Day 1214: The ultimate passover - John 19 vs 31 - 42

31-34 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. So 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. 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. 36-37 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39-40 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41-42 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. John 19:31-42 English Standard Version.

Much has been said about the blood and water that flowed from Christ's lifeless body. The spear may well have pierced the fluid filled sac surrounding the heart, and therefore water and blood mingled. John alludes to this in his epistle and says “This is He who came by water and blood - Jesus Christ. Not by the water only, but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.” (1 John 5:6)

So, by mentioning water, he may have been alluding to Christ's humanity. Matthew Henry, however, expresses what has been a common understanding of the Bible's use of blood and water, and says: “The spear broke up the very fountains of life; no human body could survive such a wound. But its being so solemnly attested, shows there was something peculiar in it. The blood and water that flowed out, signified 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 Redeemer.”

The fact that Christ was already dead also shows that He voluntarily laid down His life for those He came to save. John quotes two scriptures to show that this was God's plan. Exodus 12:46 said of the passover lamb that they were “not to break any of its bones”. And Zechariah 12:10 said: “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.” John was an eye witness to the crucifixion, and he faithfully recorded all that took place for our sake! (vs 35)

How amazing that the two men who laid the body of Jesus in a tomb were one that was a 'secret' disciple, for fear of the Jews, and the other was one who'd visited Jesus by night, also because of fear of being associated with Him. And because because the day of Preparation was at hand - and that Sabbath was also the day of Passover - and the tomb was close by, they laid Jesus there. Jesus wasn't left on the cross for days, as was the Roman custom, until He expired. In John 7:30 we read that the Jews were seeking to arrest Jesus, but did not lay a hand on Him “because His hour had not yet come.” But now His hour had come, and all of what happened at Calvary was God's perfect plan and time. In 1 Corinthians 5:7 Paul said “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” And Peter wrote: “you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”