Water and Blood

 

1John 5:6, 8 This is the one who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies because the Spirit is the truth. The Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

Crucifixion was usually intended to provide a death that was particularly slow, painful, gruesome, humiliating, and public.  The victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden beam and left to hang, perhaps for several days, until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. The victim was stripped naked and put on public display while they were slowly tortured to death so that they would serve as a spectacle and an example. It was used to punish slaves, pirates, and enemies of the state. Victims were sometimes left on display even after death as a warning to any other potential criminals.

Often crucifixion was preceded by scourging, in order to hasten impending death. The victim then bore his own cross, or at least the upright beam, to the place of execution. When he was tied to the cross or nailed to it, nothing further was done and he was left to die from starvation. The number of nails didn’t matter. There was a  tablet, on which the feet rested and on which the body was partly supported to prevent the wounds from tearing into the body.

The suffering implied in crucifixion naturally made the cross a symbol of pain, distress, and burden-bearing. Thus Jesus used it Himself (Mathew 10:38, 16:24) in His teachings. Paul used it to preach the doctrine of Atonement. It expresses the bond of unity between the Jew and the Gentile (Ephesians 2:16), and between the believer and Christ, and also symbolizes sanctification (Galatians 5:24). The cross was pivotal to the preaching of the apostles and of the life in the New Testament church. As an instrument of death, the cross was detested by the Jews. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Moses’ law taught anyone who is hung on a pole is under God's curse. (Deuteronomy 21:23). Ironically, the supreme sacrifice the Lord made for mankind’s redemption became a stumbling-block to the Jews. How could one accursed of God be their Messiah?

The suffering of death by crucifixion was intense. Severe local inflammation caused by the nails, coupled with bleeding produced traumatic fever, which was aggravated by the exposure to the heat of the sun, the strain of the body and unbearable thirst. The swelling caused by the rough nails and the torn lacerated tendons and nerves caused excruciating agony. The arteries of the head and stomach were surcharged with blood and a terrible throbbing headache ensued. The victim of crucifixion literally died a thousand deaths. Tetanus often took over and the resulting convulsions would tear at the wounds and add to the terrible pain, till at last the body was exhausted and the victim sank into unconsciousness and death. The length of this agony was wholly determined by the constitution of the victim, but death rarely ensued before about thirty-six hours had elapsed. The victim might remain alive even for two or three days in this stage.

Death was sometimes hastened by breaking the legs of the victims. When Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body, Pilate was surprised that Jesus was dead.  The peculiar symptoms mentioned by the apostle in John 19:34—the flow of blood and water--would seem to point to a rupture of the heart, of which the Saviour died, independent of the cross itself, or perhaps hastened by its agony.

There is no doubt that John was writing about “water and blood” (1John 6, 8) remembering the above fact when a soldier stabbed the Saviour’s side and both poured out (to which he was an eye witness). Why did the apostle mention the fact at all in his report in John 19:34? Is it merely for historical accuracy and completeness, or as a possible proof of the actual death of Christ? Certain sects among the second and third-generation Christians had doubted if Jesus really died at the crucifixion.  It is also probable he wished to refer to the mystical relation of baptismal cleansing (“water”) and the atonement (“blood”).

The argument of 1 John 5:8 concerns the Messiahship of Jesus, which is proved by a threefold witness. First at the Jordan river baptism (‘’water’’) God attested Jesus as the Messiah by the heavenly voice, “This is my beloved Son.” Next during the crucifixion (‘’blood’’), Father had accepted His atoning sacrifice. Finally, Jesus’ promise of sending the Comforter was fulfilled on Pentecost (“spirit”). These three together present us with the final proof of the completed Messianic task. This is what the Apostle means when he says in 1 John 5:6, 8 that Jesus came by water, blood and spirit. The NLT translates the verses as ‘’And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross—not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony’’ for better clarity.

A scientific study of the physiological aspect of Jesus’ death undertaken in 1805 has shown that the blood released by the spear-thrust of the soldier must have been extravasated before the opening of the side took place, for only so could it have been poured forth in the described manner. Some modern physiologists are convinced that in this passage a wonderful phenomenon is reported to us, which contains for us an almost certain clue to the real cause of the Savior's death. Another physiologist in 1847 who based his report on the numerous post-mortems he had performed, pronounced the opinion that here we had a proof of the death of Christ being due not to the effects of crucifixion but to “laceration or rupture of the heart” as a consequence of supreme mental agony and sorrow. It has been observed that usually the suffering on the cross was very prolonged. It often lasted for two or three days, when death would take place from exhaustion. There were no physical reasons why Christ should not have lived very much longer on the cross than He did. On the other hand, death caused by laceration of the heart in consequence of great mental suffering would be almost instantaneous.

In such a case the phrase “died of a broken heart,” becomes literally true. The blood flowing through the laceration into the pericardium of the heart, being extravasated, soon coagulated into the red clot (blood) and the clear serum (water). This accumulation in the heart-sac was released by the spear-thrust from the gaping wound as two component parts of blood distinctly visible.

While we may never reach a state of absolute certainty on this subject, there is no valid reason to deny the probability of this view of the death of Christ. It certainly gives a more solemn insight into Christ's spiritual anguish, “the travail of his soul” on our behalf, which weighed upon Him so heavily that long before the usual term of the physical suffering that caused death in crucified persons, Christ's loving heart broke, achieving the great atoning sacrifice for all mankind.

The blood and water that flowed out, signifies those two great benefits which all believers partake of through Christ, justification and sanctification; blood for atonement, water for purification. They both flow from the pierced side of our blessed Redeemer. To the crucified Christ we owe merit for our justification and to the Spirit and grace for our sanctification.

 There is another reason why Jesus ‘’released His spirit’’ when He did. Staying alive any longer would have resulted in His legs being broken, an approved legal action to hasten the prisoners’ death. The Scripture was fulfilled, in the soldiers’ not proceeding to carry this out. See Psalms 34:20—‘’For the LORD protects the bones of the righteous; not one of them is broken!’’. Besides, Jesus being the Divine Passover Lamb, His bones cannot be broken according to the Mosaic law (Exodus 12:46).

We enter this earth inwardly and outwardly polluted. For our cleansing, there is in Christ Jesus, the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. This water and blood include all that is necessary to our salvation. By the water, our souls are washed and purified for heaven and the habitation of saints in light. By the blood, we are justified, reconciled, and presented righteous to God. By the blood, the curse of the law being satisfied, the purifying Spirit is obtained for the internal cleansing of our nature. The water, as well as the blood, came out of the side of the sacrificed Redeemer. May we ever look to Him, whom, by our sins, we have ignorantly and thoughtlessly pierced, who shed from His wounded side both water and blood, that we might be justified and sanctified in his name.

Ephesians  5:25-27 … Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,  and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.

 

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