‘And when they had crucified him, they parted his clothes among them, casting lots, and they sat and watched him there.
‘And having crucified Him.' How quickly the actual crucifixion is passed over, how deep was its significance. In many cases it indicated the beginning of hours and days of suffering, as the stretched but distorted body of the victim fought to survive the paroxysms that constantly seized it, first as the victim relaxed his pain torn arms, and then as he relaxed his pain torn legs. But in this case it involved more. It indicated the bearing of a curse for the sins of mankind. ‘He was made sin for us, He Who knew no sin --' (2 Corinthians 5:21). ‘He bore our sins in His own body on the tree' (1 Peter 2:24). His person was being offered as a guilt offering for sin (Isaiah 53:10). That was why He was here.
‘They parted His clothes among them, casting lots, and they sat and watched Him there.' The idea here is to bring out the callousness of the soldiers, and of the world, as they gazed on what they had done to Him, and the resultant increase in His suffering because of the shame of it all. Here, having stripped Him, they would share out His robe, His inner garment, His belt, His shoes and His turban. By this they would render Him naked, and then, regardless of His shame, they would in front of Him divide up his clothing, that is, all that He possessed, casting lots for who received what, and gambling for the robe which could not be divided. (The sharing out of the clothing of the executed man was a perquisite of the soldiers). After this they then sat there and continually but casually gazed at Him in His nakedness and shame. To a sensitive Jew public nakedness was a disgrace, and Jesus would never have been gazed on by others in a such a state. It must have added to the horror which was possessing His soul.
This would also bring to mind the words of Psalms 22:18, ‘they look and stare on me, they part my clothing among them, and for my vesture they cast lots'. This includes the ‘watching Him' in His shame, the ‘parting of His clothes' among them, and the ‘casting of lots'. Matthew is constantly indicating by inferences that all that is happening to Jesus is making full all that the Scriptures have spoken of, and that Jesus is therefore suffering as a righteous man like the men in the Psalms, and more. And there is the further thought in the Psalms as to, ‘why is God allowing this?' That must also have been the question on many lips that day.
‘And they sat and watched him there.' Note how it is personalised and therefore goes beyond just guard duty (they were guarding all three. but only Jesus is mentioned). All the attention as far as Matthew is concerned is on Him. They are gazing at His shame, they are shrugging their shoulders at His suffering, and all the while they are intending to ensure that no one tries to rescue Him. (They had not, of course, reckoned with God). They and the world were determined that Jesus would suffer to the end.