<p>19:23 <em>The soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also the coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout</em>- This was all prefigured in how Joseph lost his garment before he went into the pit and before he went to prison (Gen. 39:13). Presumably there were many soldiers around. The temple guard which was seconded to the Jews (Mt. 27:65) was doubtless there in full force, lest there be any attempt to save Jesus by the crowd or the disciples. And yet Jn. 19:23 suggests there were only four soldiers, each of whom received a part of His clothing. This must mean that there were four actually involved in the crucifixion: one for each hand and foot. He had signs of nails (plural) in His hands. We are left to meditate as to whether He was nailed hand over hand as tradition has it (which would have meant two very long nails were used); or both hands separately.</p><p>It is likely that the Lord was crucified naked, thereby sharing the shame of Adam's nakedness. The <em>shame</em> of the cross is stressed (Heb. 11:26; 12:2; Ps. 31:17; Ps. 69:6,7,12,19,20). And we are to share those sufferings. There <em>must</em>, therefore, be an open standing up for what we believe in the eyes of a hostile world. Preaching, in this sense, is for all of us. And if we dodge this, we put the Son of God to a naked shame; we re-crucify Him naked, we shame Him again (Heb. 6:6). He was crucified naked, and the sun went in for three hours. He must have been cold, very cold (Jn. 18:18). Artemidorus Daldianus (<em>Oneirokritika </em>2.53) confirms that the Romans usually crucified victims naked. Melito of Sardis, writing in the 2nd century, writes of &ldquo;his body naked and not even deemed worthy of a clothing that it might not be seen. Therefore the heavenly lights turned away and the day darkened in order that he might be hidden who was denuded upon the cross&quot; (<em>On the Pasch</em> 97). The earliest portrayals of the crucified Jesus, on carved gems, feature Him naked.</p><p>There is reason to think that the Jews put the Lord to the maximum possible shame and pain; therefore they may well have crucified Him naked. T. Mommsen <em>The Digest Of Justinian </em>48.20.6 reports that &ldquo;the garments that the condemned person is wearing may not be demanded by the torturers&quot;- the fact that they gambled for His clothes shows that the Lord was yet again treated illegally (quite a feature of the records) and to the maximum level of abuse. We not only get this impression from the Biblical record, but from a passage in the Wisdom of Solomon (2:12-20) which would have been well known to them, and which has a surprising number of similarities to the Lord&rsquo;s life amongst the Jews:<br />&ldquo;Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he annoys us and opposes our way of life, reproaches us for our breaches of the law an accuses us of playing false...he claims to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a son of the Lord. Before us he stands, a reproof to our way of thinking, the very sight of him weighs our spirits down; His way of life is not like other men&rsquo;s...in His opinion we are counterfeit... and boasts of having God as His father. let us see if what he says is true, let us observe what kind of end he himself will have. If the virtuous man is God&rsquo;s son, God will take his part and rescue him from the clutches of his enemies<em>. Let us test him with cruelty and with torture, and thus explore this gentleness of His and put His endurance to the proof. Let us condemn him to a shameful death</em> since he will be looked after- we have his word for it&quot;.</p><p>Susan Garrett lists several Greek words and phrases found in the Gospel of Mark which are identical to those in this section of the Wisdom of Solomon. It would seem that Mark was aware of this passage in the Wisdom of Solomon, and sought to show how throughout the Lord's ministry, and especially in His death, the Jews were seeking to apply it to Him in the way they treated Him. See Susan Garrett, <em>The Temptations Of Jesus In Mark's Gospel</em> (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998) p. 68.</p><p>The idea of the Lord being subjected to the maximum pain and mocking must, sadly, be applied to Seneca&rsquo;s description of how some victims of crucifixion were nailed through their genitals (<em>Dialogi</em> 6.20.3). In this sense the paradox of Is. 53 would have come true- through losing His ability to bring forth children, the Lord brought forth a huge multitude of spiritual children world-wide. It&rsquo;s an honour to be one of them. <br />There seems to have been something unusual about the Lord&rsquo;s outer garment. The same Greek word <em>chiton</em> used in Jn. 19:23,24 is that used in the LXX of Gen. 37:3 to describe Joseph&rsquo;s coat of many pieces. Josephus (<em>Antiquities</em> 3.7.4,161) uses the word for the tunic of the High Priest, which was likewise not to be rent (Lev. 21:10). The Lord in His time of dying is thus set up as High Priest, gaining forgiveness for His people, to &lsquo;come out&rsquo; of the grave as on the day of Atonement, pronouncing the forgiveness gained, and bidding His people spread that good news world-wide.</p>