Soldiers' Struggles...

John 19:23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,

“They divided my garments among them,
    and for my clothing they cast lots.”

So the soldiers did these things,

One of the things the Gospel writers address about soldiers are their stereotypes.  In Jesus' day they were seen primarily as heartless killing machines.  After all, they were trained to help Rome rule with an iron fist. Many were underpaid, underappreciated, and under a lot of stress to perform. Dereliction of duty meant death.  But they were not savage animals. They had the common sense to not fight over or rip up the seamless garment. They were not pure destruction.  Eventually, at the end of the day, these soldiers would say what many suspected: "Truly this was the Son of God." (Matthew 27) They had more spiritual sensibility than many of those who daily went to the temple.  Stop the stereotypes.  Sympathize with the stuggles of soldiers.  See them as John the Baptist and Jesus did: able to respond, able to change, spiritually sensitive people.