Jesus' Side is Pierced
Rev. Colby Smith
Senior Minister
Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the Sabbath, especially because that Sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.” John 19:31-37
My column throughout this Lenten Season will focus upon the themes and images of Holy Week and Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. I hope they both inform and deepen your faith. Peter Paul Rubens' famous crucifixion scene, entitled Coup de Lance, hangs in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. Rubens' crucifixion scene is based on John 19:31-37, and it has no parallel in the Synoptic Gospels. Scholarly priest Raymond Brown holds that Mark and John are offering different interpretations of the one set of historical events that gave rise to both traditions.
The setting in John 19:31 reflects Johannine chronology that Jesus' death and burial took place before sundown on Good Friday. That year the Sabbath and Passover coincided, so that the first day of Passover fell on a Saturday. The Jewish authorities want the bodies removed before sundown in compliance with Mosaic Law (Deut. 21:22-23).
The leg-breaking custom is the crurijragium, accomplished with a heavy mallet to hasten death by suffocation. In 1968, the skeletal remains of a man in Palestine of the 1st century were discovered with both legs broken. Since Jesus is already dead, his legs are not broken (John 19:32-33).
In tradition, the soldier is called Longinus because of the lancea (spear) he used. Some scholars suggest the soldier gave the wound in Jesus’ side as an exploratory jab to see if the apparently dead body would react. The surprising detail is the flow of blood and water. There are many analyses of this text. Some theorize the pierced pericardial sac released two substances: blood and a light serous fluid. Another explanation is the anti-docetic apologetic: John wants to counter the Docetists who denied Christ was ever human and that the crucifixion was only an appearance of suffering and death.
Brown observes that the reference in John 19:35, to the testimony concerning the water and blood as "true," indicates the real significance of the scene is not on the visible, material level, but what it tells us of the world of the Spirit. We are dealing with a witness to a revelation that is important for all Christians whom the Beloved Disciple symbolizes. Brown states the flow of water from Jesus' side is the Johannine way to declare the fulfillment of Jesus' own prophecy, taking place in the hour of his glorification - the propleptic symbol of the giving of the Holy Spirit.
While only the risen Christ gives the Spirit, the gift flows from the whole process of glorification. The Spirit would not be able to come until Jesus had shed his blood. Hence, 1 John 5:6-8 clarifies: "This is the one who came by water and blood ... not with water only but with water and blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is truth." The flow of water and blood symbolizes propleptically the pouring out of the Spirit by the dead and glorified Christ; and the Spirit makes it possible for both the Beloved Disciple to testify and for those who listen to have faith in Christ.
On a secondary level, many scholars see sacramental symbolism, where the flowing water and blood symbolize baptism and communion as coming forth from Jesus' pierced side. The eyewitness, the Beloved Disciple, is not only telling the truth that you may have faith; more importantly, he is giving testimony of what he has seen, that you may have belief that it happened in order to beget faith in an unseen reality.
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