Some moments in Scripture feel like the surgeon’s scalpel: they cut past comfort and polish to the rawness underneath. John 19:31–37 does that—soldiers are ordered to hasten death, a spear pierces Jesus’ side, and blood and water flow. What are you longing to be healed or finally seen in? This scene insists that God does not tidy away our pain from a distance but meets us in it.
In plain words: near Jesus’ death the guards are told to break the legs of those crucified so they will die quickly, but when they come to Jesus they see he is already dead, so they do not break his bones. Instead, a soldier pierces Jesus’ side and blood and water come out (John 19:31–37). John is the only Gospel that records the piercing and explicitly links it to Old Testament images—“not one of his bones will be broken” (echoing the Passover lamb) and “they will look on him whom they have pierced” (Zechariah 12:10). The other Gospels describe his death but do not include this particular detail.
This passage tells us something essential about who Jesus is: his death is real and bodily. It is not a symbolic loss or a staged event; the Gospel insists on the concreteness of his suffering and its fulfillment of Scripture. John’s detail—blood and water—becomes a theological window: life and cleansing flow from the place of wounding. The Kingdom is not a sanitized victory parade; it is a victory born through brokenness. That truth challenges us: we prefer power that spares us pain, but the cross shows God choosing solidarity with our suffering. Yet grace also blooms here—what would seem final becomes the wellspring of life for others.
Today, practice a small but concrete act of looking: find a quiet minute, picture the pierced side of Jesus, and name aloud one wound you carry (shame, failure, a broken relationship). Ask him to let his life flow into that wound. Then take one practical step—send a text to reconcile, admit a need to a friend, or seek help—letting the Son’s woundedness shape how you live. The God who allowed himself to be pierced meets you there, with both truth and mercy.
In plain words: near Jesus’ death the guards are told to break the legs of those crucified so they will die quickly, but when they come to Jesus they see he is already dead, so they do not break his bones. Instead, a soldier pierces Jesus’ side and blood and water come out (John 19:31–37). John is the only Gospel that records the piercing and explicitly links it to Old Testament images—“not one of his bones will be broken” (echoing the Passover lamb) and “they will look on him whom they have pierced” (Zechariah 12:10). The other Gospels describe his death but do not include this particular detail.
This passage tells us something essential about who Jesus is: his death is real and bodily. It is not a symbolic loss or a staged event; the Gospel insists on the concreteness of his suffering and its fulfillment of Scripture. John’s detail—blood and water—becomes a theological window: life and cleansing flow from the place of wounding. The Kingdom is not a sanitized victory parade; it is a victory born through brokenness. That truth challenges us: we prefer power that spares us pain, but the cross shows God choosing solidarity with our suffering. Yet grace also blooms here—what would seem final becomes the wellspring of life for others.
Today, practice a small but concrete act of looking: find a quiet minute, picture the pierced side of Jesus, and name aloud one wound you carry (shame, failure, a broken relationship). Ask him to let his life flow into that wound. Then take one practical step—send a text to reconcile, admit a need to a friend, or seek help—letting the Son’s woundedness shape how you live. The God who allowed himself to be pierced meets you there, with both truth and mercy.
John: 19:31-37
After the soldiers broke the legs of the other crucified men to hasten their deaths, they did not break Jesus’ legs because he was already dead; instead a soldier pierced his side, and blood and water flowed out. This fulfilled Scripture that none of his bones would be broken and that they would look on the one they had pierced.
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