you have a similar person who proclaimed good news to you? They mentored you as you grew in the Lord… instructing, exhorting, encouraging, but always sharing the Good News. Now it’s your turn to be that messenger in someone elses life. Before you say,” I can’t do that”… What has the Lord done for you in your own life?… That’s Good News! What are stories of how the Lord saved you, delivered you, and brought you peace?… That’s Good News! Can you proclaim that your God reigns in the world and in your life?… That’s Good News! See, I knew you were a Messenger of God!
Isaiah 64: 6 ” All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind, our sins sweep us away.”
Everyone of us are ceremonially unclean before the Lord…like a Leper, we should all be calling out- “Unclean! Unclean!”… Every moral, honorable, or pious thing that we’ve ever done, and that we’re so very proud of, is like a foul obscenity in God’s eyes. Our right standing with Him has nothing at all to do with us, or our works. Those good works will get us no where. Sadly, All those misdeeds- those sins, and their consequences- the results of sin, will slowly wither us up, from the inside out, until we are finally carried off by the tempest of sin…far from God.
Philippians 2: 1-2 ” If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in Spirit and purpose.”
The Apostle Paul was asking the people to examine their own lives and personal relationship with the Lord… and then to turn that outwards towards others. He was exhorting the Church in Philippi to be joined together as one community of life and love, having the same mindset as they moved forward. Paul was using the example of Christ’s unconditional love, mercy, and compassion towards them as a catalyst to spur them on to imitate Christ within and outside the church walls. Even today, we could benefit from Paul’s appeal…all being like-minded in love and purpose as the Church moves forward into the future.
Safetypinlove 