John's words in today's passage have puzzled scholars ever since he wrote them down. We are going to look at the two most prevalent theories of what he may have meant when he said: "This is the One who came by water and blood---Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood." (1 John 5:6a)
Some scholars believe John is referencing something he witnessed at the crucifixion. A Roman soldier wanted to make sure that Jesus was dead, so he pierced Him in the side with a sword. The piercing of the sword brought forth "a sudden flow of blood and water". (John 19:34) John wasn't a medical doctor and he didn't understand why water would have flowed out of the wound along with blood, but we know today that crucifixion victims often went into hypovolemic shock. This means that fluid would gather around the heart and lungs of these victims, so when the sword of the Roman soldier went between two of Jesus' ribs and into His chest cavity, it released the fluid that was gathered there. There are "resurrection deniers" in modern times who claim that Jesus didn't really die on the cross but that He revived in the tomb and His disciples whisked Him away. But John's eyewitness account of the piercing of Jesus' side, and of the blood and water which flowed from His side, ought to put to rest any speculation that Jesus wasn't really dead. The outpouring of water proves that the sword went through His heart and lungs. If He had not already been dead before the soldier pierced Him through the heart and lungs, He would have been dead afterwards.
Personally, I don't think John's words in today's passage are a reference to what he witnessed at the crucifixion, but still it's beneficial for us to recall his account of what he saw on the day Jesus died. There is no doubt that Jesus suffered terrible torture on that day, and there is no doubt He was really dead when He was placed in the tomb. Therefore, there is no doubt He actually rose from the dead as those who saw Him in the flesh claimed He did. There was no "reviving" possible after what He endured at Golgotha. When His followers walked and talked and even ate with Him following His death, they were walking and talking and eating with a man living in a resurrected, immortal body. How else can we explain why the disciples, who hid behind locked doors during the time between Jesus' death and resurrection, later risked and gave their lives to proclaim that He had risen from the dead? They knew what they had seen.
I agree with the scholars who think John is speaking of the baptism and death of Jesus when he speaks of the water and the blood. Both these things confirm the deity of Jesus of Nazareth. When He came down to the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist, John testified to the crowd that Jesus was the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". (John 1:29) When Jesus came up out of the water, God testified from heaven, saying, "This is My son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17) According to the law of Moses, any testimony had to be confirmed by two or three witnesses. (Deuteronomy 19:15) So at the baptism of Jesus we find two witnesses (John the Baptist and God Himself) confirming the identity of Jesus.
The blood of Jesus also confirms His identity. As we've already established, there's no doubt He died on the cross. The Roman soldier confirmed it. The witnesses standing by the cross confirmed it. Those who placed His body in the tomb confirmed it. Medical experts of our day, reading the account John gave of the blood and water which ran out of Jesus' side, confirm it through their scientific understanding of what the blood and water signifies. Jesus was as dead as any human being has ever been. And yet the fact that He is alive has been confirmed by many witnesses. The Apostle Paul reminds us that all the disciples saw Him at various times (some alone and some in groups). Jesus spoke privately with His brother James and perhaps with His other brothers as well. And on one occasion, He appeared to more than five hundred of His followers at the same time. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8) Paul says that, at the time of his writing, most of these five hundred people were still alive and available to give their testimony of what they witnessed. The number of people who saw and interacted with the risen Christ is far more than was necessary to establish a thing as fact under the Mosaic law.
On top of all the witnesses who gave their testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the Holy Spirit witnesses to our hearts. "And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth." (1 John 5:6b) It is the Holy Spirit who convinces us that Jesus is who He says He is. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts our hearts of sin, and who leads us to repentance, and who brings us to accept Jesus Christ as the Savior whose blood cleanses us of sin.
What more evidence do we need to establish that Jesus is who He says He is? What more could He say to us than what He has already said? What more could He do than what He has already done?
I'm going to close with my favorite quote from the late evangelist and author C.S. Lewis. His words are a perfect way to sum up what we're saying in our study today. If Jesus isn't really who He says He is, then we can't follow Him at all. If He isn't really the Son of God, we must dismiss everything He ever said or did. If He isn't really the Messiah, how can we explain the eyewitness testimony of His miracles, or of His death and resurrection? When it comes to Jesus, we either have to accept that everything the Bible says about Him is true, or we must reject it entirely. There is no in-between. C. S. Lewis helps us understand why this is so, saying: "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic---on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg---or else he would be the devil of hell. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."
No comments:
Post a Comment