Significance of Blood, Water and Spirit

There are good reasons Saint John reported water and blood flowed from Jesus’ side after the Roman soldier pierced him with a spear. The medical explanation is called pericardial tamponade – a condition usually resulting from major chest trauma.

Many NT scholars believe Jesus suffered from this condition in his final moments. Basically, it is a condition where water fills the sac surrounding the heart (called the pericardium). Since we know Jesus was flogged and beaten, this is where he could have suffered the chest trauma. Pastor Mark Driscoll, Marshill Church, said he believes it was either this, or that Jesus fell under his cross beam when he was carrying it. Cross beams could way more than 100 pounds (like a railroad tie) and would crush a man's chest if he fell under it. This would explain why John's gospel mentions Jesus carried his own cross, but the synoptic gospels claim Simon carried it. One could mend this surface contradiction by holding that Jesus began by carrying his cross beam, but weakened from his flogging, fell underneath the weight and was crushed, and from that point being unable to carry the beam, thus needing Simon's help.

With that kind of chest trauma, fluid would build around the heart causing massive heart failure and death. This would explain why blood and water came out when his side was pierced with a spear. This would also debunk the swoon theory, which states that Jesus merely passed out on the cross, and the Romans, (who were professional executioners) mistook him for being dead. If water came from his side, chances are he surely died from massive heart failure.

Here's why it was significant enough for Saint John to record it. Water and blood played significant roles in the ritual cleansing of a person. Baptism was a very common ritual, and the law required baptism for a number of situations. For example, a woman who finished her menstrual cycle would need to be immersed in water before being clean again. Another example is seen with the high priest, who was baptized five times before entering the Most Holy Place on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).

Also, we know that blood atones for sin, and "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" (Heb. 9:22). In fact, in many cleansing rituals, blood and water were used together. For example, in order for a leper who had been healed, to be pronounced ceremonially clean, he needed to be (among other things) sprinkled with blood and water together, then baptized (Lev. 14:1-9, Heb. 9:19-20). The blood is necessary for atonement because the wages of sin is death, (Rom. 6:23) and the life of a creature is in its blood (Lev. 17:14). Water (I suppose) is significant because it is the one base substance needed for all kinds of cleaning – so blood for the life, and water for the cleansing. These things don't evoke very much imagery in our culture because we are so far removed from animal sacrifices (which required blood and lots of water). But to the first-century Jew, blood and water together evoked graphic imagery of death, substitution and purification. 1 John hammers on this: "This is he who came by water and blood - Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood" (5:6a). Additionally, water in the near east has always been a symbol of life. Consider that Jesus referred attaining eternal life through “living water” (John 4:14).

This is also why the Christian sacraments (baptism and communion) are symbols of water and blood. The third element is the Spirit, where Jesus will "baptize us in spirit and fire" (Luke 3:16). Further along in 1 John 5, the spirit is mentioned as the third witness (verses 6-9). So, water blood and the Spirit are major themes for us. One could even argue our baptism is a picture of the great flood from Gen. 6, and our immersion with the spirit a picture of how God will one day immerse the earth in fire (Rev. 8) - both having cleansing properties. We see all three elements at the cross right at the point of Jesus’ death. His last words were "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" Then, water and blood flowed from his side. Water, blood, spirit.

A warning: When to "pluck out the right eye"

There are times when the study of books, even scripture, is such a focus in our lives as students, we tend to lose the proper perspective on our purpose here, (which is to love other people). This perhaps is one of my greatest struggles. It is a subtle temptation when we are deceived into taking a good thing (acquiring knowledge) and elevate it above the best thing (love). This is what makes possible the greatest of evils - because all other good things can be used for a bad purpose (charisma and charm can lead people astray, knowledge can be used for the wrong purpose, etc.). But genuine love can never be used for an evil purpose.

For this reason, the below quote is a warning to myself and perhaps anyone else who may be tempted to put knowledge, or their church, or family or self, above the virtue of love:

"We may come to love knowledge -- our knowing -- more than the thing known: to delight not in the exercise of our talents, but in the fact that they are ours, or even in the reputation they bring us. Every success in the scholar's life increases this danger. If it becomes irresistible, he must give up his scholarly work. the time for plucking out the right eye has arrived" (Lewis 57).

- C. S. Lewis. The Weight of Glory. New York: HarperCollins, 1949.

Good Friday - The Crucifixion

As of the time of this writing, it is 9:30 a.m. on Good Friday, which represents the very time Jesus was crucified and had been hanging for about 30 minutes on a stake. He would have another five hours and thirty minutes before his suffering is finished.

To put this into perspective, crucifixion is considered the most offensive and painful death ever invented in this world (Hengel). By the time of Jesus it had been perfected over a period of more than six hundred years, beginning with the Persians. In fact, the very word excruciating is a Latin word meaning literally “from the cross.”

The Romans had a custom of flogging most people before nailing them on the cross, just as Jesus was (John 19:1). The result of a Roman flogging was a flayed back and buttocks, leaving only ribbons of skin. According to scholars, many didn’t survive the flogging because of shock and loss of blood. The Jews had a law limiting the number of lashings to forty (Deut. 25:3), presumably to prevent death by torture – but the Romans had no such law.

Crucifixion involved being stripped totally naked (unlike how we’re used to seeing Jesus with a rag about his waist). Nails were driven through the most sensitive nerve centers in the body. A crucified man could be in only two states: rigid, with pressure on the nailed feet, allowing him to draw breath; or limp, with pressure on the nailed hands in a state of asphyxiation. Crucifixon is a state of constant agony and sometimes lasted as long as four days, or in some cases nine days (Hengel). According to Hengel, it is likely Jesus died after six hours from loss of blood due to his flogging. Mark Driscoll said he believes it was a heart attack from falling under his cross beam as he carried it. Either way, six hours is a long time to hang against a roughly hewn block of wood with a skinless back. Think about what you were doing six hours ago, and imagine hanging from then until now.

Hengel claims the idea of crucifixion was so offensive to ancient civilized society, it was the main barrier to getting people to believe. No all-powerful, dignified deity would lower himself to that level of barbarity. Paul supports this idea when he wrote the crucified Lord is “foolishness” to Gentiles (1Cor. 1:23). Indeed, the scene was filled with more than blood. During those last six hours Jesus gradually lost control of his body, whereupon his vomit, urine and feces collected with his blood at the foot of his cross. This was for everyone to see – he was naked. During the last hour, his skin (that was left) was completely white and blanched, with no blood to give it color. His beard was pulled out, his body in ribbons, and his skin blanched white. Only Isaiah captures best how people saw Jesus in his last hours: “his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind” (Isa. 52:14, ESV).

In his book called The Problem of Pain, C. S Lewis talks about the divine humility of God, that he would accept us by dying the way he did, even when He is our last resort, and our last choice. God deserves more, he demands more, and he knew we could not meet his demand – so he met it on the cross, and that is what today is all about. May all of you know, I don’t need to say “God bless you” because he already has.

Works Cited

Hengel, Martin. Crucifixion. London: Fortress, 1977.