The Gospel according to John is shrouded in mystery. Out of the four Gospels, John clearly stands out. The text is very symbolic, having several tiers of meanings. John is also unique; 90% of John appears nowhere else in the Bible. For example, the piercing of Jesus’ side can only be found in John 19:31-37. Since the story of the piercing is only told once, it is worth looking at twice. To understand the Gospel of John, one must understand the time from which the text comes from. John is believed to have been written between 90 and 100 CE by the Johannine community.
The Johannine community was a group of people who followed the teachings of John. The Gospel of John was written to express how they felt towards the Messiah. The Johannine community lived in a time of unrest and uncertainty. The Romans had occupied Israel for many decades and many Jews were awaiting the coming of the great judge who would put things right. After Jesus’ death, some Jewish-Christians believed Jesus was the Messiah and that he would return and make dark into light. However, by the time John was written, the Johannines believed that Jesus never left, that he is everywhere.
Since he Johannine community was not waiting for the second coming, they would live their lives how Jesus taught. Not only is the content of John dissimilar from other Biblical text, the form is likewise. In the synoptic Gospels, the story of Christ is told through theological reasoning. John explains the theology of Christ through historical events. Theology is Tapia 2 obviously John’s focus throughout the Gospel. The Gospel according to John can be read and appreciated for its literal text, this is true.
However, the author(s) of John intended the reader to not only enjoy the story, but to consider the multiple meanings. Planted everywhere in John, these double meanings allow the reader to think for him or herself about what Jesus was really teaching. The symbolism captivates the reader and assists in conveying the point of the Gospel. When reading the “passion” (“passion” because there was no suffering) in John, it is blatantly apparent that John’s Jesus is the Passover lamb for mankind. John 19:31-37 comes after the death of Jesus on the cross and before the burial.
In every Gospel, there is a soldier to witness the death of Jesus but John’s account is very different. The day Jesus died was the day of Preparation. The Jews had to prepare for the next day, which was Passover. Since a very special Sabbath was near, the Jewish authorities wanted to follow the law to the letter. It is written in Deuteronomy 21:22-23 “22If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, 23you must not leave his body on the tree overnight… “. The Jews went to Pilate and asked if the bodies could be taken down.
John never writes how Pilate responds but instead continues by writing that the soldiers take action. It is questionable whether all this action took place on Golgotha or not. It is not written that the Jews go to Pilate or that Pilate sends soldiers to the hill. The Jews just ask Pilate to break the legs of the three and the soldiers just break the two on Jesus’ left and right. It is interesting that the soldiers go to the two on the side first and leave Jesus for last (Brown 1176). This works for the suspense and drama of the story, building up to the piercing.
When the soldiers finally make it to Jesus they find him dead. Since he appears to be dead, they do not break his legs. It makes sense that the soldiers would not want to exert energy into beating a dead Tapia 3 orse, but fact that Jesus’ legs are not broken fulfill prophecy. In Numbers 9:12 it is written about the Passover lamb “They must not leave any of it till morning or break any of its bones. ” Since John’s main symbol is Jesus as the sacrificial Passover lamb, it is made sure that none of Jesus’ bones are broken.
It is also written in Psalms 34:19-20 “19A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; 20he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. ” But the soldiers had to make sure he was dead. A soldier decided to drive a spear into his side to see if a living body would respond. The piercing of Jesus also fulfills scripture. In Zechariah 12:10 it is written “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication.
They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. ” Jesus becomes the pierced one that will pour out salvation and his people will mourn for what they have done. Seemingly before the soldier can pull the spear out of Jesus’ side, a sudden flow of blood and water springs from the wound. This is an image loaded with meaning. One connection can be made to Hellenistic symbolism.
John may have had Jesus release blood and water from his body because “there was an old Homeric legend that the gods had in their veins a type of blood mixed with water” (Brown 1179). This probably did not play a large role in the reasoning of including this verse, but it link to a belief of the era of the Gospel’s inception. The strongest message is the symbolism of water and blood. Water is used for cleansing of the spirit such as in baptism. The water reveals that Jesus’ death will wash away man’s sins and urify its collective spirit.
The blood can be linked to wine. Earlier in John, Jesus declares that he it the “true vine”. From his wine will come salvation. One cannot forget that like the Passover lamb, Jesus must also shed Tapia 4 his blood. Also, water represents life and blood represents death. With the combination of the two, one can see that although Jesus died, a new age has been born. The next verse is interesting. It is written in John 19:35 “The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.
This omewhat redundant verse is placed in the text to stress the important event that precedes it. It is possible that the unnamed man was the beloved disciple that was with Jesus at his death. At the time John was written, there was much skepticism concerning the death of Jesus. Some did not even believe that Jesus died on the cross. This verse seems to thwart the spread of any doubt about the death of Christ. The next two verses serve to inform the reader, who may not know Hebrew scripture, that the unbroken bones and the piercing of his side fulfill scripture.
It strengthens the idea of Jesus being the Passover amb, which is very important to the message of John. John 19:31-37 is a very important part of Jesus’ death in John. And of course, the death of Jesus is the climax of John, as it is with the other Gospels. This passage is the first passage after Jesus’ death. It is integral to the understanding of his death and his teachings. It is the last comparison of Jesus to the Passover lamb and reveals the through death comes life. People of today must keep in mind that Jesus did not come to earth to just die but to bring new life through his death and to save all people who believe in him.
