John 19:23-24 :
Then 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. Then they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to decide whose it will be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which says,
“They parted my garments among them. For my cloak they cast lots.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.
John was one of the ones who decided to stand there by the cross. We learn more about that next, but it is important for us to understand the John was an eyewitness of what happened there.
A consistent theme in the book of John is the Bible itself and its inability to be incorrect. John quoted Jesus as saying:
John 10:34b : “the Scripture can’t be broken”
One of the most amazing things about the Bible is the prophesy that was both spoken and fulfilled. Sometimes, hundreds of years passed between the prophetic writings and the fulfillment. These fulfillments are one of the things that separates the Bible from every other writing on earth. If it could be proven that any of these predictions were false, it would invalidate the book. It sets itself up for the test. What we read here is an eyewitness account of the fulfillment of prophesy.
Here’s what it says in Psalms:
Psalm 22:18 :
They divide my garments among them.
They cast lots for my clothing.
What’s hard to see when we read the Bible today is that the Psalms were written hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth. This is nothing short of a miracle. If you aren’t convinced, I dare you to read the rest of Psalm 22. I think we learn more about the details of Jesus’ death from Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 than we do from the book of John!
It is a fearful thing to depart from the truth of the Bible. Notice that the soldiers were completely unaware that they were following a very old prophesy. Whether we choose to accept the prophesies or not, they will happen.