Water & Blood

Introduction

Let’s read the passage together first today.

Read John 19:31-42.

So from last week’s passage, we know that Jesus has been crucified, and we read in the last verse of last week that Jesus says ‘It is finished’ and then he gives up his spirit and he dies.

What’s happens in today’s passage is after Jesus gives up his spirit and dies. Soon after Jesus dies, the Jews are in a rush and want to speed up the crucifixion process. As I said last week, sometimes it took days for people to die from crucifixion, and even after they died, they usually left the bodies on the cross so that vultures would come and eat the bodies. But the Jews didn’t want that, and they wanted the crucified people to die quickly on the same day, and then get rid of the bodies. And the reason for that was because the very next day was not only the holy Sabbath, but all this was also during the Passover week, making it ‘extra holy’ if you would. And for the Jews, dead bodies were unclean things that they couldn’t touch on the Sabbath day, and also by OT law, dead bodies were not to be left hanging up overnight because it would desecrate the land or make the land unclean. So to speed up by the process the Jews ask the Roman soliders to break the legs of those crucified, because what that does is it prevents the victim from supporting themselves with their feet. This causes their body to sink further down, and because their bodyweight is now only held up by their arms, their chest becomes compressed and they die faster by suffocation/asphyxiation. But after breaking the legs of the two beside Jesus, they come to Jesus to break his legs, and they find that he’s already dead, so they don’t break his legs. Instead, to check he is dead, they pierce him with a spear and blood and water start flowing out from Jesus’ body. And after this, a man called Joseph, and Nicodemus who we met in chapter 3, take the body of Jesus and bury him in a tomb.

And throughout the entire passage and all the events, there is one thing that John makes really clear: Jesus is dead. Jesus is well and truly dead. Through the descriptions of the piercing, the water and blood flowing out from Jesus, the myrrh and aloes used as spices/fragrances for the burial, the linen used to wrap his body, the tomb - all these things are emphasising over and over again that Jesus has died. It’s not that it seems like Jesus died; It’s not that Jesus is dying but not yet dead. John is at pains to show us that Jesus has truly died.

So the death of Jesus is really important for John - clearly he wants to tell us something about the death of Jesus. And I want to break that down into 2 points:

The benefits of the death of Jesus

Different perspectives on the death of Jesus

Benefits of the Death of Jesus

So firstly, the benefits of the death of Jesus. To understand the benefits of the death of Jesus, we have to turn to verse 34 - read John 19:34 “34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.”

Now it’s not exactly clear why blood and water came out of Jesus when he was pierced. But there are theories by medical experts: show images

Explain

Pleural cavity

Pneumothorax - my story

Pleural effusion

Haemothorax

How it appears on X-ray/CT

But what’s more important than the biological explanation of the water and blood, is the meaning behind the water and blood. Think back to earlier in John’s gospel:

Explain the Samaritan woman - read John 4:14 “14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”” -> Jesus says only he is the source of living water, eternal life.

Explain last day of the feast of booths, when Jesus stands up in the middle of the crowd and cries out: read John 7:37–38 “37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”” -> Jesus is the source of the Holy Spirit

Explain Jesus as the source of water that gives life Exodus 17:6 “...you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” In the OT when the Israelites were wandering through the wilderness, they didn’t have any water. And the way God provides water is by commanding Moses to strike a rock with his staff, and out of the rock flowed out water to provide water to Israel and keep them alive.

So by water and blood flowing out of Jesus on his death, John is showing us that Jesus is the source of abundant life, eternal life, and the Holy Spirit. And this water and blood only flows out when Jesus is lifted up onto the cross, dies for us and is pierced for us. It is only by the death of Jesus that we have these incomparable abundant blessings. Just as the rock is struck and broken and gives water to the Israelites, it is only when Jesus is also struck and broken that living water flows from him to give us abundant life. So at the heart/foundation of the Christian hope is the death of Christ. The death of Christ is sad and heartbreaking on one hand because Jesus suffered and died for what we deserved, but on the other hand is something to by joyful and thankful about, because it is only by the death of Christ that we are rescued from our sins.

Perspectives on the Death of Jesus

But it’s possible to have different perspectives on the death of Jesus. What do I mean by that?

When the Pharisees and the soldiers saw that water and blood flowed from Jesus’ wound when they pierced him, all they probably saw in it was just confirming the fact that he was dead. Maybe if they were smart enough, they would have even known it was a pleural effusion or haemothorax!

But even with the exact same event, different people can have different perspectives, different views on the same event.

All the Pharisees and soliders saw was a dead man, with now an extra wound on his chest. But John had a different perspective: read John 19:36–37 “36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.””

For John, the death of Jesus wasn’t just a plain old death. For John, the death of Jesus was the fulfillment of the Bible - it was the fulfillment of what God had prophesied previously. In verse 37, when it says ‘They will look on him whom they have pierced,’ that is referring to Zechariah 12:10 which says the exact same thing. For John, the death of Jesus wasn’t an accident where God made a mistake and Jesus ended up dying; for John, the death of Jesus was the eternal plan of God. For John, the death of Jesus wasn’t meaningless; for John, the death of Jesus was the very thing God would use to give abundant and eternal life and joy to all his children.

John had a completely different perspective on the death of Jesus. And that perspective was something that was shaped by God and His word. Depending on what perspective you have of the death of Jesus, it can be a meaningless death, as just a fact in history, with no benefit for you; or it can be the death which gives you true blood and water: the wonderful blessings of God that He pours out on his children by the death of his very own son.

Conclusion

It’s so interesting how just a small change in perspective can change so much. See this picture.

Within the same picture, having a different perspective can completely change what you see -> either see young woman or old woman.

It’s the same with the death of Jesus. There are different perspectives you can have on it. Some people will say Jesus is a myth, and his death isn’t real. Some of your friends will say Jesus existed and he died, but he was just a human teacher, and his death was just a tragic death on the cross with no real other meaning.

But just like the picture of the woman, there can be another perspective. And this perspective is this: that Jesus was the Son of God, who died on the cross for us, which wasn’t a meaningless death, but it’s a death that gives us true life. This is the perspective that leads to blessings and benefits of Jesus death for us, of the blood and water of life that flows from his body. And this perspective is one that is shaped by God himself, through his word.

And perspective is not just important for the death of Jesus. Our perspective, our thinking, our outlook on life, needs to be shaped by God, by his Word in the Bible. This world will offer you many other ways of thinking, behaving, living. This world will tell you that everyone has their own worldview and way of life, and they are all ok - all in the pursuit of inclusivity. People say, I believe in Islam, I’m Hindu, I’m just ‘spiritual’, I’m atheist, I follow Jordan Peterson’s way of life, I follow Stoic philosophy, - whatever it may be - the world says ‘its ok’, ‘believe in whatever you want’, ‘you do you!’ But worldview of Christianity is exclusive - it rejects the idea that all ideas and worldviews and ways of life are ok -> just like how there can only be one perspective of Jesus’ death, there can only be one perspective on this life, which is the perspective God gives through his Word. And it is this perspective that leads all the wonderful blessings and benefits of what Christ has achieved on the cross for us.

Ending song: Rock of Ages

Discussion questions

Examine these passages, and look at what kind of people Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus are:

Mark 15:43 - Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrin

Matt 27:57 - Joseph was rich

John 19:38 - He feared the Jews

Matt 27:57 - Joseph was a follower of Jesus

John 3:1 - Nicodemus was a Pharisee

Do you think it would have been easy for Joseph and Nicodemus to ask for Jesus’ body?

No, it would have taken a lot of bravery for them to ask for Jesus’ body. It would have drawn a lot of criticism from the other members of the Sanhedrin.

What kind of perspective of Jesus do you think they had? How does a right perspective of Jesus help us respond correctly/act rightly?

Even though they may not have known the full extent of God’s plan (they wouldn’t have known that Jesus would be resurrected), they still knew Jesus was special. They had the faith to know that Jesus was a special man of God, so they were willing to put themselves at risk to give Jesus a proper burial.

Having this proper view of Jesus, even though it was incomplete, allowed them to respond correctly and act rightly, which is burying Jesus’ body respectfully.

It is the same with our lives: having the proper view of Jesus from our hearts as Lord and Saviour, as the one who died for us on the cross, will allow us to respond to Him correctly.