Mark 15:24

And crucifying him, they divided his garments, casting lots upon them, who should take what. This the evangelist John explains more fully: namely, that the soldiers divided the rest into four parts, according to their number, casting lots for the tunic, which was seamless, woven from the top throughout.

Wonder not if this was said of and fulfilled by the Passion of our Saviour, for even now He is a reproach among all men who have not yet received faith in Him! For what is more shameful or worse than any reproach than to be crucified? Yea, He is an outcast of the people of the Jews, for even to-day that whole race loves to mock Him, to set Him at naught, and to spit on Him: wherefore the apostle rightly says: "We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Gentiles foolishness."

And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. (Ps. 68:5. Vulg.) In this place salvation is figured by the wood; the first wood was that of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; the second wood is one of unmixed good for us, and is the wood of life. The first hand stretched out to the wood caught hold of death; the second found again the life which had been lost. By this wood we are carried through a stormy sea to the land of the living, for by His cross Christ has taken away our torment, and by His death has killed our death.b With the form of a serpent He kills the serpent, for the serpent made out of the rod swallowed up the other serpents. But what means the shape itself of the cross, save the four quarters of the world; the East shines from the top, the North is on the right, the South on the left, the West is firmly fixed under the feet. Wherefore the Apostle says: That we may know what is the height, and breadth, and length, and depth. (Eph. 3:18) Birds, when they fly in the air, take the shape of a cross; a man swimming in the waters is borne up by the form of a cross. A ship is blown along by its yards, which are in the shape of the cross. The letter Tau is written as the sign of salvation and of the cross. Now the garments of the Lord are His commandments, by which His body, that is, the Church, is covered; which the soldiers of the Gentiles divide amongst themselves, that there may be four classes with one faith, the married, and the widowed, those who bear rule, and those who are separatec. They cast lots for the undivided garment, which is peace and unity.