About 99.9% of you will read about the soldiers that flogged and beat Jesus, playing games at the foot of the cross and have a heart of judgement towards them.
John 19:23-24 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, one share for each soldier, and also the tunic the long shirtlike undergarment. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top throughout. So they said to one another, Let us not tear it, but let us cast lots to decide whose it shall be. This was to fulfill the Scripture, They parted My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots. So the soldiers did these things.
The soldiers were playing a lottery at the foot of the cross, they were playing a game, they were flipping a coin to determine a winner. It makes me mad. I can’t believe these men could callously beat Jesus so that he was marred beyond recognition and then play a game under him as he died a painful death, just to determine who would get his clothes. I fell into the group that heaps judgement all over these men until God changed my perspective. He moved me to higher ground. To a place where I could look down from above and see the big picture. It was there that the questions were asked:
Are we doing the same thing? Are we playing games at the foot of the cross?
Where has our reverence gone? Why is the fear of The Lord not the driving force in all we say and do? Why do we so easily flip a coin to determine things, instead of looking up at the cross where our savior gave HIS all so that you can have all of him? What else do you need? Truly?
Its sobering to realize that you and I are just like those soldiers. We have so many times throughout the day played the worlds games at the foot of the ONE who offered himself as a sacrifice for us. We are no different. We fall short. We squander our resources and play the lottery with the lives we’ve been given.
I wonder if the soldiers looked back on that day, maybe after they realized that Jesus went to that cross for them…”while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. I wonder if those soldiers, like you and I, had a moment of compete brokenness as they remembered how they played games at the foot of the cross, void of any reverence, void of kindness, callous, disgusting, selfish. I wonder if the soldiers would have taken a moment to ponder what they were doing and look up to that man on the cross, if God himself would have given them revelation and conviction of their sin.
I wonder this morning what lots are you casting, rather then trusting in God’s sovereignty in your life? I wonder for what shall you repent and turn back to the cross for? I wonder how if we just took a moment to look up from our game of life, face squarely toward the cross, if God himself would pour out His spirit upon us and we would be cleansed of all unrighteousness.
I know it to be true.
Stop casting lots.
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