John 19:28-37--The Death of Jesus

John 19:28-37
English Standard Version

The Death of Jesus​
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Jesus' Side Is Pierced
31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 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.”

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I alluded to much of this at the end of yesterday's journal article, but Jesus was in complete control of the time and manner of His death.  He waits until He knows that all Scripture has been fulfilled before saying "I thirst" so that Psalm 69:21 would be fulfilled, "They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink."

The fact that hyssop was used to offer the sour wine to Jesus should bring back some memories as to other places where we've seen hyssop mentioned in the Bible. where hyssop is part of the process of atonement and purification.  See Exodus 12:22, Leviticus 14:4-6, 49-52, Numbers 19:6-18, Psalm 51:7, and Hebrews 9:19.  Especially with the fact that this is Passover when this is happening, the images of hyssop here would have extra meaning since it was with hyssop that the LORD commanded the blood of the Passover Lamb to be spread on the doorposts so that the angel of death would pass over His people.

Jesus then knows it is the right them--not only has His hour finally come, but is the exact right moment in time for Him to die.  The timing here when compared to the other gospels and other historical sources tell tell us that Jesus gave up His spirit willingly (remember, He said no one would take His life from Him, He must lay it down willingly--and that if He lays it down willingly, He can take it back up again) that would correspond to the exact time that the Passover lambs were being slaughtered and their blood was being applied to the doorposts of the houses were people were staying there in Jerusalem.

Much is going on here as heaven and earth respond to the death of Jesus and to HIs becoming sin for us and the fact that the Son feels disconnected from the Father.  John doesn't talk much about this, but we see that several things happen during this time:  the sky is pitch black, much like the Ninth Plague in Egypt, and the ground shook, causing the Roman centurion to say, "Truly this was the Son of God,"--John hints at this testimony without quoting it because apparently it known well by his readers, and the veil in the Temple which was torn from top to bottom).  John just skips over most of that though, but the manner in which heaven and earth responded to the death of their Creator is yet another sign of who Jesus was and everything that was being accomplished through His death--especially when we see the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place being torn by God from top to bottom.  No man would have been able to do this.

We spoke yesterday about how the legs of the other were broken at the request of the Pharisees so that they would not remain on the cross during the Sabbath (Passover itself was a high holy day that was a special Sabbath to the Jews, and it also appears that Passover fell on the seventh day Sabbath this particular year, meaning they had to get those being executed off the crosses and buried before sundown).  Time was of the essence so that they could follow the Law (in their minds) and remain pure (their impurity would only last until sundown according to the Law) so that they could be able to participate in the Passover.  We see this clearly in the gospel of Luke where Luke talks about Nicodemus and joseph of Arimathea burying Jesus quickly and they and everyone else observed the Sabbath.  I'll probably say something else about this in tomorrow's article if the opportunity presents itself.

For now, let's get back to the death of Jesus and how the centurion confirmed that Jesus was dead so that His legs did not have to be broken.  When they came to Him to break His legs to expedite His death, they saw that He appeared to be dead already, and the centurion took his spear and pierced Jesus' side in a way that was meant to puncture the heart and if the person wasn't already dead, they would be after this.  When Jesus' side was pierced, the text says that "blood and water" came out which is an indication of fluid that had built up around Jesus' heart due to the results of the crucifixion, so John's description here is consistent with what we know would happen medically with someone who had been crucified.  See this article for a bit more information if you'd like:  https://www.compellingtruth.org/blood-water-Jesus.html.  How is it that this centurion saw what so many Jews did not see, that Jesus was the Son of God?  Jesus wants to point us to this testimony as this was the primary argument he has been making in his gospel--so that we may know that Jesus was the Son of God.  Even this pagan centurion got it and believed--so did one of the thieves that was hanging on a cross next to Jesus, and it appears that possibly Pilate figured it out and maybe believed as well (we'll have to see when we get to heaven), but we see that the Jews who had the Law and the Prophets, and so much more and had been living in expectation of Messiah for millennia missed Him because He was not the kind of Messiah they were looking for.  John wants us to see this, and that Jesus has died exactly the way that He said He would in John 3:14-15, "14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." and John 12:30-32, "30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”  Truly it has been God's plan from the beginning to save both Jews and Gentiles.

John points us back to a couple of passages from the Old Testament that were fulfilled here.  First was that no bone would be broken in the Messiah, so His legs could not be broken during the crucifixion.  His timing was perfect to keep this from happening so that this prophecy would be fulfilled.  Second was that His side would be pierced by those who looked upon Him.  This happened when the centurion pierced the side of Jesus with his spear.  This hole in Jesus' side remains after His resurrection as He is going to tell Thomas to thrust his hand into His side to prove that He is really died and came back to life.  Thomas doesn't seem to take Jesus up on His offer, but he does see and believe.  We are told that we will be more blessed if we don't see and still believe.  We will also see that the nailprints in His hands remain for all eternity.  Jesus will be forever marked by this event, and we will sing of this in our Revelation Song and the Song of the Redeemed.  Oh how I long for that day!