Gambling In The Shadow of the Cross

Mat 27:35 And they crucified Him, dividing His garments, casting a lot; so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, "They parted My garments among them, and they cast a lot for My clothing."
Mat 27:36 And sitting down they guarded Him there.
Mat 27:37 And they put up over His head His accusation, written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

We live in a day and age where many would have us to forget the cross.
They say that it is too bloody, too gory and that we don’t need it.
The cross makes them too uncomfortable.

The cross has always made folks uncomfortable.
In the New Testament, it says that to the Jewish people, the cross was a “Skandelon” or a scandal… something of controversy which they could not accept.

To the Jews of that day, and to the world today, the cross was and is foolishness…

But I can tell you… “The cross made the difference in me!”


I want to begin today by looking at events and happenings at the cross that day.

I want you to notice the tremendous contrasts that we view at the cross.

At the Cross we see:

God doing His best while man does his worst
Christ and His compassion, man and his coarseness
Christ and His righteousness and man in his rebellion
Christ and His great love and man in his selfish lawlessness

But I want to focus on one particular scene that we view at the cross this morning.
I want us to see and consider the soldiers who knelt and cast their lots (dice) gambling for the garments off Jesus.
They were Gambling at the foot of the cross.

As they knelt their, just above their heads, Jesus was paying for the debt of their sin and ours.

As he looked down from the cross that day, he watched them gambling for His garments.


I would ask you to consider these soldiers.

They are men who are Reckless with Redemption

Think about this with me…
They were NEAR Jesus…. But still so FAR from Him
They were so close they could have reached out and touched Him, but they ignored Him.
They could have trusted Him, but instead they treated Him shamefully.
The recognized the facts… but ignored their implications
They recognized the work and miracles of Christ. They even said, “He saved others… but He cannot save Himself!”
They knew what he had done, but chose to ignore it.


There will always be those who are Reckless with Redemption
Today, most likely even sitting in this room right now there are those who are being reckless with redemption.
Those who:
Who know about God’s love, but continue to reject that love and continue on through this life lost and on their way to hell!
Who know about the sacrifice of Christ, but choose to continue living in sin.
Who know what God’s Word says, but choose to continue to live a life-style of wickedness and destruction.

Can I tell you today, that if you know about Christ and his sacrifice and you are continue to live life on your own terms, then you are just like the soldiers gambling at the foot of the cross!
Looking at these soldiers… we see that they were only concerned with Outward Things…
Only concerned with what they could see and hold…
That which was tangible… but not with those inward things.


They wanted the clothes of Christ… but not Christ Himself.
They were glad to have His clothes… but not His cross
They were glad to have His garments… but not His grief and pain
They were glad