His Side is Pierced

Having seen that the Lord Jesus Christ was dead, the soldiers did not break his legs or any bone as prophesied by the Psalmist. On the other hand, the prophet Zechariah prophesied about this same occasion describing the action taken by the soldiers toward Jesus Christ. He said, “. . . and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness of his firstborn” (Zech. 12:10). The context of the verse explains the promise of God concerning the repentance of the Jews despite the long time they had been provoking God. This same verse prophesies the piercing of their Messiah.

When the apostle John wrote his gospel, he did see that the incident of the piercing of the Lord Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of the prophecy in the Old Testament. John recorded, “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:34). This soldier was not content just to know that Jesus Christ was dead, he nevertheless pierced Him with a spear.

The crucifixion of Christ was a terrible mode of death. The great pain and torture that He experienced had caused Him to die sooner than the two criminals. As Lockyer commented, "Not only was it punctured by the soldier’s sword thrust, but the extreme mental and spiritual torture was so great that His heart was ruptured before the point of the sword pierced it. Appearance of blood and water indicated that the lymphatic fluid apparently had separated from the red blood, producing “blood and water."