What about the garments?

My Dad, my son, and I love to attend auctions at estate sales.  It fascinates me to see what a person gathers over their lifetime, but my son sees it as living in an episode of 'Auction Hunters'.  I've met lots of interesting people at estate sales.  Some are acquaintances of the home owner, some are auction hunters, some deal in antiques, some work for the company sponsoring the sale, and others, like us, are just looking for a good buy on some great items. 

The auction is a half day of excitement while bidding on items and a half day of exhaustion while packing our items to carry home. This weekend we attended the sale and auction of the estate of Mrs. Alma Peek in Monroe.  From the history that was given and seen, she was a wealthy lady who traveled the world.  She lived in a 5000 sq. ft. home that was overflowing with fine furniture and other belongings, collected through a long life. 

During the auction I began thinking about how in just four short days, the estate sale cleared out the belongings that took Mrs. Peek 93 years to amass.  They sold furniture, glassware, sets of china, crystal, patio sets, artwork, appliances, and everything else you might find in a home.  When it comes to clothing, they typically auction all items in the closet for one price.   I paid $15 for the contents of a closet because it had a lot of sweaters and I have a friend who makes mittens out of wool sweaters.  It took me over an hour to pack up and transport the 190 sweaters from the closet.  Yes, 190!

During an auction, we are assigned numbers used for bidding.  We follow the auctioneer through the house as one by one items are put up for bidding.  As we were bidding on items, it struck me that we were "casting lots" for this lady's belongings.  Our "lots" were the bids we were making.  The highest bidder claimed each individual prize.  You know, I always viewed the soldiers who cast lots for Jesus' garments at the crucifixion, as doing a terrible thing.  But did they?  After all it was prophesied.

John 19:23-24  Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic.  Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece.  They said therefore among themselves, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be," that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."  Therefore the soldiers did these things.  

Based on the clothing of that period, the four parts could have been a headdress, a belt, a mantle (robe), and sandals.  Each soldier took one of these items.  The tunic mentioned would have been a long, white linen shirt, possibly reaching to the ankles.  Although probably splattered with blood, the soldiers must have thought the tunic valuable since they did not want to tear it.  Instead, they cast lots to determine who would go home with the prize.

So, what about Jesus' tunic and other garments?   They are never mentioned again.  Did the soldiers wear them, did they sell them, did they give them away?  Did they use them as a conversation piece to tell about Jesus' crucifixion, death, and resurrection?  Did they become believers and lead others with their eyewitness accounts?

What could I use as a conversation piece to tell others about Jesus' crucifixion, death, and resurrection?