John Calvin Commentary Matthew 27:35

"And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments among them, casting lots;" — Matthew 27:35 (ASV)

They parted his garments. It is certain that the soldiers also did this according to custom, dividing among themselves the clothes of a man who had been condemned to die. One circumstance was perhaps peculiar: that they cast lots on a coat that was without seam (John 19:23).

But though nothing happened to Christ in this respect beyond what was done to all who were condemned to die, this narrative still deserves the utmost attention. For the Evangelists show us the Son of God stripped of his garments to inform us that by this nakedness we have obtained those riches that make us honorable in the presence of God.

God determined that his own Son should be stripped of his clothing, so that we, clothed with his righteousness and with an abundance of all good things, may appear boldly in the company of the angels. Previously, our loathsome and disgraceful appearance in tattered garments kept us from approaching heaven. Christ himself permitted his garments to be torn in pieces like a prey, so that he might enrich us with the riches of his victory.

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. When Matthew says that in this way David's prediction was fulfilled,

they part my garments among them, and cast the lot upon my vesture,
(Psalms 22:18)

We must understand David's meaning to be that what he complained of as having been done to himself metaphorically and figuratively was, literally (as the common phrase goes) and in reality, displayed in Christ. For by the word garments, David means his wealth and honors. It is as if he had said that during his life, and before his own eyes, he was prey to enemies who had robbed his house and were so far from sparing the rest of his property that they even carried off his wife.

This cruelty is represented even more strikingly by the metaphor when he says that his garments were divided by lot. Now, as David was a shadow and image of Christ, he predicted by the spirit of prophecy what Christ was to suffer.

In Christ's person, therefore, it is noteworthy that the soldiers plundered his clothing, because in this pillage we discern the signs and marks by which he was previously pointed out. It also serves to remove the offense with which a carnal perspective might otherwise have viewed his nakedness, since he suffered nothing that the Holy Spirit does not declare truly and properly belongs to the person of the Redeemer.