I have been arguing something fairly obvious to most people who take the Bible seriously: there is much more to the Bible than just the bare, explicit words we read. Hence my concern with the in totidem verbis, “in just so many words” approach. To be sure, almost all of the big things that the Bible does explicitly say are clear, understandable, and wonderful. But since there is a divine mind behind the inspired text, we must be open to levels of theological depth and intertextual interconnectedness which go beyond the words you see in black and white. That’s all I’m saying here. And I suppose most people who try to understand the Bible know that. But the older I get, the more I realize how incredibly deep God’s word is. Maybe I’m just catching up to the rest of you. Oh well.
I want to post a few more examples of where relying on the explicit words alone will leave you with truth, but not the truth in full high definition. Here’s another point for your consideration:
4. The spear in the side, the temple, the water
Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 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. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.” (John 19:31-37; NIV)
Here we find another well-known part of the New Testament. Jesus has been crucified along with two other men. Since the day was getting late, the Roman soldiers come to break the legs of those crucified – this will prevent them from pushing their legs down in order to help them to breathe. In other words, to break their legs will cause them to asphyxiate quickly. When they get to Jesus, they find he’s already dead. Just to be sure, a soldier spears Jesus through his side (usually a reference to the side of the torso, most of which is covered by the rib cage). From this wound a mixture of blood and water flow. And interestingly, John notes immediately after this that he personally saw this: “The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true.” That’s a strange thing to say. I mean, as a person who has worked in a mortuary context, I know there are all sorts of fluids within a deceased person’s torso. Seeing blood and other fluid come out from a deep wound in a recently deceased person isn’t a big deal really. But John immediately assures us that he saw it, and that he’s not lying.
Weird.
Could it be possible that the blood and water flowing out of Jesus is something really significant? Significant enough for John to reassure us that it really did happen? Well, yes. It is very significant. Let me try to explain a couple of reasons it’s more than just a passing ‘medical observation’. Let’s start at the start.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2; NIV)
The Bible says that the context of the creation of the world was water (2 Peter 3:5). God made a ‘water world’, in a sense. 71% of the earth’s surface is covered in water. More than half the weight of an adult human is water. Water has been detected on virtually every planet in the solar system, including many moons and even asteroids. Water is everywhere. And on earth, water means life. Without water, we would all perish.
In Genesis we see the idyllic picture – a beautiful garden filled with food, with a river flowing out into the world from it:
Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. (Genesis 2:8-10; NIV)
The garden was a place of life, blessing, and peace. And the water from that place flowed out into the world. But this picture changes as Adam and Eve reject God’s rightful rule, and they are then cast from the garden. Outside Eden they find the world we know – sweat, pain, work, death. The blessedness of God’s intention for human beings has been lost.
Then God calls a chap name Abram (Abraham) to leave his pagan land and pagan ways, to find a new place in which the blessedness that had been lost could be found. God promises him lots of things:
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-3; NIV)
God chose to restore the blessedness of his creation by working through one man, and the people who would be his descendants. These people came to be known as the geo-political entity of Israel. It was through Israel, that the world was to know the true God, worship him, and experience blessing. But, like Adam, they failed. Their sin and rebellion brought God’s covenant judgment upon them.
Then the prophets started to speak. They started to speak of that God would gather his true people, and the blessing he had always intended would flow to the world. This is especially seen in Ezekiel’s vision. He sees a new ‘temple’, from which life-giving water begins to flow across the world – getting deeper and deeper as it goes.
The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side.
As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?”
Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea. But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.” (Ezekiel chapter 47; NIV)
From a new temple, the water of life will flow. And wherever it flows, new life, abundance, and healing will flow too. The blessing will be restored.
Centuries pass, and it doesn’t seem that this life-giving water will ever flow.
Then Jesus arrives. Here’s one famous encounter:
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:7-14; NIV)
Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament promises (2 Cor. 1:20). He is the final and true Adam, he is the true descendent of Abraham, the true Israel, the true temple, the true sacrifice, the true water. He promises that he gives life to those who trust in him. That life flows like water. And it’s free.
So when Jesus dies for our sin and is speared in his side, what flows out?
Blood? Yes. And water. In the account given to us by John, he assures us that it really happened. Whatever he means by that, it’s clear that the specific mention of water is not just an incidental medical observation. God promises the water of life would flow. The blessing promised to Abraham would flow. The water would flow from Ezekiel’s temple and give life to the world.
Water and blood flowed from the side the crucified Messiah. From that event (and the resurrection which followed after that), the blessing and life of God will flow and spread, and get deeper across the world. If you’re just sticking with in totitem verbis – the ‘in just so many words’ principle – then you’re unlikely to see the significance of the water flowing from Jesus side.
But it is significant. In a way, it’s what the whole Bible is about.
spes clara 