“The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. They said therefore to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be’; that the Scripture might be fulfilled, ‘They divided My outer garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots’” (John 19:23,24).

“Seamless” In the story of Jesus’ crucifixion, there is a contrast between His seamless tunic, which the soldiers preserved in one piece, and the temple veil, which was torn in two at His death (Matt. 27:50f). The writer of Hebrews (10:19f) identifies the temple veil as a symbol of Jesus’ fleshly body, which was torn open on the cross to provide entry for sinners into God’s presence. The tunic, or inner garment, suggests the person, or soul, of Jesus who “tented” (cf. Jn. 1:14) in that body. This tunic was made seamless , woven from the top throughout as one piece. The soldiers might divide His garments, tear His hands and feet with nails, and rend His side with a spear (Jn. 19:34), but there was nothing any could do to induce Jesus to sin. His soul remained seamless and unbroken by the iniquity which characterized those for whose forgiveness His body was torn on the cross. It is also significant that the garment of the Old Testament high priest, who prefigured Christ, was made so that it could not be torn (Ex. 28:31f). Yet, while the garment of the ultimate High Priest (Heb. 3:1) remained intact, the high priest, who falsely accused Jesus of blasphemy at His trial and condemned Him to death, exposed his evil character, by tearing his garments in outrage at the very idea that Jesus could be the Son of God (Mk. 14:61-64). Perhaps it is not apart from divine providence that the word, “seamy,” paralleled these facts in its development. It once meant “showing a seam,” especially its rough side. Then, it referred to crudeness, and ultimately took on a moral connotation meaning, “sordid, base.” On the other hand, “seamless” now means “perfectly consistent,” transitionally smooth, and whole. There are several ways in which Jesus’ life was seamless : First, the transition from the Messiah of the Old Testament to the Christ of the New Testament was completely fulfilled in Him. There was no seam, or inconsistency, between the two. Rather, the latter was wholly compatible with the image reflected in the former (Lk. 24:44). Second, in Him, the divine and human natures were perfectly united. In Him were combined all the qualities essential to both divinity and humanity, so that He became “the man, Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5) without losing anything as God (Jn. 1:1,14). In bridging this gap so seamlessly, He made of Himself the sole and necessary mediator between God and humanity. Third, He moved seamlessly through life in the performance of His mission and pursuit of His goal. No sin split its flawless integrity. While others’ lives were torn by sin, His life was as sinlessly intact as the seamless tunic of His body (1 Pet. 2:22). He moved from one test to another, without the slightest break between His life and God’s will, with which His deeds were precisely interwoven. His life was no stitching together of incongruous patches (cf. Matt. 9:16). It is painful to think that a coarse, ungodly soldier walked away from the cross of Christ wearing His seamless garment, but Scripture provides hope that he might have come to faith (Matt. 27:54) and might have eventually, as must all who would be saved by the perfect life and death of Christ, put on the seamless Christ as His spiritual clothing in baptism (Gal.3:27). Soldiers exposed the flesh of Christ by removing His last, seamless garment, but those who are saved “put on … Christ, and make no provision for the flesh …” (Rom. 13:14). In putting on the “seamlessness” of Christ, they “have more abundant seemliness” (1 Cor. 12:23).