Daily Devotional Wednesday 8th April 2020
by William Moody
John 19:23–27
23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic.1 But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,
“They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”
So the soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
Footnotes
[1] 19:23
Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin (ESV)
There is quite a contrast in this section between the lack of concern in the actions of the soldiers (v23-24) and the amazing concern displayed in Christ’s words (v25-27).
As Jesus suffers and dies the soldiers were oblivious to His suffering and are just concerned about who gets his clothes and they gamble for his tunic (v23-24). Amazingly this was prophesied by David in Psalm 22 v18 approximately 1,000 years before it happened. All that was happening, down to the last detail was according to God’s sovereign plan (see Acts 4 v27-28).
Jesus by contrast, even as He suffers terribly is concerned about His mother Mary who was at the cross (v26-27). Jesus calls upon John His beloved disciple to care for mother. This was something which John was very willing to do.
As we go through life are we like the soldiers, indifferent to suffering and just caring about what we can get, or are we like Jesus who even in His suffering was caring for others? Pray to God honestly about this.
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