Gambling at the Foot of the Cross

Life is filled with light stuff. One picture in my mind hit me the other day-the soldiers gambling for Christ's tunic. Didn't that tunic come from King Herod's mocking soldiers? Wasn't it royal purple and somehow valuable because it was woven without seam? Was it one of Herod's "throwaways?" Isn't it fascinating that we have so much detail about a secondary subject? How easily we are distracted by light stuff. "The tunic, the tunic, feel it. It is genuine. If we evenly divide it into four pieces it will be ruined. We'll gamble for it, winner takes all." The intrigue, the adrenaline, the sense of covetousness take hold of the soldiers' attention.

We can imagine the emotional energy when they toss and roll the dice. One soldier pushes the other out of the way with his arm so the dice won’t hit anybody's feet. (Or, did the soldiers draw lots?) Can you hear the guffaws? Another hopes he can win the tunic so he can trade it for imported Italian wine.

Blood sprinkles on one soldier's shirt sleeve from the Man bleeding over his head.

In the context of God becoming a man, dying for us, paying for our sins, do we get life wrong? Our minds and hearts may cheat us when an entirely new world, a large powerful world is "over our heads" saying, "I am your GOD. I will give you more than you could ever imagine or think" (Ephesians 3:20).

We experienced this in our service recently. After the rap session, we had another rap at the Dunkin' Donuts until midnight. We could not stop enjoying Christ. Others are "gambling at our feet."  We have been there.