The Seamless Tunic of Christ

Illustration of The Seamless Tunic of Christ

In the Cave of Treasures the tunic taken from Christ at the Cross is a royal garment. It is purple, and Pilate will not let him be dressed in ordinary clothes, only in purple or scarlet, so that he may be known as a king. The book takes the scarlet to stand for blood and life and the purple for water and mortal nature. The tunic has no seam and is woven whole in one piece.

The Jews and the soldiers of Herod and Pilate struggle over it because of its beauty. The centurion guarding the Cross says his orders forbid tearing royal dress and makes them cast lots, and it falls to one of Pilate's soldiers. Wherever it was kept it brought rain when lifted toward heaven. Pilate later takes it by force and sends it to the Emperor Tiberius. The book reads it as a sign of the Orthodox Faith, which cannot be divided.

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Details

Category
Royal
Associated With
Christ (the Beloved), Pilate
Locations
Golgotha

Key Chapters

The Cave of Treasures 78 The Crucifixion of Christ 15 min read

Key Passages

The purple and the scarlet

The Cave of Treasures 78:13-17

His tunic was of purple, which is the raiment of royalty; and when they stripped Him of the raiment of royalty Pilate wo...

H13is tunic was of purple, which is the raiment of royalty; and when they stripped Him of the raiment of royalty Pilate would not permit the Jews to array Him in ordinary apparel, but only in the actual raiment of royalty, either purple or scarlet. By both of these it might be known that He was a king.

14 For it is impossible for any other man to wear purple; only a king can do this. And one of the Evangelists hath said, “The soldiers put on Him a purple robe” (Mark xv. 17; John xix. 2, 5), and this is a true word and is highly credible; and another Evangelist uses the word “scarlet” (Matt. xxvii. 28), and he proclaimed what was true. 15 The scarlet garment indicateth to us blood, and the purple garment water; for the scarlet one was like unto blood, and the purple one was like unto water. The scarlet garment proclaimeth the joyful and immortal nature of man, and the purple one the sad and mortal nature of man. Understand, therefore, O our brother Nemesius, that scarlet proclaimeth life. 16 Now the spies said prophetically to Rahab, the harlot, “thou shalt tie a thread of scarlet to the window” (Joshua ii. 18) when they descended having been [well] entreated by her. And through her they prefigured a certain matter, for the window [symbolized] the side of our Lord Christ, and the thread of scarlet His precious blood which produced life. 17 And they (i.e. the Jews) wove a crown of spikes of thorn bushes, and set it upon His head. And they arrayed Him in royal apparel, not knowing what they were doing. And they bowed the knee, and made obeisance unto Him, and they spake with their mouths, without being compelled to do so, saying, “Hail to Thee, King of the Jews.”

The lots and the rain miracle

The Cave of Treasures 78:18-22

Observe ye, O my brethren, that not even in His death did He lack the [sign of] royalty. And when the Jews and the soldi...

O18bserve ye, O my brethren, that not even in His death did He lack the [sign of] royalty. And when the Jews and the soldiers who were the servants of Herod and Pilate were struggling together to rend the tunic of Christ, to divide it among them, they did so because they all eagerly desired the beauty of the sight thereof.

19 And the centurion also who watched the Cross himself testified before all the crowd, saying, “Verily, this man is the Son of God.” And this centurion said unto them, “The orders which have been given to me do not permit me to rend the apparel of royalty, but cast lots for it [and we shall see] to whom it will come”; and when the Jews and the soldiers of the king had cast lots, the lot fell upon one of the soldiers of Pilate. 20 Now the tunic of our Lord had no seam, but had been woven whole in one piece. And whensoever there was a lack of rain in the place where it had been deposited and taken care of, the people used to bring out the tunic, and as soon as they lifted it up towards heaven an abundance of rain fell. And also, whensoever the soldier who had received it lacked rain for his crop, he brought out the tunic, and it worked this miracle. 21 Now the tunic was taken away by force from the man who got it by Pilate, who sent it to the Emperor Tiberius. To us this tunic indicateth the Orthodox Faith, which all the nations [joined] together are unable to cleave. Three valuable gifts, than which there is nothing more valuable, were given to the Jews in olden time, namely, royalty, priesthood, and prophecy: prophecy by the hand of Moses, priesthood by the hand of Aaron, and royalty by the hand of David. 22 These three gifts which the generations and families of the children of Israel had enjoyed for [many] years were taken from them in one day; and they were stripped of all three of them, and became aliens to them, that is to say, prophecy by the Cross, priesthood by the rending of the tunic [of Christ], and royalty by the crown of thorns.

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Did You Know?

1

The tunic had no seam and had been woven whole in one piece, according to the book.

2

The centurion at the Cross refused to let royal clothing be torn and told the crowd to cast lots for it.

3

The lot fell to one of Pilate's soldiers, who brought the tunic out whenever his crop needed rain.

4

Pilate took the tunic from the soldier by force and sent it to the Emperor Tiberius.

5

The book says the rending of the tunic marked the day the priesthood was taken from the Jews.