The Death of Death

UV 1706/10000 The Death of Death
But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
John 19 v 34

Blood is a carrier of life literally and water is meant for washing, purification and to satisfy the thirst of every creature. The piercing of the side of Jesus was so that mankind could pronounce a diagnosis of certain death. It was absolute death, a certainty beyond doubt, ruling out the hope or possibility of revival. Jesus submitted Himself to the cross, to excruciating pain, shame and humiliation, torture and agony of the worst kind so that He could pronounce a diagnosis of certain hope and life eternal for the very mankind who subjected Him to such travails. The signs of eternal life of each of us is our faith in the shed blood of Jesus. The gushing out of blood and water is symbolic of the justification by blood and the sanctification by water that the death of Jesus brings for each of us. Is three and a half litres of blood sufficient to pay for the sins and shortcomings of all mankind who came before Jesus and after? It is sufficient as it was absolute in purity and chastity, in holiness and power to justify. It was a sufficient payment for the absolute grace of the Lord God. No more sacrifice of repentance was required. Only the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving is now called for from us who believe.

The presence of water along with blood was a sign that every drop of blood of Jesus had oozed out as the perfect blemishless sacrifice that ensured all the vilest acts of mankind expiated or paid for or justified. Jesus had given His all, every drop of His precious blood for us. God had given His best for us. Our response in faith and love should be to give our all and our best for Him.
Under the Old covenant that admittedly was obtained by an imperfect sacrifice of the blood of a lamb or sheep or dove. Sin had to be paid for by death- a substitutionary death. Hence, death had to be put to death by the death of the absolute and holy One. The blood of the Lamb when marked in the shape of a cross over the thresholds of the houses of the Hebrew people secured for them freedom from the death that the angel of death visited upon the ancient Egyptians who held the Jews in captivity. That was a type of the spiritual marking of our hearts and souls by the blood of Jesus which secures for us freedom from eternal death. The bronzen serpent that Moses had engraved as lifted on a staff that preserved the life of people bitten by snakes as they gazed on it was a sign of the cross of Jesus and that deliverance was at hand for everyone, the Jew and the Gentile. That blood secures for us protection from all the curses that mankind has brought upon ourselves, healing from diseases, uplifting from misery and blessing of every kind in its place. Death had made everything meaningless and vain for the super rich, wise, famous, self indulgent Solomon, the king of Israel but the death of the King of Kings in this manner makes everything meaningful and fruitful once more not just for kings but for slaves, not just for saints but for sinners, not just for Israel but for all humanity.

Prateep V Philip