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| Pastor F.F. Daramola |
Text: John 19:31-34. “Then the Jews, since it was the day of preparation and so that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath day was a great Sabbath), requested of Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other man who had been crucified with Him. 33. But coming to Jesus, when they saw that He had already died, they did not break His legs; 34 but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.”
INTRODUCTION
In the New Testament, all four Gospels give the account of the crucifixion of Jesus. But in John 19:31-34, details are recorded that do not appear in the other three accounts: “Then the Jews, since it was the day of preparation and so that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath day was a great Sabbath), requested of Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other man who had been crucified with Him. 33. But coming to Jesus, when they saw that He had already died, they did not break His legs; 34 but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.”
The Roman soldiers routinely broke the legs of those they crucified to hasten their deaths. Since Jesus had already died, they left His legs unbroken. Yet one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, and out of His side came blood and water. Why are these details about the piercing of Jesus’ side recorded only in the Gospel of John? Do they have a special meaning?
THE SUBJECT OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
To answer this question, we first need to see the subject of John’s Gospel. Each of the four Gospels presents a different aspect of our Lord Jesus. Taken together, they form a complete biography. The New Testament Recovery Version provides the subject of every book, including those of the four Gospels:
1. Matthew: The Gospel of the Kingdom—Proving that Jesus Christ is the King - Savior
2. Mark: The Gospel of God—Proving that Jesus Christ is the Slave - Savior
3. Luke: The Gospel of the Forgiveness of Sins—Proving that Jesus Christ is the Man - Savior
4. John: The Gospel of Life—Proving that Jesus Christ is God the Savior Coming as Life to Propagate Himself
The emphasis of the Gospel of John is life. When we consider the details in John’s account of the Lord’s crucifixion, we have to keep that emphasis in mind.
PICTURES IN JOHN
Spiritual realities are profound; they can be hard to understand. So John uses pictures, or signs, throughout his Gospel to help us grasp these realities. For instance, in John 1:29 John the Baptist says of Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” We know the Lord Jesus is not literally a lamb with four legs and a fluffy coat, but the picture of Jesus as the Lamb of God shows us something beyond what words alone can tell us. Without a lot of explanation, the picture, or sign, of a lamb immediately impresses us with the:
1.Meekness,
2.Gentleness, and
3. Sinlessness of the Lord who gave Himself up for us.
John uses other pictures throughout his account, such as the heavenly ladder, the brass serpent on a pole, and the vine with the branches. These signs help communicate deep spiritual realities to us.
WHAT DOES THE BLOOD AND WATER THAT CAME OUT OF JESUS’ PIERCED SIDE MEAN?
THE PICTURE OF BLOOD AND WATER
So what spiritual reality does the blood and water from the Lord’s pierced side reveal?
Note 1 on blood and water in John 19:34 but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.” in the New Testament Recovery Version is tremendously helpful. Let us look at some portions of this lengthy note. The first section says:
“Two substances came out of the Lord’s pierced side: blood and water.
Blood is for redemption, to deal with sins (John 1:29“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” Hebrews 9:22. And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.) for the purchasing of the church (Acts 20:28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.).
Water is for imparting life, to deal with death (John 12:24“Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” John 3:14-15 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should [a]not perish but have eternal life.) for the producing of the church (Ephesians 5:29-30 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.). The Lord’s death, on the negative side, takes away our sins, and on the positive side, imparts life into us. Hence, it has two aspects: the redemptive aspect and the life-imparting aspect.
1. The redemptive aspect is for the life-imparting aspect.
2. The life-imparting aspect.
The record of the other three Gospels portrays only the redemptive aspect of the Lord’s death. John’s record portrays not only the redemptive aspect but also the life-imparting aspect.”
So the blood and water show us two important aspects of the Lord’s death: the redemptive aspect (blood) and the life-imparting aspect (water).
Because Jesus shed His blood to accomplish a marvelous redemption for us, we can be forgiven and cleansed of all our sins. We can never praise and thank Him enough for the redemptive aspect of His death. But His redemption was for a purpose: God wants us to receive His divine life. This is possible because of the life-imparting aspect of Jesus’ death. Jesus’ death released the divine life
Let us read another section of the note:
“But the flowing water and the unbroken bone mentioned by John in verse 34 but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.” and verse 36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.” are signs that relate to the life-imparting aspect of the Lord’s death. This death that imparts life released the Lord’s divine life from within Him for the producing of the church, which is composed of all His believers, into whom His divine life has been imparted.” The note says that the Lord’s death released the Lord’s divine life from within Him. To understand what this means, let us read what Jesus says in John 12:24: “Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
Before His crucifixion, Jesus likened Himself to a grain of wheat that would fall into the ground and die. A grain of wheat is a seed. Inside the shell of a seed is a life force, a life element. But as long as the seed remains whole, the life within it is confined to that one seed. It must fall into the ground and “die” so its outer shell can be broken open. That is the only way the life in the seed can be released so that it can bear fruit. This is for its propagation, or increase.
In the same way, the divine Son of God became a man of flesh and blood named Jesus. Jesus was both divine and human, but His divine life was confined within the “shell” of His humanity. But God desired that we would all receive His divine life. For this to happen, the divine life in Jesus had to be released from within the shell of His humanity. This happened when Jesus died on the cross. Through His death, divine life was released! Now that life can be imparted to all who believe in Jesus.
TWO FOUNTAINS
We can continue to enjoy the provisions of His blood and His life forever. Let us read the last section of the note:
“The Lord’s pierced side was prefigured by Adam’s opened side, out from which Eve was produced (Genesis 2:21-23 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”).
The blood was typified by the blood of the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it., 22 And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. Revelation 12:11. Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.), and
The water was typified by the water that flowed out of the smitten rock (Exodus 17:6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 1 Corinthians 10:4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.). The blood formed a fountain for the washing away of sin (Zechariah 13:1 “In that day there will be an opened fountain for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.”), and the water became the fountain of life (Psalm 36:9. “For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.” Revelation 21:6).”
CONCLUSION
Jesus’ death opened two fountains to meet all our needs: a fountain for washing away our sins and a fountain of life. We can continue to come to the fountain for cleansing by confessing any sin we commit. And we can receive more of the divine life by coming to the Lord as the fountain of life to drink of Him. Praise the Lord for His redeeming and life-imparting death, for the blood and the water! We could only briefly discuss here the profound meaning of the blood and water that came out of the Lord’s pierced side. And the note we looked at today includes another section on the redemptive aspect of the Lord’s death.
PASTOR F. F. DARAMOLA, Ph.D.
ZONAL SUPERINTENDENT, OSHODI ZONE