What Happened After?

As we come to the Word of God again this morning, we're continuing in the story of Jesus as told by John.

You can open your Bibles, if you have them with you, to John chapter 19.

John 19 · chapter mention

We heard last Sunday how after the trial with Pilate, Jesus was handed over to be crucified.

And John shared with us a few of the things that he witnessed as he watched Jesus die.

The last thing we heard was those very moments prior to Jesus' death.

I'm just going to read it quickly again for us.

This happened as Jesus was hanging on the cross.

Later, knowing that everything had now been finished and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said,

I'm thirsty.

A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant,

and lifted it to Jesus' lips.

When he had received the drink, Jesus said,

It is finished.

With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

As we continue on with John's account now,

he's going to tell us what happened after Jesus' death.

And we notice that there are two parts to what happens next.

There's the stuff that happens soon after Jesus dies.

John tells us about this in verses 31 to 37.

And then there's the stuff that happened a little bit later,

the same afternoon, getting towards the evening.

That's in verses 38 to 42.

And John's main emphasis here seems to be that, yes, Jesus really did die.

He was buried.

Yet he died in a way that fulfilled God's ancient words.

Let's read what John has to say, starting with this first section, verse 31.

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.

So the first thing John tells us about after Jesus died

is how the soldiers came along

and broke the legs of those who were crucified with Jesus.

Yet they didn't break the legs of Jesus.

And to understand what's going on here,

John gives us some information.

First of all,

why did the Roman soldiers break the legs of those who were crucified?

Why did they do this at all?

Well, John tells us in verse 31

that the Jewish leaders

did not want the bodies left on the crosses

during the Sabbath.

It was they that asked Pilate

to have the legs of those on the crosses broken

and the bodies taken down.

So this was not something that the Romans did

for every person who was crucified.

It wasn't a matter of routine.

Sometimes they would if they wanted to speed things along.

Other times they would leave the bodies up there

until the men died

and the birds would come

and I won't even say any more about it.

But this breaking of the legs

was a special request

by the Jewish leaders.

Now why did they want the legs broken?

John tells us

they didn't want the bodies left on the cross

during the Sabbath.

So breaking the legs

was a way

to speed up the death

of the men

on the crosses.

According to medical experts

who have studied this

when a person was hanging

by their arms on the cross

it was very difficult

for them to breathe

in that position.

And so

to open up the chest cavity

and exhale

a man would have to push himself up

using his feet.

It was an utterly excruciating

and torturous

way to die.

And so

breaking the legs

made it next to impossible

for a person

to push up

for breathing.

Instead

they would have to use

their arms to pull up

and eventually

strength would fail

in their arms

making breathing

so difficult

that they would soon die

of suffocation.

So the Jews

asked for this to be done

in order to speed up

the deaths

of those on the crosses.

And John tells us

that it was because

they didn't want

the bodies

on the crosses

during the Sabbath.

And John doesn't

unpack this too much

further for us

but he does give us

some sense

of the timing here.

He says it was

the day of preparation.

That's

the day prior

to the Sabbath.

It's the day

that you would get ready

for the Sabbath.

You'd get all your work done

so that on the Sabbath day

you could rest

in obedience

to the fourth commandment.

It was the day

of preparation

and the next day

was to be

a special

Sabbath

says John.

Now there's

much speculation

about why it was

going to be

a special Sabbath.

Some suggest

that whenever

a Sabbath

happened

during one of the

annual

religious festivals

that automatically

made it

a special Sabbath.

Perhaps the thinking

was something like

a holy day

in the midst

of a holy week

is even holier.

Others point

to a particular offering

that was to be

offered at the

temple

on the Sabbath

during the Passover

festival

which is what

is happening

right now

in Jerusalem.

Whatever the case

it was considered

a great Sabbath

a special Sabbath

and according

to the law

of Moses

anyone executed

on a wooden pole

or anyone

who was hung

on a pole

their body

was to be taken

down before

the end of the day

so as not to

desecrate

the land.

That from

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 21:22

21

verses 22

and 23.

So we don't know

exactly what the

religious leaders

were thinking

but perhaps a bit

of superstition

on their parts

you know

this is a special

Sabbath coming

a holy day

in the midst

of a holy week

and executing

someone

well that's

something that

shows God's

curse on that

person

leaving him

up overnight

that goes

against God's

law

and so

we don't want

to defile

or desecrate

the holy day

that's coming

right after

so let's get

those men down

from there

before the

Sabbath begins

keep in mind

that the Jewish

day started

in the evening

and was counted

from one evening

to the next

but again

I mean

this is religious

posturing

look at what

they did

to Jesus

it was the

most unholy

thing imaginable

now all of

this John

tells us

so that we

understand

why the Jewish

leaders wanted

to speed up

the death

of the men

on the crosses

by having

their legs

broken

but why is

this important

what's the

significance

of this

well John

tells us

in verse

32

and 33

that after

breaking the

legs of the

two men

on either

side of

Jesus

they came

to Jesus

and they

did not

break

his legs

why

because they

found that

he was already

dead

now think

about this

why would

John make

so much

of this

detail

that they

didn't break

Jesus legs

John wants

everyone to

know what

he saw

that Jesus

really did

die

on the cross

and this is

the evidence

these soldiers

and what they

did when they

came to Jesus

it proves that

he was really

dead

they were

soldiers

they were

professional

killers

executioners

they would

have known

if Jesus

was dead

or not

and it

was their

job to

ensure that

nobody

was taken

down off

these

crosses

and somehow

survived

their

sentence

the soldiers

were witnesses

they were

proof

they recognized

Jesus was

dead

and so they

didn't even

bother to do

the thing

that would

speed up

his death

there was

no need

and this

is crucial

to see

that Jesus

really did

die

because after

he rose

from the dead

there's going

to be all

kinds of

people

for generations

to come

who are

going to

deny

that Jesus

really rose

from the

dead

by claiming

that he

never actually

died

on the

cross

the Muslims

are among

those who

have that

view

and make

that claim

somehow

he survived

John saying

no

evidence

number one

I saw

the soldiers

intentionally

take a

pass

on breaking

his legs

because they

recognized

that he

was already

dead

and there's

a second

piece of

evidence

that John

gives to

drive this

even further

home

verse 34

John says

instead

one of the

soldiers

pierced

Jesus'

side

with a

spear

bringing a

sudden

flow of

blood

and water

now why

would the

soldiers

do this

well

it probably

wasn't

something they

did out of

contempt

or just

out of

fun

probably to

them it

was their

way to

make absolutely

sure

just in

case that

Jesus was

dead

they knew

he was

dead but

you know

things happen

occasionally

and rarely

sometimes a

heart that's in

cardiac arrest

regains its

rhythm and the

person comes

back

usually it

doesn't happen

many many

very often

sometimes it's

minutes after

very rarely

there's been

stories about

people regaining

consciousness

after hours

of being

pronounced

dead

I guess

they call

this the

Lazarus

syndrome

and medically

ROSC

return of

spontaneous

circulation

for these

soldiers

it's their

job to

make sure

that the

person being

executed

does not

survive

so a

spear into

the side of

Jesus

is plunged

water

but John

notices

something

curious

as he

witnesses

this

a flow

of blood

and water

came out

now the

blood we

expect

but water

what's the

meaning of

this

well it's

probably no

surprise that

medical doctors

and researchers

have been debating

back and forth

on this for a

long time

sometimes it's

difficult to

know who you

can even

trust in that

community

I mean some

of them are

staunch atheists

and they're out

to discredit the

Bible and

disprove it

others are

committed

believers and

Christians and

sometimes maybe a

little over eager

to prove that

what's in the

Bible is true

this is also a

very very

unique situation

Jesus has been

brutally flogged

almost to the

point of death

and then hung

up to die

and so the

medical issues

at play in

Jesus' body

would have

been many

this likely

isn't something

that most

doctors would

ever see

nevertheless

the usual

medical explanation

that is given

and is somewhat

agreed on

is that Jesus

experienced such

heavy bodily

trauma

during his

flogging

and now his

crucifixion

that he went

into what they

call hypovolemic

shock

which is a term

that refers to

low blood

volume

loss of blood

lack of blood

and the results

of this would

typically be that

the heart would

begin to race

to pump blood

that was not

there

the victim would

collapse or faint

due to low blood

pressure

kidneys would

shut down to

preserve body

fluids

a person would

experience extreme

thirst

as the body

desires to

replenish lost

fluids

and we certainly

see some of

these things

as Jesus

goes through

this

we see him

collapsing

weak

possibly

indicating low

blood pressure

on his way

out of the city

unable to carry

the cross

and so they

forced Simon

to do it

we see him

thirsty

at the cross

as we just

red

and so there's

this phenomenon

that's been

observed in

cases of

hypovolemic

shock

that prior to

death

that rapid

racing of the

heart

causes fluid

to gather

in the sac

around the

heart

and around

the lungs

and this

gathering of

fluid in the

membrane around

the heart

is called

pericardial

effusion

and the fluid

around the lungs

is called

pleural effusion

and so it's

generally thought

that when the

spear went in

the blood

and this

fluid

is what

came out

and that's

what had

the appearance

of water

some suggest

that it's

evidence that

the spear

went all the

way in

to Jesus

heart

whatever the

case

it's obvious

that Jesus

body was

pierced so

deeply

by the spear

that there

can be no

doubt

that he

was dead

that seems

to be

John's

main reason

for including

this

it's the

confirmation

it's the

final blow

which after

this there

can be no

denying

he really

did

die

there was

simply no

way he

could have

survived

this

and John's

point here

is not that

the spear

is what

killed him

John already

said up in

verse 30

that after

Jesus said

it is

finished

he gave

up his

spirit

so this

was sometime

after that

these things

John witnessed

are the

confirmation

that yes

he really

did die

and no

he didn't

survive

the crucifixion

in verse

35

John says

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

so John

the apostle

is the one

writing this

and he

affirms

yes

this is

what I

saw

again

he seems

to refer

to himself

in the

third

person

we talked

about that

already

why he

might do

that

but he

wants

anyone

reading

this

story

to know

I

saw

this

happen

with my

own

eyes

I'm

giving

you

my

testimony

I'm

telling

you

the

truth

so that

you

may

believe

John

goes

on

he

says

these

things

happen

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

so

there's

more

there's

a deeper

significance

to all

this

says

John

yes

these

two

things

I

witnessed

confirm

beyond

the

shadow

of a

doubt

that he

really

died

on that

cross

but

there's

more

these

two

things

that I

witnessed

were

signs

these

two

unique

things

things

that

didn't

happen

with

the

other

men

both

of

them

were

fulfillments

of

prophetic

words

that God

spoke

long

ago

in

ancient

times

through

the

prophets

and

then

he

quotes

the

words

the

first

one

not

one

of

his

bones

will

be

broken

this

is

a

scripture

that

John

quotes

from

a

psalm

of

David

written

about

a

thousand

years

earlier

psalm

Psalms 34:19

chapter

34

verses

19

and

20

back

then

David

was

the

king

the

one

that

God

had

anointed

and

chosen

to

reign

over

Israel

David

was

that

king

that

God

made

the

special

promise

to

he

would

be

the

head

of

an

enduring

kingdom

that

would

last

forever

and

King

David

before

he

came

to

his

throne

he

said

this

in

one

of

his

poems

or

psalms

he

said

the

righteous

person

may

have

many

troubles

but

the

Lord

delivers

him

from

them

all

he

protects

all

his

bones

not

one

of

them

will

be

broken

now

David's

point

here

in

the

poem

is

very

simple

it's

that

God

protects

the

righteous

that's

what

David

experienced

for

himself

at

this

point

in

the

story

he's

had

many

troubles

Saul's

been

hunting

him

down

trying

to

kill

him

and

David's

fled

to

Philistine

territory

he's

been

pretending

to be

insane

so

that

the

Philistine

king

Abimelech

won't

kill

him

and

so

he

has

been

knowing

God's

protection

God

has

been

keeping

him

safe

and

this

was

part

of

a

poem

or

a

song

perhaps

that

he

wrote

but

surprisingly

without

David

knowing

it

God

had

a

deeper

meaning

and

intention

with

these

very

words

these

words

were

inspired

by

God

himself

God's

spirit

was

speaking

through

David

so

that

whether

he

realized

it

or

not

these

words

would

come

to be

fulfilled

quite

literally

over

a

thousand

years

later

with

the

king

of

God's

choosing

the

son

of

David

the

Messiah

that

not

one

of

his

bones

would

be

broken

though

there's

also

another

meaning

here

another

angle

that we

can look

at this

with

John

has been

careful

all along

to highlight

that this is

happening

during the

time of

the

Passover

Passover

do you

remember

what

John

the

baptizer

said

about

Jesus

he said

look

the

lamb

of

God

who

takes

away

the

sin

of

the

world

is it

any

coincidence

that

this

lamb

Jesus

who

has

come

from

God

was

slaughtered

at

Passover

no

and

part

of

what

feeds

into

this

and

shows

this

is

this

whole

detail

about

the

breaking

of

bones

thousands

of

years

ago

as

God

gave

his

requirements

for

the

Passover

the

Israelites

were to

take

a

lamb

and

slaughter

it

this

was

going

to

be

the

way

that

their

sins

would

be

covered

back

then

that

punishment

would

pass

over

them

they

would

be

saved

they

had

to

slaughter

a

lamb

put

its

and

remain

inside

the

house

and

one

of

the

things

specifically

they

were

not

to

break

any

of

the

bones

of

that

lamb

God

made

it

clear

thousands

of

years

earlier

and

then

here

Jesus

God's

Passover

lamb

and

not

one

of

his

bones

were

broken

so

it

seems

that

God

himself

is

giving

another

sign

yes

this

is

my

son

this

is

my

king

this

is

the

lamb

that

I

have

provided

the

same

kind

of

fulfillment

is seen

in

John's

second

statement

as

another

scripture

says

they

will

look

on

the

one

they

have

pierced

this

too

this

detail

that

John

noticed

about

the

spear

was

a

fulfillment

of

God's

ancient

words

as

well

these

words

uttered

hundreds

of

years

earlier

by

the

prophet

Zechariah

Zechariah

Zechariah 12:10

chapter

12

verse

10

and this

is

God

speaking

through

Zechariah

said

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

hundreds of

years

before

Jesus

came

God spoke

of a future

day when the

inhabitants of this

very city

Jerusalem

would cry

would grieve

would mourn

why

because they

will look at

God

the one

they have

pierced

and that

grief

would be

intense

like the

grieving

you would

do

if you

lost

your

only

child

or your

firstborn

son

what is

this

well it's a

prophecy

about how

one day

the people

of Jerusalem

will have

God's

spirit

poured out

on them

and they

will see

clearly

that the

one

they

pierced

was their

God

the

Lord

Yahweh

the one

who had

come to

them

it's a

prophecy

detailing

the grief

and sadness

that will

overtake them

on that

day when

they realize

that

Jesus

the one

that they

killed

really was

the one

and only

the son

of God

their

Messiah

their

king

and I

won't get

into all

the details

of how

this is

fulfilled

it reaches

all the way

to the

book of

Revelation

when Jesus

comes back

but the

striking

feature

of the

God

who spoke

through

Zechariah

and of

this

one

who is

coming

back

at the

end

Jesus

the

identifying

mark

is that

he is

the one

they

pierced

they

pierced

him

with the

nails

they

pierced

him

with the

spear

this

is a

sign

says

John

this

thing

happened

with the

spear

it's

a

sign

another

sign

piled

on top

of all

the

other

signs

that

this

is

no

ordinary

man

he

is

the

Lord

he

is

the

king

of

heaven's

kingdom

God

said it

long ago

you

my

people

will

recognize

me

as

the

one

you

pierced

and

God

fulfilled

it

quite

literally

pierced

not

beheaded

not

some

other

form

of

execution

or

death

don't

miss

this

says

John

the

nails

in

his

hands

and

the

spear

in

his

side

pierced

as

God

foretold

long

ago

so

this

is

what

happened

soon

after

Jesus

died

and

now

quickly

we're

going

to

hear

from

John

what

happened

later

in

the

afternoon

towards

the

evening

verse

38

to

42

later

Joseph

of

Arimathea

asked

Pilate

for

the

body

of

Jesus

now

Joseph

was

a

disciple

of

Jesus

but

secretly

because

he feared

the

Jewish

leaders

with

Pilate's

permission

he came

and took

the

body

away

he was

accompanied

by

Nicodemus

the man

who

earlier

had

visited

Jesus

at

night

Nicodemus

brought a

mixture

of

myrrh

and

aloes

about

75

pounds

taking

Jesus

body

the

two

of

them

wrapped

it

with

the

spices

in

strips

of

linen

this

was

in

accordance

with

the

Jewish

burial

customs

at

the

place

where

Jesus

was

crucified

there

was

a

garden

and

in

the

garden

a

new

tomb

in

which

no

one

had

ever

been

laid

because

it

was

the

Jewish

day

of

preparation

and

since

the

tomb

was

nearby

they

laid

Jesus

there

now

there's

lots

we could

draw out

here

but

I'm

going

to

keep

it

short

this

morning

because

we're

going

to

go

to

the

Lord's

table

in

just

a

minute

here

John

tells

us

that

two

men

were

responsible

for

the

burial

of

Jesus

again

the

fact

that

it

was

preparation

day

seems

to

have