A TRUE TESTIMONY

Text: John 19:31-37
Readings: Zechariah 12:10-13:1,7-9
Theme: John testified that Jesus died on the cross in fulfilment of Scripture so you may believe.
Purpose: To emphasise the reality of Christ's death in fulfilment of Scripture so you may believe in him.

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Some of you may have been called up for jury duty and been selected to hear a court case. Sometimes the men and women on juries have to give a verdict on some traumatic cases and it can be very difficult for members of the jury to hear the details of violent crime. Witnesses come forward to testify about what they saw and heard, and explain the details of the beatings and murder.

This story in the Bible is a graphic account of the cruelty and violence of some men to others. It makes for grim reading, but these things actually happened. Here we have John's eyewitness account of this. He presented this as his testimony to what went on. He saw it happen, he was a witness, and his testimony is true.

John testified that
1. Jesus died
2. He died in fulfilment of Scripture
3. He died so that you may believe. 

1. 	JESUS DIED

On the Thursday evening Jesus had eaten the last passover meal with his disciples. They had gone to the Garden of Gethsemane where Judas had arrived with soldiers and had arrested Jesus. Then followed the trial before the Sanhedrin which went through most of the night, and then the trial before Pilate early on Friday morning. After that "trial" Jesus had been taken out to be crucified along with two other men. 

Verse 31 tells us that it was the Day of Preparation, that is, the day preparing for the Sabbath. This was a special Sabbath because it fell on the Passover when the Jews remembered their deliverance out of Egypt. 

When someone was crucified the Romans usually left the body on the cross for days after he had died as a warning for others. The vultures would come along and eat the dead body. 

But the law of God in the Old Testament (Deut 21:23) commanded that the dead body of an executed criminal should not remain hanging on a tree overnight but be taken down and buried. The Jewish historian Josephus, who lived around the time of Christ, confirms that this was the practice of the Jews in his day. Because of this law and because it was a special Sabbath the Jews asked Pilate to have the bodies removed from the cross. 

By this time it was getting late in the Friday afternoon. Jesus and the men crucified with him had been on the cross since 9 that morning. But crucifixion was a slow death and it could take days for a person to die, tortured by pain and thirst, tormented by flies and gnats, and troubled by the heat of the day and the cold of the night. 

Those who were dying would shift their weight between their arms and their legs; they would push up their body with their legs to make it easier to breathe. Without that help all the weight would come on their arms and constrict their chest so much they could not breathe. If the Romans wanted to hasten their death they would break their legs with a heavy iron mallet. The combined effect of the shock on their body and the inability to breathe meant they died soon after. 
So the Jews asked "to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down." (vs 31b). Pilate agreed and the soldiers carried out that order on the two men hung on each side of Jesus. 

Then they came to Jesus himself. The Greek text reads that they came right up to him and they found he was already dead. Mark, in his gospel, tells us that Pilate was surprised to learn that he had died so soon (Mark 14:44).

One of the reasons for his early death is the suffering he had already endured: the spiritual and mental agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, two trials, and his beating and flogging from the Roman soldiers. Roman floggings were so severe that many people died from that alone. And then there was the agony of the crucifixion itself. 

The other reason is that Jesus had foretold that he would lay down his life and take it up again (John 10:17). This is what he did. After the three hours of darkness on the cross, and his forsakenness by the Father, Jesus had done all that was required of him. That is why he could say, "It is finished", and then lay down his life. He had completed the work of his Father and he could die.  

Since Jesus was already dead the soldiers did not break his legs. Maybe the centurion prevented them from this final act of brutality because of his respect for what he had seen in Jesus. Instead, "one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water." (vs 34). Perhaps this was another random act of violence, or he did this to make sure Jesus was dead. 

There have been a variety of medical explanations for the flow of blood and water that came from this wound. One doctor explained that the spear thrust from a soldier standing below Jesus and stabbing his upwards would have cut through the stomach, lung and heart, and this would certainly explain the flow of both blood and water. 

We will come back to the significance of the blood and water later on, but here we want to see that Jesus truly died. There was no doubt about it. John made a special point of telling us.

He did this because in the first century there were people who taught that Jesus was not really human but only appeared so. They also taught that he did not really die but only appeared to die. These people were known as docetists (from the Greek word "dokeo" which means, to appear). They denied the full humanity of Jesus. Against that heresy John insisted that Jesus was fully human and he did indeed die. 

We need to restate this today because there are some people who want to explain away the resurrection of Jesus by repeating this ancient heresy that Jesus did not really die. They claim he became unconscious and later on woke up in the tomb and someone let him out. They call this the "swoon" theory of the resurrection. 
But this is plainly wrong. Jesus died. The Roman soldiers made sure of that. John and the other disciples were there and they saw it happen. 

2. HE DIED IN FULFILMENT OF SCRIPTURE (vs 36-37)
John quoted two passages in the OT scriptures to demonstrate this. 

"Not one of his bones will be broken." (vs 36).

At the time of Christ's death the Jews were celebrating the Passover. God had commanded Israel to kill an unblemished lamb that was one year old and then roast it whole over the fire. In Exodus 12:46 we read; "It must be eaten inside one house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones." 

The Passover lamb anticipated what would happen to Jesus. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. He was offered for his people; he died in our place. John referred to this event that had occurred about 1500 years before Jesus died. God had planned that his Son would die for the sin of all God's people. In this remarkable fulfilment of prophecy not one of the bones of Jesus was broken. 

That was true of the other prophecy that was fulfilled: 
"They will look on the one they have pierced."

John quoted this from the prophecies of Zechariah who prophesied about 500 years before Jesus and predicted this exact event. Again we see that all this was carefully planned by God the Father down to the last detail. 

Zechariah prophesied that after this man had been pierced the people of the world would mourn. 
We know from the New Testament that after Jesus' death many people mourned in sorrow over their sin. They turned to God in repentance and asked God for the forgiveness of their sins. 

Does that describe you? Do you realise that Jesus died, not for his own sin, but for the sin of his people? Do you recognise your own sin? Are you sorry for that with a genuine repentance? Have you asked God the Father to forgive you on the basis of what Jesus did on the cross?

This verse from Zechariah is also quoted in Revelation 1:7 in reference to the second coming of Christ:
"Look, he is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see him
even those who pierced him...."
One day Jesus will return and everyone will see him, even the Roman soldier who stabbed Jesus in the side, and the Jews who demanded his death, and the disciples who mourned over what had happened. 
You too will see him. Everyone who has ever lived will see the Lord Jesus come as King and Ruler and Judge. What will be your response on that day?

That brings us to consider the third lesson of this passage:
3. JESUS DIED SO YOU MAY BELIEVE (vs 35)

John witnessed what had happened

He mentions this specifically. Most scholars agree that the man mentioned in verse 35 is John himself. This is how he referred to himself in this gospel; he didn't mention himself by name but referred to himself indirectly. 

"The man who saw it has given testimony." This incident made a profound impression on him. He was a witness to what happened. He saw it all and he bore witness of it. This phrase has the sense of setting it down as a permanent record. He wanted this to be available to the people in the first century and to all those who would read this later on. 

"...and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth..."
Someone could be a witness in court and be regarded as a competent witness but not tell the truth. 
Or you could get another witness who does tell the truth but whose testimony, for some reason, is unreliable or insufficient. 
John wanted to emphasise that his testimony was true and reliable. You can believe what he said. He was a trustworthy witness. 

"...and he testifies so that you also may believe."
This was his purpose in writing his entire gospel.
This was his purpose in recording this incident, which the other gospel writers do not mention. 

This is why he mentioned the flow of water and blood which he regarded as so significant. 
Both of these are powerful symbols in the gospel of John and in the entire Bible. 

Blood represented the life of a person and was a symbol of sacrifice (Heb 9:22). Jesus gave his life and his blood to save his people. Through the shedding of his blood your sins can be forgiven because he paid for them. "...the blood of Jesus. his son, purifies us from all sin." (1 Jn 1:7).

Water symbolises washing and cleansing. That is why it is used in baptism as a symbol of the washing away of our sins. 
Jesus also spoke of himself as the living water (John 4:1-14, 7:37f).

Jesus invited people to drink the water he supplied (John 7:37) and he even spoke about drinking his blood (John 6:53f). The Jews thought Jesus meant that literally and they were offended by that; but Jesus was speaking figuratively. Drinking the water and the blood was a picture of faith. He invited those who saw him and heard him to believe in him. 

This is why John wrote all this down - "so that you also may believe."

He wrote this for those who already believed in Jesus. The verb "believe" is in the present tense and suggests a continuing belief, an ongoing faith. John wrote all this to reinforce the faith they already had. 

This is true for us as well. Many of you here already believe in Jesus; but sometimes it is not easy to keep going. These things are written down to help you continue in faith, to help you persevere, to go on to the end. 
None of us do that in our own strength, but you can do that with the help of the Lord Jesus through his Spirit. Keep on believing.

Some of you here today may not believe. All this was written down so that you may believe in Jesus. That means you must know something about who Jesus is as the Son of God and as fully man. 
You must know your own sin before a God who is holy and just and who will punish sin.
You must depend on the death and the resurrection of Jesus as the basis for your forgiveness.
And you must strive with your whole heart to follow the Lord Jesus and obey his commands.

An old hymn gives you the right words to say;

"Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in thee,
Let the water and the blood,
>From thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure:
Save from guilt and make me pure."
(Psalter Hymnal no. 388)

Amen.