Our passage of scripture this morning is just two verses, John 19, 23, and 24. Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one place. They said, therefore, among themselves, let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be, that the scripture might be fulfilled, which says, they divided my garments among them, and for my clothing, they cast lots. Therefore, the soldiers did these things. You may have noticed that I had a different title in the bulletin for this sermon. I have Fulfilled Prophecy as the title there. And if you look on your notes, your sermon notes that I gave you, the title is Jesus' Humiliation. And the reason I left it like that with two different titles is both of them apply to this verse. And so that was intentional on my part. And we see in the cross, Jesus's humiliation, according to our Westminster Shorter Catechism, which describes in question 27 or in the answer to question 27, the various parts of Christ's humiliation. Since he was God, it was part of humiliation just to become a human being when he was born. and he was born to an ordinary couple in a lowly circumstance. They weren't necessarily the poorest people in the world, but when he was born, Caesar Augustus was doing a census and they had to travel. Imagine being pregnant and almost having a baby and having to travel on foot or on a donkey and then they go to a place where there's no room for them. and Jesus is born in a manger. So you could say that's humiliating circumstances, especially for the son of God, somebody who is the prince and king of the whole world. Undergoing also, it says in the Catechism, all the normal miseries of this life and the wrath of God, and then death itself, death on the cross, and burial all mentioned in the Catechism. but one part is not specifically mentioned in the shorter catechism, which might be the height of his humiliation, and that is he's on the cross naked and there are men that are gambling for his clothing. The goal of crucifixion, as far as the Romans were concerned, was that it would give extreme pain, And also strip the criminal of all dignity, so that when people saw this, they would not want to commit the same kind of crimes. And so unlike our day, where we put people to sleep with the lethal injection to have the least amount of pain. The Romans maximize the pain for somebody undergoing crucifixion. For a Roman citizen, no matter what crime you did, because you were a citizen, you weren't ever gonna be crucified. They had other cruel things they could do, but crucifixion was the cruelest of the cruel. And it was reserved for non-citizens and for the worst of the worst. And Jesus was considered the worst of the worst, even though he was the best of the best, by far the best. And so Roman citizens were never crucified. The Apostle Paul, even though he suffered much, because he was a Roman citizen, was not crucified. He didn't even undergo the same beating that Christ did. His beatings were limited to 39 strokes, whereas Jesus's were probably unlimited. And so we see this, all this here in this passage. But my first point to you today about this is John wants us to see Christ's humiliation as part of God's plan. It was clearly prophesied. That's part of the reason I chose Psalm 22, 18 for our memory verse, because it's quoted in this passage. Psalm 22, 18, they divide my garments among them, And for my clothing, they cast lots. Hundreds and maybe even a thousand years before, Jesus hung on the cross. It was predicted, it was shown in John 22, 18, I mean, Psalm 22, 18, that his garments would be divided among them. And he says, for my clothing, they cast lots. One of the perks of being a Roman soldier that was overseeing the crucifixion was that you got to keep whatever that crucified person might have owned. You get to divide it among yourselves. Then in this case, Jesus had five pieces of clothing that would be divided by four soldiers. Jesus most likely would have owned a belt, which would have gone to one soldier, Sandals, which would go to another soldier. A head covering or a hat, which would go to a third soldier. And an outer garment. Not like our, you know, we have our outer garments and we have underwear. Their outer garment, what is referred to as like a jacket. Their undergarment is like our regular clothing. It usually is one piece. A tunic, not underwear. but the main piece of clothing, and this would be the piece of clothing that the soldiers were gambling on. The others were equal to each soldier. One took each one. Maybe the soldiers whose feet were the same size as Jesus took the shoes. However they divided them, we do not know, but each of them could have one thing, but the undergarment was an extra thing, and it was valuable enough that they didn't want to divide it. They didn't want to just rip it and use it as some kind of rag or something. They wanted to gamble for it. And this is exactly what Psalm 22 had predicted. Clothing would be divided, the four to four pieces, and then, and clothing, for clothing, they would cast lots. And so it couldn't be more perfectly predicted when you think of it. They divided four pieces of clothing among themselves and they cast lots for the last piece. Therefore, John states, and he says, he uses the word therefore, he says, therefore the soldiers did these things. Why did they do them? because God had sovereignly planned it. I believe this part of his plan was just to help us identify the fact that the reason Jesus was dying was for our sins, that there was a reason, a God-given reason for Jesus dying. This whole thing, as bad as it seems, the Son of God is nailed to a cross was all according to God's plan. It was all according to God's purpose. And so there is not just this prophecy is fulfilled, but this was just one of a string of fulfilled prophecies mentioned right here in the gospel of John. In John 19, 28 through 30, This next portion, or close to the next portion, we read of Jesus receiving sour wine vinegar, which was promised in Psalm 69, 21. In John 19, 31 through 33, we read of the decision made by the soldiers not to break Jesus's legs, which fulfilled Psalm 34 verse 20, which says that none of his bones would be broken. Now they typically broke the legs of these men on the cross. And why was that? Because the men could use their legs to push up and they needed to do that in order to breathe, to stay alive. And because the Passover was coming, they didn't want people hanging on the cross during the Passover. And so the other two, they broke their legs, but they came to Jesus and saw he was already dead. But to make sure he was dead, they took a spear and they pierced his side, which fulfills the next prophecy. John 19, 34 through 37, there we read of the piercing of Jesus' side. And so instead of doing what was normal to make sure somebody died or was dead, they did something out of the ordinary. But all these things, from the soldiers dividing Jesus' clothing including Jesus receiving the sour wine, including not breaking Jesus's legs, which would have been normal, and including the spear that pierced his side. All of these things were prophesied, and John notices all of them. that we might also see that this is totally under God's control. And Jesus, John does this because he, as we've been seeing, as we've gone through the gospel of John, is presenting the cross as something good, something that brings salvation, something that was God's purpose. that Psalm 22 pointed to Jesus Christ is clear from several of its verses, including the first one, which is also quoted by Jesus from the cross. Psalm 22, one, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me? And from the words of my groaning. If you go and you read Psalm 22, we're not gonna do that today, but if you read the entire Psalm, you would see I believe what is shown there are Jesus's thoughts from the cross. Partly it's his words because he actually said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? But as you read that psalm and you picture Jesus on the cross, you see what he sees. you see what he was thinking while he suffered on the cross. And it's a very powerful passage when you see that. One of the other verses in that Psalm that I preached on before, Psalm 22, six says, but I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised by the people. Now you remember this particular kind of worm mentioned in John 22.6, I mean Psalm 22.6, sorry, is called a scarlet. And a scarlet was the kind of worm that it was red in color and when it gave birth, when the mother would give birth, the scarlet died in birth and the red color that was in it went all over like blood. And the babies that were born, the baby worms would eat the mother and would eat the scarlet. And just like Christ died and his blood saved the church or provided for the church, so the scarlet provided for the young ones. But also the scarlet is a worm. which is a despised, humble thing. And even if you did not know about the details of the scarlet, he says, I am a worm and no man, a reproach of man and despised by the people. They despised him when he was on the cross. He was humiliated. He was humbled despite being one that is it says in Philippians, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That's what Jesus deserved was the glory and the praise, but he got humiliation. We see the humiliation in these verses they've considered today. Secondly, what else do we learn? from these fulfilled prophecies? Well, one of them is that the Old Testament pointed to Christ and his cross. Hopefully this is clear to you already. Most of you know this already. John 5 39 says, you search the scripture for in them you think you have eternal life. And these are they which testify of me. As I said, the entirety of Psalm 22 shows us Jesus's thoughts on the cross. Isaiah 53 talks about how he was bruised for our inequities, that he was the land led to the slaughter, how he was the arm of the Lord for our salvation, but they did not recognize him. It shows a beautiful picture of Christ and his sufferings. This should have been noticed. Not only these, If you go all the way back to Genesis, even Genesis 22 that we've recently studied, Abraham offering up Isaac points to God giving his only begotten son. If we went back to Numbers, we see that Moses is making a bronze serpent is a picture of Christ in John 3.14. Jesus claims it for himself. He says, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. We all look to Christ for our salvation. We look to God for our salvation. All the lambs, all the bulls, all the goats, any other animal that was sacrificed in the Old Testament would point to our Lord Jesus and what he did for us on the cross. The Old Testament sacrifices, including the Passover, pointed to what Jesus would do with the prophecy today, if we were celebrating Lord's Supper, which we're not today, but that also would point back to what Jesus did. We remember what he did on the cross for us. Jesus and his cross are of central importance in all the Bible, and they should be most important in our preaching. Paul says, for I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 1 Corinthians 2.2. Doesn't mean that's the only thing that Paul preached every time he preached. But as he preaches to the Corinthians, he says, this is my knowledge. This is what I'm preaching to you. Christ and Him crucified and determined to know nothing else. And Paul did that, he preached Christ, and not just Christ, but Christ on the cross for our sins. Paul, who was a Pharisee, who used to believe he could keep the law, realized he was the chief of sinners, and that he needed the great grace of God, even to see the kingdom, he had to be born again. These fulfillment of scriptures, not only point to Christ, and not only do they give us the message that we are to preach, which is Christ crucified, but these fulfillments of scriptures prove God is in control, even when evil men do evil deeds. You know, when we look around us today, we see a great deal evil in the world. And it seems that the ungodly are winning on every corner. And we might see things get worse and worse, more than better and better. And yet when we look at Acts, Acts 4.24, it says, so when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, you are God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them. who by the mouth of your servant David had said, why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against your Lord and against his Christ, for truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, Both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together, and then verse 28, to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done. They went about it for evil. They thought they would destroy Christ. They thought when they had crucified Christ that they were winning or that they had won. But we all know Christ rose from the dead. We all know that the worst thing that could happen, Christ being crucified, brings out the best because it's a way of salvation. And it says here, though they were evil, and what they did was evil, crucifying the Son of God, God used it for good. It says to do whatever your hand and your purpose before determined to be done. Those of you who are with us on Wednesday evenings know we've been going through Genesis and right now we're going to, we're just starting the part where we're studying Joseph and his life. And we've already considered that his brothers have sold him into slavery. And in slavery, hey, this week we will see how he was sold. how he prospered as a slave, and how he interpreted dreams as a slave, and eventually he interprets Pharaoh's dreams, and interpreting Pharaoh's dreams, he's put in charge under Pharaoh, and he provides not only for the Egyptians, but for his own people Israel, and not only for his own people Israel, his family, but for the world that was, the world there that was under a famine, and When he's confronted later by his brothers who are asking him basically to forgive them, he says, what you meant for evil, God meant for good. And we see the evil that was done to Christ, he's being put on the cross, he's being humiliated, he's being crucified, though the men who did it meant it for evil, God made it good for us. Fourthly, these passages show us that the Bible is God's book. It is God-breathed, it's spirit-inspired. 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17 says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is brought forth for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction into righteousness that the man of God may be complete Thoroughly equipped for every good work. Dryden said it like this in a poem, he said, whence from heaven could man unskilled in arts in several ages born, in several parts weave such agreeing truths, or how our wife would all conspire to cheat us with the lie, unasked their pains, ungrateful their advice, starving their gain, and martyrdom their price. Notice what's said in that poem. Wentz wrote for him and could man and skilled in hearts. Meaning these people who wrote the Bible weren't professional writers. They were mostly ordinary people. People who wrote what God's spirit told them to write. And they did this out of commitment to God, not out of trying to sell books or anything like that. Notice it says in several ages born, in several parts, which means they lived at different times. Moses didn't live at the same time Paul lived. They didn't live exactly, most of them lived kind of in the Middle East, but Moses spent time in Egypt, and then he spent time traveling. They lived in different places, various towns, and yet while they wrote from different times and different places, it says, We've such agreeing truths. If you studied scripture at all, you'd see scripture teaches agreeing truths. From Genesis to Revelation, what do we read about human beings, about man? Well, since Genesis three, we're all sinners. We all fall short of the glory of God. The same morality is taught or immorality is practiced. You see from Genesis all the way to the book of Revelation, we see one savior who is pointed at in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, it's our Lord Jesus Christ. He's pointed out with types and prophecies. There's a green truth there. The New Testament remembers what Jesus does, preaches it as the gospel. The same God is represented through the Old Testament and the New. Some people wrongly say, well, there's a God of wrath in the Old Testament and a God of mercy in the New. No, God was merciful even in the Old Testament. And there's wrath even in the New Testament. Read the book of Revelation, chapter 14, verses 10, 10 and 11, and see what happens to those who worship the Antichrist. There's wrath in the New Testament for those who are ungodly. He says, we've such a dream choose or how or why would all conspire to cheat us with a lie, unasked their pain, ungrateful their advice, meaning they didn't gain anything for this, most of them, they were, crucified themselves, some of them, most of them were martyrs, starving their gain and martyred them their price. They did all these things, and yet, and they wrote from many different places and times, but their truths agree. And the Bible, we all know, even a non-believer can't deny, the Bible is the best-selling book of all time. It's translated into every language. It's known to be that. And when we see fulfilled prophecy, Like we do, we also see something that's not in any other book. How can you have several books like this? Some were written way long time ago, prophesying that these men will be gambling for Jesus's clothing. And then we see it later happening. There's enough time between these scriptures, which we know it couldn't have happened any other way, but that God was doing it. The writers of scripture only gain something If their writings prove true, they only gain heaven. They don't gain things here on earth. There really is a heaven and there really is a hell. And we really escape hell when we listen to scriptures, when we believe in Jesus. The third part of my message to you this morning is just an application. One, see the Old Testament prophecy and type. referencing Christ in his cross as proof of both the Bible as God's word and as Jesus Christ as God's son and our savior. This word that we have today teaches us mainly about Jesus and our need for him. We sing, I need thee every hour, and it's true. We need not only to believe on Jesus for salvation, but we need to pray and abide with him every day that we might walk with him. He says, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will bear much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing. Recently, I've heard of a minister, a very famous minister, falling into sin at 70-something years old. And how does that happen? Well, it happens only because somebody's left off of depending upon God. Seeing God's sovereign control, even in the worst things, should help us to trust God, even in our worst circumstances. If we are God's people, if we are Christians, Jesus has told us, we've already read it in John 15, 18 till the end of that particular chapter. Jesus tells us that if they hated you, they will, if they hate you, it's because they hated me. And the servant is not greater than his master. And the same things that Christ endured, his people often endure. Maybe not the cross, but we still will endure persecution from an ungodly world. And if this happens to us, we need to remember, just like it was true for Christ, God is still in control. He is still in power. If they kill us, what does Paul say? He says, all day we are like sheep. for the slaughter, which is another quote from the Psalms. And he's talking to the Romans who were fed like animals to lions and bears and things like this. And he's speaking to them. Even at that time, Nero, who was a contemporary with Paul, would have been starting to persecute Christians and killing them. And he says, when they kill you, he says, in all these things, we are more than conquerors. through Christ Jesus, our Lord. We are more than conquerors. Why? Because as soon as they kill us, we go to heaven. We get to heaven early. And basically the Romans really believed that, which shows us also the truth. Why would a Roman believe this is only when Nero was ruling 60 years after Christ's birth? Some 30 years after his death, there would still be contemporaries of that time, and yet millions of Romans died for their faith in Christ. What does that show us? It shows us the truth of Christ had spread, the truth of his resurrection had spread, and people believed it enough, even in Rome. to die because they knew if they died, they were going to heaven. They believed in the resurrection. They believed what was said. At that point, maybe people, if Jesus had truly not resurrected, could have just produced the body and said, here's your Christ. Because it was not that long before, but they couldn't. Well, let's pray. Father, we thank you for your goodness to us. We thank you that you're the God of life and death. You're the God of heaven and hell. You're the God who would allow us to suffer for our sins against you. And yet the world wants us to suffer because we are like your son. And Father, we pray that you'd make us more and more like Jesus, that we would be true followers of him, that you might work in us abundantly, that we might seek to do your will every day. And Father, we thank you for Jesus, that he took the cross, that he bore the humiliation probably beyond most any of us here will ever endure. And Father, we thank you for that, that he took our sins upon him and our suffering upon him, that we might have eternal life. And Father, we thank you for this. We pray you'd bless us. We pray you'd help us to seek you daily. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.