(Jn 19:34 MSG) One of the soldiers stabbed him in the side with his spear. Blood and water gushed out.
Today we continue down The Road to the Resurrection. So far in this series I have provided several messages that deal with evidence that Jesus was raised from the dead. Or at least that over 500 people saw Him after His crucifixion. The argument I will deal with today whether or not Jesus actually died. Some claim that Jesus was seen post Good Friday because He must have never died. Let’s deal with what we know.
On the day of His crucifixion Jesus had already been beaten severely, He had been flogged 39 times with a cat-o-nine-tails, made to carry the cross that He would be nailed to up a hill, and then physically nailed to the cross in front of hundreds of witnesses. Jesus hung on that cross from 9am to 3pm. He was on display for everyone to see. People watched as He shifted the weight of His between His pierced hands and feet. People watched as He struggled through the tremendous pain caused by the railroad-like spikes causing his nervous system to fire pain and distribute pain all throughout His body. The crowd heard Jesus say, “It Is Finished!” And they watched as He gave up the ghost.
The final evidence of Jesus’ death came after He gave up the ghost. The day Jesus died was a day of preparation. It was the day before a special Sabbath. The Jews could not touch anything dead on the Sabbath and they did not want to leave the bodies hanging there until after the Sabbath. That would be disrespectful. This meant that they only had three hours to get the bodies off of the crosses and into the tombs. They asked Pilate for authorization to break the legs of the men, to ensure they were dead. Roman Soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men who had been crucified with Jesus. When they got to Jesus, however, they believed He was already dead, so they did not break His legs. But they still needed to verify His death. So one of the Soldiers stabbed Jesus in the side with his spear. The Bible says that blood and water gushed out. Jesus was clearly dead. Let’s take a look at some of the evidence:
1. Rome was in power at the time and Roman soldiers were skilled in battle.
2. Roman spears were tapered to a point and were designed to easily penetrate the human body.
3. The Soldier must have yielded the sword violently, because Jesus would later ask Thomas to thrust his entire hand into the wound (John 20:27). So we can assume that the wound was at least five inches wide and very deep.
4. Even a man who was completely alive would have died from such a wound, much less one that had been through what Jesus had been through.
5. Lastly, this method was used to verify Jesus death (and not the breaking of His legs), because it had been prophesied that not one of his bones would be broken (Ex12:46, Ps 34:20). Remember, God was still God throughout the entire ordeal.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. Jesus died. Jesus was completely dead. His death was no hoax. His blood was surely shed, and that’s good news!
2. Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus completely died, and He also completely rose on from the dead on the third day!
3. Jesus conquered death so that we could do the same. Paul said that part of his aim in life was to know Jesus in the power of His Resurrection (Phil 3:10).
4. Resurrection Power can change your situation. No matter how dead your dreams, your goals, your marriage, your relationships, your career, etc.; may seem, know that through Christ you can bounce back! You can experience Resurrection Power! Jesus was totally dead, but He came back from total death to provide total life. What dead issue needs to be resurrected in your life? Whatever it is, take it to God in prayer, do and say whatever He leads you to do and say, and watch Him turn your hopeless situation around.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for sending Jesus to die in my place. I know His death was no hoax. And no one took His life. The Pharisees, the Sanhedrin Council, Pilate, and all of Rome could have come together, but none of them had the power to take Jesus’ life. Jesus willingly gave up His Spirit for me. Jesus died a true and total death, but You resurrected Him to complete and total life. I flow in that same vein this morning. I speak to every seemingly dead situation in my life and I declare that Your resurrection power comes TO ME and flows THROUGH ME! I serve a God who can give life to dead situations. So I speak life and not death, blessing and not cursing, victory and never defeat! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
