John 19:34-37, Jesus' Side Is Pierced

34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness— his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth— that you also may believe. 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.”

“Let’s make sure he really is dead,” or something like that must have been uttered by the soldier. So accustomed to gratuitous violence, he instinctively thrust his spear into Jesus. Standing there watching as a key eyewitness to the crucifixion was John. Later he wrote, “I know my testimony is true, and I know I am telling the truth, and I am telling this truth so that you may believe that Jesus really did die.” John saw blood and water flow from the side of Jesus. The “water” can be explained medically, although not with certainty, but the point is Jesus died and John witnessed it. Why does John want us to believe that Jesus died? Because if he did not die, then he could not be resurrected. Yet there is more. John wants us to know that in his death, after his expiration, Jesus was still fulfilling Scripture. How can one fulfill prophecy after they are dead? Only God can do that.

The soldiers did two things after Jesus died. First, they did not smash his legs to hasten his death, and, second, they pierced him with a spear. In saying, “Not one of his bones will be broken,” John refers to three separate Old Testament prophecies:

“[The Passover lamb] shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. (Exodus 12:46)

They shall leave none of [the Passover lamb] until the morning, nor break any of its bones; according to all the statute for the Passover they shall keep it. (Numbers 9:12)

He [the righteous man] keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. (Psalm 34:20)

In these references, John continues his theme begun in Chapter 1 when John the baptizer called Jesus “the Lamb of God.” On the cross, Jesus is the Passover lamb, shedding his blood to assuage the wrath of God from taking the lives of the guilty. And although Jesus identifies with sinful humans in being baptized by John, he is the completely righteous, sinless man of Psalm 34 whose bones are not broken.

In saying, “They will look on him whom they have pierced,” John again references three Scriptures:

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10)

“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

“For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.” (Psalm 22:16)

Everywhere we look in the Old Testament scriptures we find descriptions of what will happen to Jesus. To his disciples and to us today, they are reassuring that God knew exactly what would happen to his firstborn Son for our healing and peace.

O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, who from the bosom of the Father didst descend from the heavens to the earth, and on the wood of the cross didst suffer five wounds, and shed thy precious blood for the remission of our sins: we meekly beseech thee that, in the day of judgment, we may be set on thy right hand, and hear thy joyful sentence, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, enjoy ye the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; where with the Father and the Holy Ghost thou livest and reignest, One God, for ever and ever.

John Hilsey, Prymer, 1539