◄ What Does Matthew 27:35 Mean? ►

And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots.

Matthew 27:35(NASB)

Verse of the Day

The King of Israel and Saviour of the world was crucified on Calvary's Cross between two thieves, after having been falsely accused and sentenced to death at an illegal trial. The four Gospels combine to describe glimpses of His betrayal, His arrest, and some of the cruel treatment Jesus received at the hands of sinful men, yet He allowed Himself to be led as a lamb to the slaughter and opened not His mouth, and in so doing, fulfilled all things which were prophesied of Him in Scripture.

Man cannot begin to imagine the physical torture that Christ had to undergo on behalf of the sin of the whole world, but the emotional and spiritual anguish that He must have endured when His Heavenly Father turned away from Him and poured out the full force of His godly wrath upon Him in payment for the accumulated sin of the world, which He carried on our behalf, is beyond our finite imagination and staggers our limited understanding.

It was David who was led by the Spirit of God to describe one small aspect of the events of that pivotal day in the history of the universe, when he wrote: "Dogs have compassed me. The assembly of the wicked have enclosed me. They pierced My hands and My feet. They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture."

The piercing of His hands and feet by the Roman soldiers, and the dice thrown by the duty-guards as they gambled amongst themselves for His garments, were just two of the hundreds of prophetic Scriptures that described in detail the events of that unique day, when God, the Creator of the universe, willingly gave His life as a ransom for many.

Those Roman soldiers could never have imagined the part they would play in the glorious story of the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, as they crucified 'Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews' on a wooden cross outside the city gates of Jerusalem, and divided up His garments amongst themselves, by casting lots.

My Prayer

Heavenly Father, what a dark side of human nature is shown by this description of people casting lots for Jesus' clothes. Thank You that even here, prophecy is being fulfilled as the words of Psalm 22 echo in my mind. Thank You for Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross so that all who believe on Him, including those at the Cross casting lots for His clothes, might be saved. Thank You, in Jesus' name, AMEN.