S. Michael Houdmann Supporter Got Questions Ministries

The Roman flogging or scourging that Jesus endured prior to being crucified normally consisted of 39 lashes, but could have been more (Mark 15:15; John 19:1). The whip that was used, called a flagr...

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July 01 2013 • 11 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Kenneth Heck Supporter

The blood represents his kingship over the entire earth (from being of the bloodline of David). Christ will share his kingship with those who take up their cross and follow him to the death.

The water represents his high priesthood through the order of Melchizedek.This is now the true priesthood for all the peoples of the earth. Every Christian participates to a limited degree in this priesthood through the baptism of water, and more so of the Holy Spirit.

August 22 2016 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Jack Gutknecht Supporter Arizona Bible College graduate and Dallas Seminary graduate

About John 19:34, physicians explain that this is a sign that Christ's heart had indeed ruptured within Him. Jesus literally died with a broken heart. (MacArthur). And in John 19:35, the apostle, John, who was an eyewitness of the soldier piercing Jesus’ side with his spear, makes it clear that the water and blood should encourage his readers to believe that Jesus is the Christ: 

34 "One of the soldiers stuck his spear into Jesus' side, and blood and water came out. 35 We know this is true, because it was told by someone who saw it happen. Now you can have faith too."

See also John 20:31 (Wiersbe), "But these are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that believing, ye might have life through His name."

March 27 2022 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Jeffrey Johnson Supporter

Why did blood and water come out of Jesus' side when He was pierced?

The blood and water that flowed from Jesus' side after being pierced (John 19:34) likely represent a medical phenomenon caused by severe trauma, resulting in pleural effusion (fluid around the lungs) and/or pericardial effusion (fluid around the heart). This indicates rapid death, likely from hypovolemic shock and cardiac failure, confirming his death to the soldiers.

Proof of Physical Death: Medical interpretations suggest the soldier's spear pierced the pericardium (a sac around the heart) or pleura (around the lungs), indicating the accumulation of fluid from severe trauma (hypovolemic shock), thus proving Jesus was already dead before the piercing.

Some say that a broken heart was a factor in the death of Jesus Christ, of whom it was prophesied: Psalm 69:20 ESV: "Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness:"

A broken heart may explain why "blood and water" flowed from a spear wound inflicted on Jesus just after his death. A rupture of the heart or a major blood vessel could discharge blood either into the chest cavity or into the pericardium​, a fluid-​containing membrane that loosely encases the heart. In either location, a puncture could cause the flow of what would appear to be "blood and water."​—John 19:34.

Jesus had a haemothorax, which, in the stillness of the dead body, had separated into two layers: the heavier red cells below and the lighter, watery plasma above. The haemothorax was the result of the savage flagellation.

It is well known that blood in these circumstances in a still dead body starts to separate, to sediment, the heavier red cells sinking to the bottom, leaving a much lighter, straw colored fluid, the plasma above.

Blood and water separate after death, a phenomenon explained by medical science where blood separates into red blood cells (solid) and serum (watery, yellowish fluid). This occurs when blood ceases to circulate, leading to sedimentation in which heavier cells sink and the lighter, watery fluid rises.

When the spear makes a hole, the red cells, which John describes as blood, gush out first, followed by the plasma, which John saw as water.

Physiological Explanation: The "water" is likely serum, or in cases of severe physical trauma, accumulated fluids from the heart (pericardial effusion) or lungs (pleural effusion).

11 days ago • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report