Thoughts on the Gospel of John (195) - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

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. Therefore the soldiers did these things.
John 19:23–24

Thoughts on the Gospel of John (195)
It is sometimes claimed that the four evangelists copied from each other or that they were not interested in the factualness of their accounts. The opposite is the case. How accurately the Apostle John describes here how the soldiers handled Jesus’ clothes! “The soldiers did these things” – he was an eyewitness to this fact.

Do the soldiers know what they are doing here? They are literally fulfilling the prophecy that was written down about 1,000 years earlier by David in Psalm 22. As trivial as the detail about Jesus’ seamless garment may seem to us, it serves to confirm the Word of God.

The seamless garment also has a symbolic value. Everything about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is as though it is made of one piece, without cracks and without seams. Whether it is His thoughts and feelings, His words or His deeds – everything is perfect.

How different we are in our sinful state! The fitting symbol for us and our works is the apron of fig leaves that Adam and Eve stitched together to clothe themselves. Anyone who knows the shape of fig leaves knows how many seams there are – all just patchwork of the most awkward kind. In contrast to this the life of Jesus is perfect, “without seam”!

(to be continued next Sunday)

Today’s reading: Daniel 4:28-37 · Psalms 41:1-9