Good Friday There Came Out Blood and Water You heard the Passion of our Lord according to St. John. Among the four Gospel writers, only John wrote these Words: “One of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.” For whatever reason, Matthew and Mark and Luke did not consider it important to tell us that blood and water flow from the chest of our dead God. John considered it vitally important. John not only took pains to write here that “there came out blood and water,” but John also discussed the vital importance of this detail when he wrote his first letter. Here is what John wrote in his first letter, chapter 5: This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree (1 John 5:6-8). John’s little detail, that “there came out blood and water,” becomes an amazing detail when you compare it to another little detail in John’s Gospel. The other little detail is this: John never explicitly states in his Gospel that Jesus was baptized. John certainly implies that Jesus was baptized, but he never states that Jesus was baptized. Matthew (3:16), Mark (1:9) and Luke (3:21) all flatly say the Words, “Jesus was baptized.” John merely allows us to think that our Lord’s Baptism happened, without actually spelling out that it happened. When Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us that Jesus was baptized, they give us a helpful way to think about our own baptisms. Those Gospel writers allow us to think of ourselves as standing in the Jordan River, right next to Jesus, receiving His righteousness (Matthew 3:15) while He receives the filth of our sin (Acts 22:16). Matthew, Mark and Luke all make it possible for us to sing the Epiphany hymn, Within the Jordan’s crystal flood, in meekness stood the Lamb of God And, sinless, sanctifies the wave, Mankind from sin to cleanse and save (TLH 131.1) John wanted to direct our attention away from the Jordan. John diverts our attention away from the Jordan not to saying what the others were careful to say, that “Jesus was baptized.” John did not say these Words because John does not want us to think of our baptisms as standing with Jesus in the Jordan. John wants us to think of our baptisms as standing next to our Lord’s cross, where Jesus hangs and bleeds and dies for our redemption. John says—John is the only writer to takes the time to say—“One of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.” If I may speak this way, it almost seems as if John wanted to correct the other Gospel writers on this point. Why do I say this? Because John emphasized, “This is He who came by water AND blood—Jesus Christ; NOT by the water only but by the water AND the blood” (1 John 5:6). Those Words “NOT by water only” might refer to the Jordan River and to the other Gospel writers; the Words “by the water AND the blood” point directly to the cross. “One of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, and at once there came out blood AND water.” Matthew, Mark and Luke give us a helpful way to think about our own baptisms by allowing us to think of ourselves as standing in the Jordan River. John wants us to think of ourselves as standing next to the cross, receiving in the water the very blood that was shed for us and for our salvation. This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree (1 John 5:6-8). “The Spirit AND the water AND the blood”: Earlier in his Gospel, John prepared us for the Spirit-and-water connection by telling us that a man named Nicodemus came to visit Jesus at night. Jesus blew Nicodemus’ mind by saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you are born again, you cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Then Jesus went on to explain that the new birth—the birth from above—comes by water and the Spirit, which is Baptism. Jesus said, “You must be born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5). Tonight, in the Passion of our Lord, John pushes the baptismal font up close to the cross. John connects the new birth of water and the Spirit to the blood of our Lord. In so doing, John allows us to see that our Baptism is more than a mere washing away of sin—as important as it is to have our sins washed away. By connecting the water and the Spirit and the blood for us, John allows us to see that our living becomes possible by our Lord’s dying; that our lives begin where Jesus’ life ends; that the life of our God continually flows out of Him, through Baptism and into us. By piercing the side our Lord, so that the water and the blood may flow to us, the long-lost spear of an unknown Roman soldier opens for us the way to eternal life. Or perhaps we could state the case in this way: “I am the resurrection and the life,” says the Lord. “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list Sermons@cat41.org http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
