With Dale Ratzlaff
John 19:31-37
31 Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
The Jewish leaders were seeking to be obedient to the law given Deuteronomy:
If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance (Deut. 21:22-23).
The Jewish authorities, who had been so intent on putting Christ to death, violated their own law on numerous occasions as pointed out in a previous lesson. Now, however, they seek to abide by its precepts and take the body of Jesus down before sunset and the approach of the Sabbath. In so doing, they only underline the truth that Jesus became a curse for us. He was accursed of God for our sins. Paul uses this very text in his presentation of the gospel to the Galatians.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”—(Gal. 3:13).
The Romans left those who had been crucified on the Cross as a warning to others. Under special occasions, permission was given for certain persons to be taken down from the cross. Josephus gives this account.
I saw many captives crucified, and remembered three of them as my former acquaintance. I was very sorry at this in my mind, and went with tears in my eyes to Titus, and told him of them; so he immediately commanded them to be taken down, and to have the greatest care taken of them, in order to their recovery; yet two of them died under the physician’s hands, while the third recovered ( https://pages.uncc.edu/james-tabor/archaeology-and-the-dead-sea-scrolls/josephus-references-to-crucifixion/).
32 So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him;
The act of breaking the legs of the crucified was to hasten death. With broken legs, the person hanging on the cross could no longer support any weight on his legs. Now, all his body weight hung from his outstretched arms. This soon caused suffocation, and death usually occurred in less than an hour.
33 but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.
The fact that Jesus died sooner than the other two malefactors who were crucified with Him shows how the terrible suffering, loss of blood, and the weight of the sins of the world bore on His physical body. We also must remember that He chose when He was to die. He had the power to lay His life down and authority to take it up again as we will see in the next chapter of John.
34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
This soldier wanted proof that Jesus really was dead. So he thrust his spear through Christ’s side, apparently piercing his heart
35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
John wants the readers of his Gospel to know for sure that Jesus died in a physical body. In the early church, a heresy developed that Jesus did not have a real, physical body. Instead, the Docetic teaching said that Jesus was just a phantom and appeared to have a body.
John sees these events as a fulfillment of Scripture.
36For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, “NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN.”
37And again another Scripture says, “THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED.”
There has been much discussion regarding John stressing the fact that both blood and water came out when Jesus was pierced. I have heard fanciful descriptions of just how this naturally took place. However, I think we should not go too far beyond what John, himself, writes. First, as mentioned above, it shows Jesus was human and died as a human. This, according to John, has saving significance.
And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
Second, both terms, “water” and “blood” are key themes in this Gospel.
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. (Jn. 6:53-56) Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water [as in physical birth] and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’” (Jn. 3:5-7).
We remember the conversation Jesus had with the woman of Samira.
Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life” (Jn. 4:10-14).
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (Jn. 7:37-39).
Jesus seems to have several Old Testament passages in mind.
For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants (Isa. 44:3).
And the LORD will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail (Isa. 58:11).
The Apostle John was an eye witness to the life and crucifixion of Jesus. Later, as he perused the Old Testament Scriptures, he saw new meanings and additional fulfillments. He wanted his readers to understand the deeper truths of the gospel. He remembered how Jesus had assigned new meaning to keywords like water, spirit, and blood. I believe John wants us to contemplate the symbolic meaning of these words so crucial to a full understanding of the gospel.
Application
- One of the major tenets of the gospel is that Jesus was fully human. Coming into our world as a human being was God’s way of showing Himself to us. This is a precious truth. If we have been born again into the family of God, Jesus is our big brother, and we are sons and daughters of God.
- Once again, we see the price paid for our salvation. The horror of the cross stands out in evident relief, showing us that Jesus was cursed and condemned for us. It reveals that because of the cross we may be blessed and acquitted once and for all from the condemnation of sin.
- As you review the Gospel of John from time to time, let the meaning assigned by Jesus to these three keywords: blood, water, and spirit impact your understanding and life.
Prayer
Father, how thankful I am that Jesus was a real human being in many ways like me. As I study His life and death, I appreciate that you gave your only begotten Son, that whoever, including me, believes the gospel record may have eternal life.
In Jesus name.
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