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Chapter 11: Discarding the Seamless Robe: The High Priesthood of Jesus in John’s Gospel
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183 Chapter 11 Discarding the Seamless Robe The High Priesthood of Jesus in John’s Gospel As the Johannine Jesus hangs on the cross, the Roman soldiers divide up his clothing (John 19:23-24). The scene is well known from the Synoptic Gospels (Mark 15:24 and pars.), but John adds a unique feature: Jesus’ tunic (xitw&n), he says, was “seamless” (a!raqoj), woven from the top throughout (e0k tw=n a!nwqen u(fanto\j di ) o3lou). The symbolism behind this detail has been debated from earliest times, with recent commentators tending to favor either the view that the tunic represents Christian unity or that it signifies the self-giving son.1 In this essay, however , I shall argue first that it is more likely that the tunic represents high priestly garb; second, that high priestly Christology is not as alien to the Fourth Gospel as many have supposed; and third, that there is a specific point in the history of the Fourth Gospel’s community that would make such symbolism not only plausible but highly relevant and meaningful. Discussing Johannine Christology in his “Big Book” (Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity), my highly respected Edinburgh colleague Larry Hurtado notes that views of Jesus were shaped by “opposition and controversy.”2 I hope that this essay will go a small way toward underlining the truth of this observation. John 19:23-24 in Context John’s crucifixion narrative, with its series of five tightly knit scenes, is distinctive in several ways. Most striking is its air of “pervading calm”:3 distracting or unpleasant details known from the Synoptics have been eliminated—Simon of Cyrene, the mocking bystanders, the derisory criminals, the cry of abandonment, the portents at Jesus’ death, and the Helen K. Bond sympathetic centurion. What comes across most clearly in John’s account is Jesus’ majesty. The debate over the titulus and Pilate’s irony only underline what the audience knows to be true: Jesus is the shepherd-king who willingly lays down his life for his sheep (19:17-22). Elevated to the cross, Jesus assumes his kingly throne; he is symbolically “lifted up” that the whole world might see his divine glory; and he dies in the knowledge that his work of redemption is complete (19:28-30). Jesus’ death is undoubtedly the supreme moment of divine revelation, but it also has sacrificial overtones: Jesus dies as the paschal lamb (19:14, 31-33; Exod 12:46; Num 9:12)4 for the forgiveness of sins (John 1:29). Yet even as Jesus dies on the cross, death clearly is not the end but the beginning of the community of believers: his mother and the beloved disciple represent the new community (19:25-27), and the truth of the gospel will be proclaimed by his followers (19:35). Although his presentation of this scene is distinctive, John shares with the other evangelists an interest in showing that everything was in accordance with scripture. He makes this explicit four times (19:24, 28, 36, and 37), quoting directly from the scriptures in each case.5 The first, and lengthiest, of these scriptural citations occurs in the passage concerning the seamless robe. When the soldiers crucified Jesus, John notes, they took his garments (ta_ i9ma&tia) and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier.6 Since the tunic was without seam, however, they decided not to tear it but to cast lots for it. In this way, both lines of Psalm 22 (LXX: 21):19 were fulfilled: “[T]hey parted my garments (ta_ i9ma&tia) among them, and for my clothing (to\n i9matismo/n) they cast lots” (19:24). While each Synoptic Gospel alludes to the Psalm, only John cites it here.7 One obvious first question is whether there is any symbolism at all in the details surrounding the tunic, or are they simply part of a literarytheological device to ensure that both parts of Psalm 22:19 should be fulfilled ? That is, are we told that the tunic was seamless and woven only to necessitate the drawing of lots? This belief has been argued by a number of commentators,8 yet three features suggest that there is more to the story than scriptural fulfilment alone. First, the Greek syntax in verse 23 relating to the robe is rather labored. It would have been enough had John simply noted that the robe was “seamless”; his details regarding the weave and construction of the garment...