John 19:23 Commentary and Bible Study

The final humiliation outwardly is that he was stripped entirely and his garments were seized by the soldiers. Now his mother was there, the soldiers did not necessarily know that but they might have guessed that there would be a sorrowing mother would come near in the final moment. Well, with Christ, his mother was there and his mother’s sisters and others we read in this very passage. Were they offered anything? Oh no. This man is entitled to nothing. He is being crucified. His last few possessions, his garments are stripped from him and they are seized by the soldiers. It is their prerogative to do whatever they like. It is not legal, it is not proper, but it is the done thing. They steal even his last items of clothing. So there is theft at Calvary’s cross. The Son of God, the incarnate Son of God, our Lord who made everything, on earth stripped even of that last element of clothing. It sounds a mournful subject but this is what sets us free, this is what gives us liberty, this is what leads to our conversion, trusting in Christ. On Calvary even in the outward circumstances, there was humiliation – it was ours. There was unbelief – it was ours. There was dishonesty – it was ours. There was rejection of Christ – just like ours. There was deep corruption, there was theft. All the things that Christ atoned for that we may be forgiven, that we may be received by God, that we may be blessed, that we may be rebuilt, remade, and given eternal life.There is no greater act of kindness and love in the universe than Christ’s suffering and death for sinners on the cross of Calvary. There is no greater transaction, not in the City of London or all the financial markets. There is no greater transaction known in human history, and Christ taking and paying the penalty of sin for us and purchasing our souls. There is nothing more powerful or more enduring than the accomplishment of the cross of Christ bringing about the salvation of millions and millions of people.