After Jesus dies on the cross and before he was brought down from it for burial, John narrates to us a detail that is not mentioned in the Synoptic gospels: the piercing of Jesus' side. The reason for this is given in v. 31. Crucifixions did not immediately kill the crucified. Since the Jews didn't want the bodies of the executed to stay hanging on the cross till the following day, a Sabbath, they asked Pilate that the death of the hanging criminals be hastened. Thus the breaking of the legs. Once the legs of the crucified was broken, he can no longer raise himself up to breathe and he eventually dies suffocated by the blood filling up his lungs. Jesus was already dead by then, but the soldiers had to be sure that he was so. So instead of breaking up his legs, a soldier pierced his side with a spear. Here is how a doctor describes the process.
In order that the Sabbath not be profaned, the Jews asked that the condemned men be dispatched and removed from the crosses. The common method of ending a crucifixion was by crurifracture, the breaking of the bones of the legs. This prevented the victim from pushing himself upward; thus the tension could not be relieved from the muscles of the chest and rapid suffocation occurred. The legs of the two thieves were broken, but when the soldiers came to Jesus they saw that this was unnecessary.
Apparently to make doubly sure of death, the legionnaire drove his lance through the fifth interspace between the ribs, upward through the pericardium and into the heart. The 34th verse of the 19th chapter of the Gospel according to St. John reports: "And immediately there came out blood and water." That is, there was an escape of water fluid from the sac surrounding the heart, giving postmortem evidence that Our Lord died not the usual crucifixion death by suffocation, but of heart failure (a broken heart) due to shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in the pericardium.
Source: Facts About The Crucifixion by Dr. Truman Davis
John narrates the story as fulfillment of Scriptures. The first reference he makes is to a collation of texts that alluded to the preparation of the Paschal Lamb. Ex. 12:46 is from the directions Moses gives to the Israelites about they lamb they are to eat during Passover as a memorial of the night when they escaped from Egypt. In Num. 9:12, the order "not to break its legs" derives from a directive of the Lord to Moses regarding the celebration of the Passover by those rendered unclean by the dead or are on a journey. Psalm 34:20, however, is about the righteous man whom the Lord protects even in suffering.
He (God) protects all his (the suffering righteous man) bones
not one of them will be broken.
In these allussions, John presents the Crucified Jesus as the Suffering Innocent man who plays the role of the Passover Lamb. John the Baptist had, at the beginning of the gospel of John, referred to Jesus as the "Lamb of God." And on the hour when paschal lambs were being slaughtered at the Temple, that Lamb of God hung on the cross for all to see.
The second allussion comes from Zech. 12:10, which is an oracle about a man who dies
And I will pour outThere will be mourning for that man, but on that day, Jerusalem will be cleansed from sin (Zech. 13:1), idolatry will be wiped out and forgotten (Zech. 13:2) and prophecy shall cease because it will no longer be necessary (Zech. 13:4-6).
on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem
a spirit of grace and supplication.
They will look upon him whom they have pierced ...
The reference to the people looking upon him who is pierced, in addition, allows the reader of the narrative to remember a series of sayings that Jesus pronounced before this but was not understood.
In John 3:14, Jesus alludes to the bronze serpent in the wilderness
So Moses made a bronze snake
and put it up on a pole.
Then when anyone looked at the bronze snake, he lived. (Num. 21:9)
Again in John 8:28 when Jews threated to put Jesus to death, he speaks of the time when, raised up, everyone will realize who He truly is (I Am) and that His deeds were consistent with what He is for all men (that is, to give life and give it to the full). Finally, in John 12:32, when the time of his glorification has come near, he once more alludes to Moses' bronze serpent when he says:
When I shall be raised up
I shall draw all men to myself.
Like the bronze serpent contemplated by the Israelites in the desert, Jesus is raised up on the cross giving life to those who will look towards Him. Here the Suffering-Servant-like figure in Zec. 12:10 merges with the Mosaic serpent in the figure of the Pierced One.
John mentions the blood and water that flowed from Jesus' side. He insists on it even in 1 John 5:6.8 against those who deny the reality of Jesus' death on the cross. But Jesus' sayings about blood and water add credence to the insight that from Jesus' pierced heart derives the life-giving powers of baptism and the eucharist.
In John 4:14, Jesus, speaking with the Samaritan woman at the well, refers to himself as the one who gives water that gurgles to eternal life. In John 7:37-38, Jesus raises his voice and cries out:
If anyone thirsts, let him come to me
and let him drink who believes in me.
As Scriptures say:
From within him there shall flow
rivers of living water.
The blood of Jesus, of course, is the drink that he offers for eternal life. (John 6:53-56)
Thus we find the following references in the Catechism of the Catholic Church
The blood and water that flowed from the pierced side of the Crucified Jesus are types of Baptism and the Eucharist, the sacraments of new life. (1225)
For this reason, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation "is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that ... love by which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings without exception (478)
- See also:
- [?note:http://www.religiousstudies.uncc.edu/jdtabor/crucifixion.html Crucifixion in Antiquity by Joe Zias]
- [?note:http://www.apu.edu/infocus/2002/03/crucifixion/ The Science of the Crucifixion]
