Jesus' humanity — Faves of Dave - Bible Study

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.”

The beginning of the Sabbath was just a few hours away and the Jews were concerned with ritual purity as they had been by not entering Pilate’s house earlier. In Deuteronomy 21:22-23 we read, “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.” This explains why they wanted the bodies removed from their crosses. But, “What does having the crucified mens’ legs broken have to do with their bodies not remaining on the cross? In crucifixion, the condemned person would likely push up with their feet in order to breathe. However, if their legs were broken, they would not be able to do that and so it would bring death upon them more quickly. This is obviously the case here since the soldiers broke the legs of the other two men, but did not break Jesus’ legs because he was already dead. There was no need to break his legs.

This detail was important to John because John understands Jesus to be the true Passover lamb of God. According to Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12 none of the bones of the Passover lamb could be broken. Once again John is showing us that Scripture is being fulfilled in the death of Jesus.

Before continuing on in our section of John, I want to call your attention to a statement in the Deuteronomy 21:22-23 passage shown above. It is the statement, “a hanged man is cursed by God.” Did that catch your attention? Did it bother you? Does this mean that Jesus, the Son of God, was actually “cursed by God?” To be honest, that phrase bothered me. But, we get some help from the Apostle Paul in answering this question and explaining its significance. In Galatians 3:13-14 Paul wrote of Jesus, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” According to Paul, the short answer to our question is, “Yes. Jesus was cursed by God.” He refers to the same passage in Deuteronomy and says that Christ became “a curse for us.” (Gal. 3:13) Why? He did it in order to redeem us from the curse of the Law. The Law itself is not a curse. It is good. But, the problem is that none of us can keep it and therefore, we deserve the penalty of violating God’s Law. As Paul writes in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and are falling short (an ongoing condition) of God’s glory.” In our natural condition, we are in trouble and we need God’s intervention. That’s what Jesus’ death on the cross accomplished. Furthermore, Christ becoming a curse for us and redeeming us from the curse made it possible for us to receive the Holy Spirit through faith.

In verse 34, John writes that one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with his spear. We are not told why he did this. Perhaps it was to make certain there was no chance that he would still possibly be alive after they removed his body from the cross. We’re not really sure. More on this shortly.

John adds another detail that “blood and water” came out his side when he was pierced. Much has been written about this and, besides not having the time to distill all the information for this episode, I’m not sure myself what all John may be wanting to communicate by including this detail. However, I believe there are at least two important reasons for the inclusion of this fact. The first is that Jesus was really human. There have been heresies from the beginning of the Christian faith that Jesus wasn’t really a human; that he only looked human. John lived long enough to have heard people teach this view. I believe he is attacking that argument by saying, “Look, people! I was there and a soldier stuck his spear in Jesus’ side and real blood and water came out.” The second important truth this bears witness to is that Jesus was really dead. Over time, people have sought to attack the doctrine of the resurrection of Christ and have said that he really did not die; it just appeared that he was dead. The soldiers had witnessed enough crucifixions to be adequate judges of when someone was dead or not. But, to be certain, a soldier stuck his spear into the side of Jesus which would likely have pierced a lung and even his heart. By the time his body was removed from the cross, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Jesus was dead.

John not only understands that Jesus’ was God’s Passover lamb for the world and seeing the fulfillment of Exodus 12:46, but John also understands this act by the soldier as a fulfillment of Zechariah 12:10, “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.”

John has added evidence upon evidence that the Scriptures testify about Jesus and he has been a personal witness to the fulfillment of those Scriptures.