178. John 19:31–37 – Pierced by a Spear
Pierced by a Spear
John 19:31–37
📖 Bible Passage
31 Since it was the Preparation Day, the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down.
32 The soldiers broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus.
33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.
34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.
35 The one who saw it has testified, and his testimony is true.
36 “Not one of His bones will be broken.”
37 “They will look on the One they have pierced.”
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⚔️ One Spear — Two Prophecies
One strike of the spear fulfilled two Old Testament prophecies.
📜 Prophecy #1
“Not one of His bones will be broken”
— Psalms 34:20
This is also connected to the Passover lamb:
“Do not break any of its bones”
— Exodus 12:46
Jesus’ legs were not broken because He was already dead. In this way, Scripture was fulfilled.
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📜 Prophecy #2
“They will look on the One they have pierced”
— Book of Zechariah 12:10
After this, a soldier pierced Jesus’ side with a spear. John directly writes:
“that the Scripture should be fulfilled.”
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🩸 Blood and Water
John carefully emphasizes:
“immediately blood and water came out.”
Then he adds:
“He who saw it has testified.”
This served as evidence of:
Christ’s real death,
a deep wound,
and the historical reality of the event.
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✋ Confirmed Through Thomas
Later, the apostle Thomas says:
“Unless I put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
And Jesus replies:
“Put your hand into My side.”
John 20:25–27 shows that the spear wound was real and well known among the disciples.
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✝️ Broken Legs and the Shape of the Cross
Breaking the legs caused death by suffocation to come much faster. A crucified person pushed upward with the legs in order to breathe. Once the legs were broken, this became impossible.
This strongly fits the Roman form of crucifixion on a cross with a crossbeam, where the legs helped support breathing.
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⚠️ Why Jesus Could Not Have “Simply Fainted”
The idea that Jesus merely fainted becomes very weak because of:
Roman scourging,
hours on the cross,
massive blood loss,
the spear wound,
the blood and water,
John’s eyewitness testimony,
and Thomas confirming the wound.
John shows clearly:
Christ truly died — and truly rose again.