The Seamless Robe
THE SEAMLESS ROBE
 
John 19:23-24
 
Have you ever thought about the fact that our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ wore a seamless robe? It was woven from top to bottom and not a seam in it. There’s a message for us in this seamless robe of Jesus.
 
When Jesus died on the cross rough Roman soldiers were gambling for His garment. It was one of the perks of the job. To crucify people was a bloody business so they had to have a little something. So, it was allowed for the soldiers to take the garments of the victim and divide those garments among themselves. 
 
Think about this. What a moment this was. Here is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, suffering physically and emotionally and spiritually on the cross for the sins of the world. The angels of glory are looking over the battlements of heaven. They are looking down at this sacred scene and just a few yards away Roman soldiers are throwing dice for the garments of the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Evidently there were at least two garments that the Lord Jesus wore, and maybe five, depended on how you interpret verse 23. We are told that they took the garments of Jesus, made four parts. Each one of them got one.
 Either they split that one garment into four pieces, which wouldn’t make a lot of sense, leaving only a rag, or there were five garments, and each one took one.
 
What would they have been? Perhaps Jesus had sandals. They said, “Marcelus, you can have His sandals.” Evidently there was a headpiece.   Someone said, “Lucas, you can have the headpiece.” There was evidently an outer robe and they said, “Brutus, you can have the outer robe.” There was a belt around which the garment
would be tied together. They probably said, “Antonio, you can have this belt.” 
 
But then there was this seamless robe. It was unusually put together. The Bible says it was
woven into one piece from the top to the bottom. I would like to think that maybe the mother of our Lord, Mary, made that for Him. I don’t know. I though about when Samuel was a little boy his mother, Hannah, would make a coat for him every year so he could go to the temple. It may be that this robe was made by the mother of the Lord
Jesus Christ, Mary.
 
Clothing in the Bible has spiritual significance. Messages are conveyed by the means of the use of clothing in the Bible. Even in our society today clothing means things. Sometimes clothing makes a statement. When you see young people with
unusual clothing on or clothing that gets attention, many times it is a cry for help. 
It is a cry on their part saying, “I want you to notice me. I have some needs. Take a look at me.” Clothing has all kinds of messages.
 
People have all kinds of garments. Sometimes these garments signify the emotional mood they are involved in. For instance, on the wedding day the bride is attired in her beautiful white gown symbolic of purity. In a sadder vein the widow is attired in her black dress symbolic of her mourning and grieving. 
 
So, clothes, even today, make a statement.
Clothes in the Bible made a statement and the clothes of the Lord Jesus and especially this seamless robe makes a statement to us. 
 
The first thing I want you to notice is that
 
This Robe Fulfills Scripture 
 
We are told in verse 24 that the fact that they did not tear this robe of the Lord Jesus was a fulfillment of an Old Testament Scripture. In verse 24 it
quotes a statement from Psalm 22:18. This is one of the most remarkable chapters in all of the Bible. You will find more vivid description and detail about the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ in that psalm, composed almost a thousand years before His crucifixion, than you will find in all of the four Gospels put together.
 
 
Someone has calculated that there are 33 distinct prophecies about the cross that are given to
us in Psalm 22. Keep in mind this was even before crucifixion had been invented. Keep in mind this was far, far before God had put His own son on the cross of Calvary. This simply means to us that every word of God is true. Everything God predicts is going to come to pass. 
 
God said in the Old Testament in Psalm 22 the day will come and they will gamble for the garments of Jesus Christ. It came to pass just like God said it would.
 
It lets us know something else about the cross. It lets us know that God was in charge that day when Jesus died on the cross. Jesus Christ died on that cross by the decree of the eternal Father. Jesus Christ was the Lamb who was slain before the
foundation of the earth. God was in charge that day at the cross.
 
In particular what I want to do is to draw you in a little closer to take a look at this seamless robe. This robe of the Lord Jesus paints a beautiful picture for us. It tells us some things about the Lord Jesus Christ that convey the message and the meaning of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. It answers a question—a question that every one of us are interested in today. The question being: how do you have to be clothed in order to get into heaven? What does it take to have an entrance into heaven? 
Do you have a suitable garment that will get you into heaven? Understand there is a dress code in heaven. If you should stand at the gates of heaven today and knock and they came and said to you, “How are you attired?” what would you say? 
What garment would you claim as your salvation garment?
 
Let’s look at that seamless robe for a few minutes this morning. First, let’s talk about this robe because it reminds us of –
 
I. The PERFECTION of Jesus.
 
It was a garment that didn’t have a seam in it—not a hard place in it—not a rough spot in it. It is a picture of the perfection of Jesus Christ. When Jesus died on that cross of Calvary, He was the eternal Son of God. But He is also the Son of Man who lived for
33 plus years on this earth. The Bible says He was the perfect, sinless Son of God.
 
The clothing of Jesus is an interesting study in and of itself. When Jesus was born the Bible says that they wrapped Him in swaddling clothes. Rather unusual clothing for a baby because swaddling clothes were clothes used for a burial. A baby born to die.
 
During the ministry of the Lord Jesus sometimes people would want to touch His garment.  
 
 
Remember the woman who came up behind Jesus and said, “If I could just touch the hem of His garment, I’ll be whole.” She did, and she was! Oh, the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Then, at the trial of the Lord Jesus when they laid aside His garments the soldiers reached out and got a worn-out tattered purple robe and put it around Him. A robe of royalty, making fun, making a mockery of who Jesus is.
 
Later, when Jesus is buried the Bible says the wrapped Him in a linen garment and He was buried in that garment. The Bible also tells us in Revelation 1 that when He comes back as our glorified Lord, He will have on a garment of glory.
 
We are looking at this seamless robe of Jesus and it reminds us of the sinlessness of Jesus. The Bible says that Jesus was sinless. The book of Hebrews says that He was holy and harmless and undefiled and separate from sinners. He was a friend of sinners and yet he was separate from sinners. Jesus was the sinless one. The Bible says that He
was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. So, here is a garment from top to bottom, not a seam.
 
Look Him over! Not one bad deed ever did He do on this earth. Look Him over! 
 
 
The father in heaven is pleased with Him. In fact, on two occasions God spoke from heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Look Him over! 
 
Even the one who betrayed Him said, “I have betrayed the innocent blood.” Look Him over! 
Even the one who condemned Him to die said, “I find no fault in this man.” You and I have a perfect Savior, the Lord Jesus. He did something that you and I are not able to do. 
 
He encountered all of the temptations, He went through all of the difficulties and the heartaches and the trials and the agonies and the pollutions of this world and never one time did Jesus sin.
 
The seamless robe reminds us of the perfection of Jesus in His sinlessness. 
 
It also reminds us of our sinfulness. Just as Jesus never sinned, the Bible says you and I are
sinner not only by birth but by also by choice. The whole story of you and me can be told by the use of clothing in the Bible. 
 
The first time clothing is ever mentioned in the Bible it occurs in the Garden of Eden. God created Adam and Eve. He put them in a perfect environment. The Bible says that they were without clothing. They had no physical clothing. They were naked
and the Bible says they were unashamed because they were clothed in glory. 
They were clothed in innocence. Then sin came and when it did it stripped them of their innocence. They became sinners. They became aware of their nakedness. The Bible says that Adam and Eve tried to sew fig leaves together to provide some way to cover them in their sin.
 
That’s exactly what people try to do today. People try to sow the fig leaves of their own goodness, and the fig leaves of their own good works. They get involved in social projects trying to get a garment that will be pleasing to God. 
 
But God came in that garden and the Bible says they hid from God because their garment of fig leaves would not do. Just like them we are now clothed in a garment of guilt. 
 
In fact, Isaiah 64:6 says, all of our righteousness are as filthy rags. You say you want to go to heaven? God says you have to be perfect to get into heaven. Perfection is God’s standard. You and I are
standing in a garment of imperfection. How can we who are imperfect get into God’s perfect heaven? Here we are in the robes of our sin. We are in the rags of our own sinfulness. 
 
Get the picture. Here is Jesus. He has a perfect robe of righteousness. He never sinned. Here are you and I and we have the rags of our own sinfulness. The question is – how can I get rid of this rag of my sins and how can I obtain this robe of
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ?
When Jesus died on that cross, that robe was laid aside. It was not torn. It was not ripped. It was left intact. 
 
The second truth I want to remind you about the cross and the seamless robe is that the seamless robe reminds us of –
 
II. The POSITION of Jesus.
 
At the cross Jesus is taking a position. The fact that the robe was not torn lets us know something important about Jesus as He dies on that cross of Calvary.
 
Around the cross, several interesting things took place. Among them were two instances where something is torn. The seamless robe of Jesus was not torn. It remained intact; He’s the sinless One. 
 
Yet, there are two other pieces of cloth that are torn.
Turn back to the book of Mark 14. This is the trial of the Lord Jesus Christ. The High Priest is a man named Caiaphas. He is conducting this religious trial of Jesus. 
 
They are asking Him if He is indeed the Messiah. In verse 62 Jesus says, “I am.” The question has been asked – are you the Messiah? You will see the son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. 
 
Notice what happens in verse 63. Then the high priest rent his clothes and said what need we any further witnesses. The high priest tore his clothes. 
 
When you read that you think the high priest must be real upset. No, not on your life. He’s putting on a good show. Actually this high priest is tickled pink. He’s been trying to find something to hang on Jesus. 
 
He’s been trying some way to get Jesus killed. He’s been looking for an angle to be able to put the Lord Jesus Christ on a cross. So, when Jesus said, “I am the Messiah,” the high priest tears his robes.
 
The Old Testament is very specific. The Old Testament says that the high priest is never, ever to tear his clothes. Why? The high priest was to go into the presence of God. It doesn’t matter what kind of problem you have or how difficult the situation is—when you are in the presence of God nothing is hopeless. 
 
When people tore the garments it was a sign of grief and mourning and despair and hopelessness. But the priest was never to tear his garments because God is the God of hope. Nothing is ever hopeless
when Jesus Christ is on the scene. Nothing is ever hopeless when God is in charge of the matter. 
 
Yet, he tore his robe and its as if God says, “All right, what you’ve done, I’ll let it stand, but His robe, the robe of the Lord Jesus will never be torn.”
What’s happening? Jesus is now taking a position as high priest. Jesus is our High Priest. That’s why
we don’t have an earthly priesthood anymore. 
 
Every believer is a priest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is our Great High Priest. No human being can come between you and God. 
 
The Bible says in I Timothy 2:5 there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.   You have a high priest and He is the One who wore the seamless robe. He is the One whose robe was untorn. You have a High Priest who can take you into the very presence of God Himself. We go in there because we have a High
Priest—the Lord Jesus.
 
There was another tearing that went on at this Calvary scene. Turn back to Matthew 27. Notice what happened when Jesus died on that cross. Keep in mind they didn’t tear the robe of Jesus. It was a seamless robe. The high priest has torn his robe. 
 
He has just rendered his position obsolete. There aren’t any high priests on earth any more. Notice what God does. We are told in verse 50 that when Jesus cried again with a loud voice, it is finished, and yielded up the ghost, verse 51 says, and behold the veil in the temple was torn into from the top to the bottom.  
 
God says, “Now I’m going to open up a new and living way into my presence.” God just reached down from heaven and took that veil that separated man from the holy of holies where the presence of God was and God tore that veil open. 
 
He says, “Through the blood of Jesus dying on the
cross, I have opened up the way so that people can come into the very presence of God through my Son the Lord Jesus Christ.”
 
The seamless robe reminds us of the perfection of Jesus. The seamless robe reminds us of the position of Jesus. He’s our High Priest. He’s our Way into the presence of God. The seamless robe of Jesus reminds us of—
 
III. The PROVISION of Jesus.
 
Jesus is doing something on that cross. Jesus is making a provision. I’m back to the question—do you want to go heaven? Yes! You have to have the right garment on.
 
How do you get the garment that will get you into heaven? You have to understand the provision that Jesus has made. 
 
See what Jesus did here. We are told that Jesus died and that garment had been laid aside. When Jesus died on that cross the seamless robe was
laid aside. The soldiers were gambling for it. One of them would win it and walk away. Somebody was going home that day with the first “Jesus” shirt!
 
So, when Jesus died on the cross, He’s laying aside His righteousness and the Bible indicates He is taking upon Himself your sins and my sins on the cross.
 
That’s II Corinthians 5:21: . This is a beautiful picture. For he hath made Him (the Lord Jesus) to be sin for us, him who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. God made Him who knew no sin. 
 
He laid aside His robe of righteousness to be sin for us.   He took upon Himself the rags of our sins. It doesn’t say that He made Him a sinner. It doesn’t say Jesus became a sinner.   He was not made a sinner on the cross, the Bible says He was made SIN on the cross.  
 
Think about all of the sin that has ever been committed or ever will be committed in this earth. 
Think about every sin that you, every sin I, have ever or will commit. In that moment, for about six hours, when Jesus hung between heaven and hearth, naked, exposed, the Bible says God made Him sin. Oh, what a thought! God made Him sin.
 
The Bible says in Isaiah 53:6, the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. That big black bundle of my sin was laid on Jesus. 
That big black bundle of your sin, every sordid deed, every ugly word, every depraved thought or action—that whole burden of your sin, was laid on Jesus. And the holy wrath of God was poured out on Jesus Christ. 
 
God smashed sin that day when Jesus hung naked on that cross. That’s why we sing, “At the cross, at the cross.” That’s why we sing, “When I survey the
wondrous cross.” It is at the cross that Jesus laid aside His righteousness and took upon Himself our sinfulness and paid the price in full for you and me.
 
That’s what Jesus did when He died on the cross. You and I, in the nakedness of our sin exposed, and the Lord Jesus Christ laid aside His robe and wrapped us up and paid for our sins that day when He died on that cross.
 
The old song, It is Well With My Soul, says it so beautifully. “My sin, o the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part but the whole. Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul.”
 
That’s what Jesus did. He laid aside His seamless robe of righteousness. He put upon Himself our rags of sinfulness. Why? Jesus did that in order to provide for you and to offer to you a robe of righteousness that will get you into heaven.
 
 
Back in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve tried to sew the fig leaves and yet they realized it wasn’t adequate. God, in Genesis 3:21, clothed them with skins. That means He clothed them with the skin of an animal. 
 
I can almost imagine what happened. There had been no death at this point. There had been no sight of blood. Yet, God Himself took an animal and for the first time as the throat of that animal was slashed—for the first time Adam and Eve saw blood. 
 
That lifeblood poured out of that animal and it
died and for the first time they saw death. Then God took the skin of that animal and clothed Adam and Eve. They got a glimpse of the cross. I can almost imagine them saying, “I never knew my sin cost that much. I never knew my sin caused blood and death.” 
 
They understood that you had to be covered in order to come into the presence of a holy God.
 
Here’s the picture. It’s called in the Bible the imputed righteousness of Jesus. 
 
Turn to Romans 4. Imputed—that’s a big word but I’ll explain it in a moment. What you and I need is the imputed righteousness of Jesus. 
 
Imputed means that it’s put down on your account. Imputed means that it’s given to you. 
Verse 6 says, even as David also describes the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered.  
 
Get the picture? You could not get into heaven if perfection is the standard. You can’t make it. 
 
How then, can you get into heaven? I have some good news for you. The good news is that Jesus took your garment of sin at the cross and now Jesus says, “I want to give you a salvation garment. I want to impute (give) my righteousness to you.” 
 
Would you like to have that?
 
Turn to the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament. Chapter 61, verse 10 says, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God. For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness.
 
The only person who had a robe of righteousness is the Lord Jesus. That seamless robe at Calvary is a picture of that robe of righteousness of Jesus. It was laid aside at the cross. He took upon Himself the garment of our sin. Now, Jesus says, “I want to give you my righteousness.”
 
When I go to heaven, I’m going to go there perfect. You say, “Wait a minute, preacher, I’ve followed you up until now, but you going to heaven perfect?
Yes, that’s the only way I’m going to get there. I didn’t say I’ve never sinned. “Since you’ve been saved, you aren’t going to ever sin again?’ No, I didn’t say that either. 
 
I’m just simply saying that one time as an eighteen-year-old boy I realized that I was a sinner and that Jesus died on that rugged cross for my sins and I came to the Lord Jesus Christ and received Him as my Lord and Savior. 
 
When I did, He clothed me, He covered me in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. I stand
before God and say, “God, I don’t deserve to go into heaven—all these sins I’ve committed.” 
 
God says, “What sins are you talking about?” I say, “Look at all these sins I’ve committed.” God says, “I don’t see any sins. All I see is the robe of the perfect righteousness of my Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
            When He shall come with trumpet sound.
            O, may I then in Him be found.
            Dressed in His righteousness along
            Faultless to stand before the throne.
 
That’s how you get into heaven. You get into heaven because you have on the robe that Jesus provided for you.
 
Would you like to have that robe? In Matthew 22 Jesus told a parable about a wedding feast. People were invited to the wedding. 
There was a man who came in and he just brushes by the door. 
 
In those days when you went to a wedding they provided you a wedding garment. You didn’t have to buy your own tux to be in a wedding. You didn’t have to buy your own bridesmaid dress to be in a wedding. At the door the wedding garment was provided. 
 
Here comes a guy along and he says, “O, I don’t need that wedding garment. I’ll just go in like I
am.” Jesus said in verse 11, and when the king came to see the guests he saw there was a man who had not on a wedding garment. He said unto him, friend, how camest thou in thither and having not a wedding garment? 
 
And he was speechless.   You can’t get in unless you have the right garment on. You can’t get
in unless you have the robe provided by God Himself. Have you received the robe? How do you get it? 
 
Go back to John 19 and I’ll tie it all together. There they took those first four garments and evidently
divided them among the different soldiers. 
 
Then they took that seamless robe of Jesus Christ and in verse 24 they said, therefore among themselves let us not tear it but cast lots (that is, throw dice for it) whose it shall be. That’s what they did. 
The four soldiers stood there and started throwing dice. Whoever gets snake eyes gets the garment. A soldier threw snake eyes (or whatever) and he got that seamless robe of Jesus. 
 
That soldier got the literal seamless robe of Jesus by chance. That’s not how you get the spiritual robe that God has provided for you.
 
You get that by choice. Romans 3:21 says, but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all that
believe.  
 
Here’s how you can get it. You realize you are a sinner and that your righteousness won’t get you into heaven. You realize that Jesus died on that cross in order to make it possible for you to have this robe of righteousness. 
 
So, you come to Jesus and say, “Lord Jesus, I believe you died on that cross for all. I believe that robe of righteousness is for all. That means it’s for me. Lord Jesus, you have said it is unto all. I’m asking that you give me this robe of righteousness.”  
 
When you believe, when you trust Jesus, God clothes you in this perfect robe of the righteousness of Jesus.   Come get your robe this morning. You need that robe. You don’t have a chance of getting into heaven without it.