John 19:23-27
Let’s look at two things that are recorded in John’s gospel regarding Christ’s final moments on the cross. Both of these happenings lend to Christ’s role as head of the church. On one hand, Jesus is the High Priest of the church, serving as the mediator between the saint and the Father, just as Aaron was the liaison between the people and God. On the other hand, Jesus is the husband with the church serving as the Bride of Christ. He calls Himself our Husband (Isaiah 54:5), and He loves us as a Heavenly Husband (Ephesians 5:23).
Christ can take upon Himself no role or title that was not paid for at Calvary, thus if He is our High Priest and our Husband, He must have paid for those positions with His own body and blood on the tree. The Apostle John gives us unique insight into both of those payments as he records the soldiers gambling for Jesus’ garments near the foot of the cross and Jesus’ own mother standing nearby the cross next to the author. These back-to-back stories are the details of Jesus’ payment to be our High Priest and our Husband.
The 4 soldiers that put Jesus on the cross are bored with the dying criminals and the carpenter. They turn their attention to games of chance, dividing his clothes among themselves as souvenirs before turning to His outer garment. The garment that Jesus wore was seamless having been woven from the top down. This was the same type of garment that was worn by the high priest of Israel and it was considered quite valuable. When the soldiers spotted its quality, they decided to cast lots for it (equivalent to drawing straws, or “paper, rock, scissors”) to determine who would keep it.
They were unaware (and unconcerned) that they were helping fulfill scripture by casting lots for Jesus’ garments (Psalms 22:18). They also could not have known that the garment that they were gambling for was essential to the high priesthood of Israel. If the seamless garment of the high priest was torn then he could not perform the morning or the evening sacrifice until he had a new garment made. Without coincidence, the high priest Caiaphas had torn his just hours earlier when he accused Jesus of blasphemy (Matthew 26:65). By leaving the outer garment of Jesus untorn, these soldiers were unwittingly qualifying Jesus to be the new high priest. What is Jesus first act as new high priest? He takes care of the morning sacrifice (He goes on the cross at 9 a.m.) and He takes care of the evening sacrifice (He dies at 3 p.m.).
Mary, mother of Jesus, stood by the cross near some more acquaintances of Jesus, including the disciple whom Jesus loved (John). Jesus speaks directly to Mary when He says, “Woman, behold thy son!” (John 19:26), and then He turns to John and declares, “Behold thy mother!” (19:27). God had given specific instructions concerning marriage when He said, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). With the Father having already turned His back on His Son, Jesus must now be rid of the responsibility of His mother. Once He has placed her in the care of John, He is free to “cleave unto His wife”, with His wife being the church. Jesus has now paid to be our Husband!
Let the glorious knowledge that Jesus went to such lengths to be your High Priest before God and that He is your loving Husband right now. You are dead to your first husband (the Law), “by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead” (Romans 7:4).
Let’s look at two things that are recorded in John’s gospel regarding Christ’s final moments on the cross. Both of these happenings lend to Christ’s role as head of the church. On one hand, Jesus is the High Priest of the church, serving as the mediator between the saint and the Father, just as Aaron was the liaison between the people and God. On the other hand, Jesus is the husband with the church serving as the Bride of Christ. He calls Himself our Husband (Isaiah 54:5), and He loves us as a Heavenly Husband (Ephesians 5:23).
Christ can take upon Himself no role or title that was not paid for at Calvary, thus if He is our High Priest and our Husband, He must have paid for those positions with His own body and blood on the tree. The Apostle John gives us unique insight into both of those payments as he records the soldiers gambling for Jesus’ garments near the foot of the cross and Jesus’ own mother standing nearby the cross next to the author. These back-to-back stories are the details of Jesus’ payment to be our High Priest and our Husband.
The 4 soldiers that put Jesus on the cross are bored with the dying criminals and the carpenter. They turn their attention to games of chance, dividing his clothes among themselves as souvenirs before turning to His outer garment. The garment that Jesus wore was seamless having been woven from the top down. This was the same type of garment that was worn by the high priest of Israel and it was considered quite valuable. When the soldiers spotted its quality, they decided to cast lots for it (equivalent to drawing straws, or “paper, rock, scissors”) to determine who would keep it.
They were unaware (and unconcerned) that they were helping fulfill scripture by casting lots for Jesus’ garments (Psalms 22:18). They also could not have known that the garment that they were gambling for was essential to the high priesthood of Israel. If the seamless garment of the high priest was torn then he could not perform the morning or the evening sacrifice until he had a new garment made. Without coincidence, the high priest Caiaphas had torn his just hours earlier when he accused Jesus of blasphemy (Matthew 26:65). By leaving the outer garment of Jesus untorn, these soldiers were unwittingly qualifying Jesus to be the new high priest. What is Jesus first act as new high priest? He takes care of the morning sacrifice (He goes on the cross at 9 a.m.) and He takes care of the evening sacrifice (He dies at 3 p.m.).
Mary, mother of Jesus, stood by the cross near some more acquaintances of Jesus, including the disciple whom Jesus loved (John). Jesus speaks directly to Mary when He says, “Woman, behold thy son!” (John 19:26), and then He turns to John and declares, “Behold thy mother!” (19:27). God had given specific instructions concerning marriage when He said, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). With the Father having already turned His back on His Son, Jesus must now be rid of the responsibility of His mother. Once He has placed her in the care of John, He is free to “cleave unto His wife”, with His wife being the church. Jesus has now paid to be our Husband!
Let the glorious knowledge that Jesus went to such lengths to be your High Priest before God and that He is your loving Husband right now. You are dead to your first husband (the Law), “by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead” (Romans 7:4).
