This morning we're going to continue our journey through the Gospel of John with a focus on John 19, verses 31-37. It's John 19, verses 31-37. I'm going to begin, I'll back up a little bit here to at least verse 28. Because what happened there is going to inform what we're going to be reading about Jesus has been crucified and he is hanging on the cross, and he has given John charge over his mother, and after this, we read in verse 28, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, said, I thirst. Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there, a sponge with sour wine and put it on Hyssop and put it to his mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, it is finished. And bowing his head, he gave up his spirit. And we saw last week how Jesus brought about the fulfillment of the prophecy that was fulfilled here by saying, I thirst. So that he was orchestrating the fulfillment of this prophecy in the things that he said and did. We're going to see that sort of continue today. In verse 31, we read, therefore, because it was the preparation day, that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath. This preparation day was sort of doubly important. They were beginning a special Sabbath because it was coincided with the Passover celebration. And that's the preparation day that's being spoken of here. because it was the preparation day that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for the Sabbath was a high day. The Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was 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 sphere, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. For these things were done, that the Scripture should be fulfilled. Not one of his bones shall be broken. And again another Scripture says, they shall look on him whom they pierced. Let's pray. We come to you this morning reminded that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who cleansed the temple many years ago, is the one who sees everything in our hearts, is the only one who can cleanse us through his shed blood on the cross. And we've taken time to praise you for that this morning, to ask you to cleanse our hearts anew, to forgive us anew, to fill our hearts with praise for what you've done for us. Help us then, Lord, with that same spirit to come to this passage so that we might hear your word about our precious Savior and what he accomplished as he died on the cross. We've already spoken in the past about how he bore the wrath for our sins there. about some of the things he did there to fulfill prophecy, about how he continued to fulfill the law in looking after his mother, even while he was suffering such anguish. And we'll see that even after having given up his spirit, even that action led to, by his design, by your design, in fulfillment of your plan, the fulfillment of Scripture. Help us, Lord, to be attentive to your word this morning, recognizing that just as we could not have come to faith in Christ without the enabling grace and power of your Holy Spirit working in our hearts, even so we cannot understand correctly what your word says this morning without complete dependence on the power of your Holy Spirit. Fill us then with your Spirit, we pray. Humble our hearts before you. Help us to hear you speak to us through your word. We ask these things in the name of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. I'd like to begin today with yet another reminder of John's overarching purpose in writing this Gospel. I've called our attention to this a number of times along the way through the Gospel, because we see how throughout the Gospel, John reveals that intention in the way he writes things, and then explicitly states it toward the end. And we're going to see that today again, that the intentions he had in writing the Gospel are coming out in this passage already again. For example, in John 20, in verses 30 and 31, John will say, truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name." Now, we've seen some of the signs that Jesus did, even while He was dying on the cross, as He brought about the fulfillment of Scripture in spite of the evil intentions of His executioners. They are doing things in fulfillment of Scripture with their evil intentions. that God was intending obviously for good, for our good. For example, last week we saw that Jesus spoke the words, I thirst, in order to bring about the fulfillment of a prophecy in Psalm 69, 21. After which Jesus then, of his own accord, by an act of his own will, gave up his spirit, gave up his life. This morning we'll see that in giving up his life when he did, our Lord also ensured the fulfillment of a couple of other messianic prophecies. See, if he hadn't, of his own accord, by an act of his own will, as though it was a power of life and death, offered up his own life precisely when he did, these prophecies would not have been fulfilled. But in that he did so, These prophecies were fulfilled. So even in dying, precisely when he did, he was orchestrating what was happening. He was ensuring that prophecies would be fulfilled as they ought to be fulfilled in accordance with the divine plan. And these are some of the signs then, which he continued to do. Even dying as he did when he did shows us something about him. as we saw last week, about his power over life and death. And these signs, too, were signs clearly indicating, as John later says, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and provide reasons for us to believe in Him, to trust in Him. But John then goes on to end his Gospel with an emphasis upon the fact that he was writing as an eyewitness of the things he records. And this offers yet another reason to believe, since we know that his testimony is true because He wasn't relying simply on second-hand information. You see, in the first century, the most important historical account you could ever have was from an eyewitness. And that's why John stresses this the way that he does. He's not hearing something second, third, fourth hand here. He was there. He saw the things he's writing about. He heard Jesus say the things that he's recording in his Gospel. He is an eyewitness of the things that he records. Let's look briefly at the final words of the gospel to see what I mean. In John 21, in verses 24 and 25, John writes, this is the disciple who testifies of these things. He's already, in this gospel, referred to himself repeatedly as the beloved disciple. And we've seen in our past studies that this has to be John. And he says, this is the disciple, the beloved disciple, John, who testifies of these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen. That's how he ends the Gospel, the focus on the fact that he is an eyewitness who's giving true testimony about what he's seen and heard, so that we might know that we have a trustworthy account of who Jesus really is. So we're going to see both of these themes this morning in this passage. We're going to see the theme of John as an eyewitness to the events that he records, and the theme of Jesus as the one who demonstrates that he truly is the Christ, the Son of God, by ensuring that the prophecies concerning himself were fulfilled. With this in mind, then, we'll make our way verse by verse through this passage. Beginning here in verse 31, we read again, Therefore, because it was the preparation day, that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day, the Jews, here indicating the Jewish authorities, asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Now, we'll begin with what led to this concern of theirs. What led to the concern that the bodies of these three crucified men not be left hanging on the crosses as the Sabbath approached may first of all be found in the Old Testament law in Deuteronomy 21. If you've got a good study Bible or a cross-reference Bible, they should have a reference to this passage somewhere there for you. Deuteronomy 21 verses 22 and 23 says this, If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. For he who is hanged is accursed of God. And we saw in our previous study of this gospel. One of the reasons they were so bent on having Jesus crucified was precisely for that reason. They wanted him to be seen as a curse of God by all the people of Israel. That really backfired in a big way because, as it turns out, he became a curse for us. And he bore our sins on the cross. That was God's plan all along. So that kind of backfired, didn't it? But the law says you can't leave that body hanging overnight. In the case of Jesus and the two criminals who were crucified with him, the Jews would have been doubly concerned that these men who had been put to death would have their bodies removed from the crosses. First, as we've seen, they didn't want to violate the law, no doubt, in leaving these bodies hanging there overnight. And secondly, the Sabbath was going to begin that evening. And that would leave them with no time to remove the bodies before dark if the men were not killed immediately. See, there's two things. They can't leave him overnight. The Sabbath will begin probably before it's even dark. But they can't work on the Sabbath. So that pushes the timetable up a little bit more even. So they're in a hurry to get this over with so they can begin the Sabbath and fulfill the law. This is what would have been going through their minds. And so they want these men killed immediately. So they asked Pilate that the men's legs would be broken. Now they did this because this is what Roman practice was in situations like this. D.A. Carson describes the reason for this request when he writes, the normal Roman practice was to leave crucified men and women on the cross until they died, and this could take days, and then leave their rotting bodies hanging there to be devoured by vultures. Of course, he doesn't talk about this, but the reason that they would do that is these people then would serve as a deterrent for a while. He goes on to write, if there were some reason to hasten their deaths, the soldiers would smash the legs of the victim with an iron mallet, a practice called in Latin, crurifragium. I think I said that right. Quite apart from the shock and additional loss of blood, this step prevented the victim from pushing with his legs to keep his chest cavity open. Strength in the arms was soon insufficient and asphyxia followed. In other words, they suffocated to death. If they couldn't push their bodies up to get air in, they would slowly suffocate and in great anguish. It's a terrible way to die. But in this manner, the Romans could hasten the death of a crucified person in a brutal way that continued to torture the victim. See, they could just walk up and end it relatively painlessly with one blow if they wanted to. But that's not a very Roman way to crucify someone. You've got to be as brutal, as cruel. It's got to be as much pain and torture as possible. And this is what the Jews wanted them to do to Jesus. They weren't being nice. They weren't trying to end his suffering quickly. This wasn't an act of mercy being performed on these men. In situations where they gotta get this over quick, they do it in as cruel a way as they can. That's what's happening. And that's what these Jewish people want them to do. Not just to these two criminals, but to Jesus Christ, our Lord. And we know that Pilate granted their request because what John tells us in the following verses, in verses 22 and 23, or 32, rather, 33, Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with him. Apparently they started on the ends. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Now we don't know why the soldiers began with the two thieves on either side of Jesus rather than with Jesus when they did this. But we do know why they didn't break Jesus' legs when they finally got to him. It was because he was already dead. And he was already dead because, as we saw last week in verse 30, when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, it is finished, and bowing his head, he gave up his spirit. He fulfilled the prophecy that he had given, that he would lay down his life, that he had the power to lay it down and take it up again. And he demonstrated that. When he chose to die at that moment, In other words, then, Jesus' legs were not broken because he himself prevented that by taking away the opportunity for them to do so. He rendered it unnecessary. Yet, despite the fact that the soldiers had already concluded that Jesus was dead, they wanted to make absolutely sure which is why they took the action that John records in the next verse, in verse 34. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. We're used to reading that account, so it's lost some of its shock value on us. But imagine you're reading it for the first time. Or imagine if you're John, standing there, or standing at some distance, and seeing this happen. I think it would seem startling to you that both blood and water came out of Jesus' side. I mean, how many times would you expect to peer someone in the side and see that? It certainly seems to surprise John a little bit. But there are plausible medical explanations that medical doctors and medical examiners have given for this in modern times. D.A. Carson is again helpful in describing a couple of the more common explanations, and this gets a little bit graphic. There's some medical terms in here, but I think you'll get the gist of it. He writes, medical experts disagree on what was pierced. The most common theories are these, and he offers two. A, the spear pierced Jesus' heart, and the blood from the heart mingled with the fluid from the pericardial sac. That's sort of a double-walled layer of tissue that surrounds your heart, and I guess the roots or base of the major vessels that go to and from the heart, if I'm understanding this correctly. At any rate, the spear pierced Jesus' heart is the first option and the blood from the heart mingled with the fluid from the pericardial sac to produce the flow of blood and water. B. By contrast, it has been argued that fluid from the pericardial sac could not so readily escape the body by such a wound. It would instead fill up the chest cavity, filling the space around the lung and then oozing into the lung itself through the wound that the spear made. In tests performed on cadavers, it has been shown that where a chest has been severely injured but without penetration, hemorrhagic fluid, up to two liters of it, gathers between the pleural lining of the ribcage and the lining of the lung, between your ribs and your lungs. This separates the clearer serum at the top, the deep red layer at the bottom, and if the chest cavity were then pierced at the bottom, both layers would flow out and it would look like blood and water. coming out. So there are these medical explanations. Those are the two most common ones, Carson says. These are the medical explanations for what might have happened. But however one assesses the medical evidence, the blood and water that flowed from Jesus' side made it abundantly clear that he was, in fact, already dead. We can be relatively certain that John would not have known about these medical things that we're talking about here. I doubt he practiced on cadavers to find out what happened, and so forth. Which is why the apparent surprise of witnessing such an event, together with the way in which it confirmed that our Lord Jesus really did give up his own life by his own will, led him to interject that he saw it with his own eyes. See, I think he anticipates that people might find this incredible. Jesus decided the moment he was going to die, and by his own decision, just died. And then it was proved when he was pierced in his side, and this sort of unique situation of blood and water coming out made that abundantly clear. John, I think, anticipates that the reader might find that startling. And so he immediately says in verse 35, he can't wait until the conclusion of the book to point this out. after he's just said what he said, right? He immediately says in verse 35, and he who has seen, and he's referring to himself here, has testified, and his testimony is true. And he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. And there's an emphasis on the you there. So that you may believe. Whoever you are who are reading this. See, John already believes. He's seen this with his own eyes and he can't deny it. He wants you to believe. That's why he's writing this. Remember? So that you will believe. So that I will believe. And he wants to emphasize, I saw it with my own eyes. I know that I'm telling the truth because it was there. I saw it. It actually happened. Well, John saw it as a wonder to him. He saw Jesus give up his own life simply by deciding to do so. And then, of course, he decided to take his life up again on the third day. That's something no mere human could do. And this fact was confirmed by the blood and water that flowed from his side. Such a wondrous series of events led John to assure his readers he really did see it with his own eyes. In fact, his words reflect those of John the Baptist after he saw the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus. John wrote about this in John 1, where he said in verses 32-34, John bore witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him, upon Jesus. I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit." And then John the Baptist says, "...and I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God." Those are the same words that John now uses. The Apostle John. When he says, "...this is he who has seen and has testified." to what he's seeing, that you may believe. And of course, he means believe that Jesus is the Son of God, so that you might be saved, so that you might have everlasting life. He really saw how Jesus gave up his own life. He really saw how this was confirmed by the blood and water that flowed from Jesus' side. He really saw how Scripture was fulfilled in these events. through the actions of Jesus Himself, bringing them about. And he immediately emphasizes a couple of fulfillments in the next two sentences. In verse 36 he says, "...for these things were done..." What things? Well, the things that the soldiers did, but also what Jesus did that required them to do what they did, or not. "...these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled." Not one of his bones shall be broken." If Jesus hadn't died just when he died, his legs would have been broken. He prevented that. Now there are several Old Testament passages which John might have in mind here. The first two are the laws governing observance of the Sabbath. These are found in Exodus 12, and then in a restatement of the same laws in Numbers 9. So those two passages really amount to kind of one. reference, if you will, because they're talking about the same thing. So let's take a brief look at the Exodus 12 passage. I'll read to you Exodus 12 verses 43 to 46. This is the institution of the Passover in Exodus 12 that's being talked about. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, this is the ordinance of the Passover. No foreigner shall eat it, but every man's servant who has bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it. In one house it shall be eaten. You shall not carry any of the flesh. He's talking here about the flesh of the Passover lamb that they were to kill. You shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones." Now, the Greek words used by John in John 19 are very close to those used in the Septuagint text of Exodus 1246. Remember, the Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible that was commonly used in the first century by most Jews. In fact, most of the citations of the Old Testament you have in John and elsewhere in the New Testament, most of them come from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. And if you were to compare that statement in Exodus 12.46 in the Greek with the statement John here in the Greek, it's almost identical. It's very, very close. He changes the tense of the verb, and that's it. this connection, this linguistic connection, together with the way in which John has repeatedly emphasized that all these things were happening on the Passover. Beginning back in chapter 13, verse 1, and then repeatedly, the theme of the fact that it's the Passover is coming up. When you combine these things, it indicates that John sees Jesus as our Passover sacrifice. Or rather, he sees the Passover lamb as a type of Christ. as a sacrifice that foreshadows the sacrifice of Christ for our sins. And I think this kind of an interpretation is later confirmed for us by the Apostle Paul who says to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 5.7, for indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. These kinds of facts weren't lost on John or Paul. There's also a passage in Psalm 34 that he might have had in mind. I'll read to you Psalm 34, verses 19 and 20, although the reference is in verse 20. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He guards all his bones, not one of them is broken. So John may want us to see in the fact that none of Jesus' bones were broken a confirmation by God that Jesus was indeed a righteous man. It's also possible, and I think very likely, that John has both passages in mind here. He's sort of combining them. And there are other examples of this in the Gospels or in the New Testament. They kind of run passages together in their thinking. Well, he's citing a text that could be from either of these passages, and I think he knows it. I think he may have both in mind. That is, that he saw the fact that none of Jesus' bones were broken as both a confirmation that he is a sacrifice foreshadowed by the Passover lamb, and as a confirmation that Jesus was righteous in the eyes of God, despite the fact that he was crucified with two criminals on either side of him. I think John wants us to conclude here something about Jesus. He was a Passover lamb, he was a perfect lamb. But John sees yet another prophetic fulfillment in these events that he makes clear in verse 37 when he says, and again another scripture says, they shall look on him whom they pierced. Now there's no doubt here about the prophecy that John has in mind is being fulfilled. It's got to be Zechariah 12.10. which says, I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication. Then they will look on me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for him. Notice he goes from me to him. Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn. Now in the Old Testament context, This is actually a statement made by Yahweh himself, if you look in the context in say verse 1 of chapter 12 of Zechariah. And the Hebrew text literally may be translated here, they will look on me on him whom they have pierced. That's the way the ESV takes it. And then you have the other hymns coming after that. So what this passage is referring to Yahweh, in the first person as the one who is pierced, and then it shifts into the third person to talk about Him. That would seem odd if there were no Trinity. Right? And it would be even more odd if Jesus wasn't God. But Jesus is God. So who is it speaking to Zechariah? It's God the Son. himself being pierced. So although John simply says, they shall look on him whom they pierced, there could be no doubt that he sees Jesus as Yahweh himself when he cites this passage as being fulfilled in the fact that Jesus was pierced with a spear. And this means that John sees the fulfillment of this prophecy as yet another evidence of the deity of our Lord Jesus. See, why was he pierced though? Because his legs hadn't been broken. And why weren't his legs broken? Because he decided to give up his life before it could happen. He initiated this chain of events. These fulfillments of Scripture himself. Something he had revealed about himself way back in the day of Zechariah. He brought to pass. in the way He timed things in accordance with the Father's plan on the cross. Wow! These things aren't just an accident. They were intended by our Lord. But the fulfillment of this prophecy really has a double fulfillment. There was a fulfillment that day, but the ultimate fulfillment apparently awaits the future, because John brings it up again in Revelation 1. And again, if you have a good study Bible, it'll probably have both the Zechariah 12.10 and the Revelation 1.7 referenced there. But I'll begin reading in Revelation 1.4. where we have John talking about writing letters to the seven churches. He reads, John, to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace to you and peace from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth, to Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with clouds and every eye will see him, even they who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth were mourned because of him." This is all a reference to Zechariah 12.10, which he had first referenced in his gospel as having a fulfillment. when Jesus was actually crucified. So for John, there was a fulfillment of this prophecy of the crucifixion of Jesus, but there's also fulfillment yet to come. This will happen only when Jesus returns in the future. And the people who pierced him, they wouldn't literally have pierced him like the Roman soldier did. who thrust the spirit aside. He would have been pierced because of them. D. A. Carson is again helpful when he writes, John does not explain when they will look on the one they have pierced. If John has in mind a referent for they, he does not tell us. Yet, as at the cross, both executioners and disciples saw the wound but in time perceive quite different significance in that wound, so also both in this world and at its end, men and women are confronted by the one whom they have pierced and perceive very different things. One day, however, all will look on him and mourn, whether in deep contrition or in grim despair." I think he's right. Parson aptly points out here, you and I are left with a choice. We can mourn in deep contrition for our sins now and repent, as John would have us do, trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, or we can mourn in grim despair at the future judgment when it will be too late. But mourn we shall. So we've seen in this passage how Jesus continued to fulfill the numerous Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah, and in the process he demonstrated not only the truthfulness and reliability of the Scriptures, but also of his own deity. These are only some of the signs about which John has written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life in his name. We've also seen that what we have here is the eyewitness testimony of John himself, not simply second-hand or third-hand or fourth-hand information from people perhaps far removed from these events. This is the disciple who testifies of these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true. If you've already trusted in Jesus Christ, If you've already believed that He is the Son of God, that He is Lord, that He is Savior, that He died on the cross for your sins and rose from the dead that you might have life. If you've already trusted in what He did for you, knowing that you cannot do anything to save yourself, that you must accept what He's done for you as a free gift. If you've already done that, then you should be greatly encouraged and strengthened in your faith by what John says here. Your faith has not been misplaced. Jesus really is who He says He is. Be encouraged. Be strengthened in your faith. The same Jesus who died on the cross and orchestrated so clearly everything that was happening there, is Lord of your life. And He's in charge of everything that's happening to you, too. And nothing's happening by accident. Even if it looks like defeat for you sometimes, like it looked for Jesus that day, He always has the victory. We are always victorious in Christ. So be encouraged. He's shown you who He is. He's God. He's in control. He loves you. He's made that abundantly clear. We have John's testimony to that. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, for God's glory and for our good, However, if you've not trusted in Christ, if you've not yet seen that you're a sinner who owes allegiance to God, if you've not yet been grieved by the fact that you've sinned against Him, it's time for you to start recognizing that you have to answer to Him. And you can grieve for your sins now and repent and trust in Him now, or you can bow the knee come judgment day and grieve that you missed the opportunities, that you didn't take the opportunities on your way to hell. And there is a hell. And it's forever. So, this is the choice before you today. Trust in Christ and have everlasting life. Or reject Him and have eternal death. It's up to you. It's up to you. I urge you to trust Him today and be warned that should you continue to reject Him, you're left with that excuse. You're walking out of here today as someone who ought to know better. And one day you'll see Him and you'll regret that you didn't trust Him when He offered you the chance to do so. Because He's in charge of the fact that you're here today. Let's pray. Holy Father, I hope that I've been able to clearly communicate what this passage is all about in the context of John and of the rest of Scriptures. Faithful to the flow of thought of the book of John and not reading things in, but seeing there the things that you want us to see, that you clearly intended for us to discover. Lord, I pray that the truth of your Word will impact our hearts strongly today, if it hasn't done so already, that those who know you will leave here even more confident than when they came in. that their trust in Jesus is not misplaced. They can count on him forever. Lord, for those who haven't yet come to know you, we ask that you would please do for them what you've done for us. Open their eyes, that they may see. Grant them faith and repentance, we pray. By the power of your Spirit, grant them enabling grace to see Jesus for who He really is, and to trust Him, and only Him is the one who can save them from their sins. We'll give you all the glory for what you do as a result of your words being proclaimed here today, because every day we are more and more convinced that you alone deserve all the glory. We want to praise you as our great God and Savior. I pray these things in your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.