In John 19:23, the evangelist says that after the soldiers had crucified Yeshua, they took His outer garments and made four parts, one part for each soldier. They then cast lots for His tunic. Now the evangelist describes the tunic as seamless and woven in one piece. Look with me, for a minute, at what John may have been trying to tell us.
The tunic mentioned here is Yeshua’s robe. John says that it was seamless, meaning that it was not made out of multiple pieces sewn together. It was one, solid piece of fabric. It was probably a very expensive robe because John said the soldiers cast lots for it. This robe reminded me of the Jewish marriage contract, called a KETUBAH. The groom draws up a KETUBAH before his wedding, and both the groom and the bride sign this special document. It is then read at the actual wedding ceremony. There is a very interesting statement in it. The man promises to his wife: “All my property, real and personal, even the mantle on my shoulders, shall be mortgaged to secure the payment of this marriage contract.” Those are ancient words from a traditional KETUBAH which John would have most likely been familiar with.
Could it be possible that John is emphasizing that Yeshua was fulfilling His commitment to the marriage? He even gave the very mantle on His shoulders to secure His bride? Wow!
But why would He do that?
So that we, His bride, can be clothed in His righteousness. His righteousness empowers us to weave our own robe of righteous acts with the guidance of His Spirit. He was stripped of His physical robe and crucified naked so that we would be clothed spiritually. We will never have to hide from G-d because we are ashamed of our nakedness or from fear of being “exposed.” Our Messiah has clothed us with His righteousness.
What an awesome Bridegroom we have. Praise Yeshua!