SUBJECT:  John 19:33-34  --  Death of Jesus Christ

QUESTIONS:  What specifically was the cause of the death of Jesus Christ.  Your literature states that He was alive when the Roman soldier thrust the spear into His side.  However, verse 33 seems to say that Jesus was already dead.  How do you explain your position?  How did He die?

ANSWER:

VERSES IN QUESTION

John 19:33-34
33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:

34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

You may be referring to verse 33, where it says he was dead already.  You will see from the commentary that the meaning of this is that there were indications he was dead.  Clearly, the meaning is not purely dead as they took up a spear and violently thrust it into Him.  Further, we see blood and water coming out of His body and the commentary indicated that His heart was still beating and this caused the blood and water to flow out.
 

BIBLE COMMENTARY

Notice the commentary:

John 19:33
But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:

[Saw that he was dead] Saw by the indications of death on his person, and perhaps by the testimony of the centurion, Matt 27:54. The death of Jesus was doubtless hastened by the intense agony of the garden, and the special sufferings endured as an atonement for sin on the cross. Compare Matt 27:46. ~from Barnes' Notes

John 19:34
[With a spear] The common spear which soldiers used in war. There can be no doubt that such a stroke from the strong arm of a Roman soldier would have caused death, if he had not been already dead; and it was, doubtless, to furnish this conclusive proof that he was actually dead, and that an atonement had thus been made for mankind, that John mentions so particularly this fact. Let the following circumstances be remembered, showing that death must have ensued from such a wound:

(1) The Saviour was elevated but a little from the ground, so as to be easily reached by the spear of a soldier.
(2) The wound must have been transversely upward, so as to have penetrated into the body, as he could not have stood directly under him.
(3) It was probably made with a strong arm and with violence.
(4) The spear of the Roman soldier was a lance which tapered very gently to a point, and would penetrate easily.
(5) The wound was comparatively a large wound. It was so large as to admit the hand (John 20:27); but for a lance thus tapering to have made a wound so wide as to admit the hand, it must have been at least four or five inches in depth, and must have been such as to have made death certain. If it be remembered that this blow was probably in the left side, the conclusion is inevitable that death would have been the consequence of such a blow. To make out this fact was of special importance, probably, in the time of John, as the reality of the death of Jesus was denied by the Gnostics, many of whom maintained that he died in appearance only.

[Pierced his side] Which side is not mentioned, nor can it be certainly known. The common opinion is that it was the left side. Car. Frid. Gruner (Commentatio Antiquaria Medica de Jesu Christi Morte, 30-36) has attempted to show that it must have been the left side. See Wiseman's Lectures, pp. 161, 162, and Kuinoel on John 19:34, where the arguments of Gruner are fully stated. It is clear that the spear pierced to the region of the heart.

[And forthwith came ...] This was evidently a natural effect of thus piercing the side. Such a flowing of blood and water makes it probable that the spear reached the heart, and if Jesus had not before been dead, this would have closed his life. The heart is surrounded by a membrane called the pericardium. This membrane contains a serous matter or liquor resembling water, which prevents the surface of the heart from becoming dry by its continual motion (Webster). It was this which was pierced and from which the water flowed. The point of the spear also reached one of the ventricles of the heart, and the blood, yet warm, rushed forth, either mingled with or followed by the water of the pericardium, so as to appear to John to be blood and water flowing together. This was a natural effect, and would follow in any other case. Commentators have almost uniformly supposed that this was significant; as, for example, that the blood was an emblem of the eucharist, and the water of baptism, or that the blood denoted justification, and the water sanctification; but that this was the design there is not the slightest evidence.

It was strictly a natural result, adduced by John to establish one fact on which the whole of Christianity turns that he was truly dead. On this depends the doctrine of the atonement, of his resurrection, and all the prominent doctrines of religion. This fact it was of importance to prove, that it might not be pretended that he had only suffered a syncope, or had fainted. This John establishes. He shows that those who were sent to hasten his death believed that he had expired; that then a soldier inflicted a wound which would have terminated life if he had not been already dead; and that the infliction of this wound was followed by the fullest proof that he had truly expired. On this fact he dwells with the interest which became a subject of so much importance to the world, and thus laid the foundation for undoubted assurance that the Lord Jesus died for the sins of men. ~from Barnes' Notes

 

OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES

Now notice two Old Testament scripture that are prophecy of the death of Jesus Christ.:

Psalm 34:20
He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

 

Zechariah 12:10
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: 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 for his firstborn.

 

The focus of both these prophecies is on the piercing by the spear.  We can also see from the commentary that this was the overwhelming act that confirmed His death.  This was the act that removed all doubt.  As you can see from the commentary and from even more recent conspiracy theories some have claimed that He did not really die on that stake.  The action by the Roman Soldier with this spear removes all doubt.

ANOTHER BIBLE COMMENTARY

Notice another commentary...

John 19:34
But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

But one of the soldiers-to make assurance of the fact doubly sure,

With a spear pierced his side-making a wound deep and wide, as indeed is plain from John 20:27-29. Had life still remained it must have fled now. ~from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary

Notice that there is no definitive proof that Jesus was dead prior to the thrust of the spear.  This commentary says "Had life still remained...".  Based on this fact and the focus of the prophecies, it is concluded that He did die with the spear thrust.

TREASURE OF SCRIPTURE KNOWLEDGE

Let us take a look now at some verses you will find in the Bible Help, "Treasury of Scripture Knowledge" which is a reference that takes a verse (key verse) and connects it to all the verses, elsewhere in the Bible, which are tied to that key verse.  Following are some of those verses referenced:

1 John 5:6
This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
 

1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

 

Hebrews 9:22
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

 

Again, the focus is on the blood and water which were shed and which flowed in His death process.  Clearly we see this tied to the thrust of the spear.

BIBLE VERSE REFERENCES

Now some attempt to conclude that Jesus died because of certain physical factors, yet we have Luke 23:46 which states that Jesus chose the moment of His death.  The verse is clear.  He GAVE up His spirit.  He chose the time.  It seems clear that He stated this just prior to the spear thrust.

Luke 23:46
And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

 

Notice another verse which put the focus on the spear thrust:

Revelation 1:7
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

 

We see that the reference made to the death of Jesus was the spear thrust.  Now speaking of this focus on the piercing, notice the verses that come after the key verse of John 19:34

John 19:35-37
35 And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.

36 For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.

37 And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced. (Zechariah 12:10--mentioned above in Old Testament references)

So we see that right after the account of the spear thrust, we see John putting his focus on the piercing.  Why would God, the author of the Bible put so much focus on the piercing and the shedding of (flowing of) blood if it (the piercing) were not the cause of His death?

INTERNET-BASE COMMENTARY/CONCLUSIONS OF THE EVENT*

Now, in addition to regular commentaries, I did a search of the Internet to find further papers on this event.  Following are excerpts I found.

Excerpt One:

Jesus was Killed

"We can no longer reconstruct the precise details of the events themselves. But the evidence is overwhelming. Jesus died instantly. Not from a broken heart but by means of a Roman spear - thrust, his life blood spilling into the dust.

"As the Scriptures consistently teach, the blood of Jesus was shed poured out, not mere drops - again foreshadowed by the blood of the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:21-22).

"This is perfectly in accord with the Bible statements that Jesus' blood was shed or poured out, not mere drops, that he was sacrificed, again foreshadowed by the blood of the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:21-22), which corresponded to him. (See 1 Corinthians 5:7)."

---end of excerpt one---

Excerpt Two:

"Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath [i.e. the annual Holy Day of the Passover, not the regular weekly Sabbath]. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water." (John 19:31-34).

Many assume that the soldier speared The Body of Jesus after He was dead, but why would he do that? Sheer maliciousness could be one answer, but that would still leave the big question unanswered - Why then was Jesus already dead, before the other two men who were crucified with Him, and well before Pilate expected? Or, does the sentence describe, as numerous Biblical scholars now understand, that instead of killing Jesus by breaking His legs, the soldier killed Him with his spear? After all, the Scripture plainly says that "one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear."

People who die of suffocation or heart failure unlikely do so with a "loud cry" as Jesus did (Mark 15:37) - they would not have sufficient air in their lungs to make the sound. But, people who have been suddenly stabbed do naturally cry out from the pain and the shock.

Also, dead people do not have the blood pressure to produce a "sudden flow of blood" as described in John 19:34 - but people who are still alive do.

---end of excerpt two---

CRUCIFIXION AS A TYPE OF THE SLAYING OF THE PASSOVER LAMB

The following is another quote from the same source as Internet excerpt two used above.

"There is special mention of that soldier, not because he needlessly speared the body of the dead Savior, but because that bloody stab wound was actually what killed Jesus Christ.

"Throughout the Bible, Jesus Christ is referred to as "The Lamb of God" (John 1:29), which is a direct reference to the slaying of the Passover lamb - that was always done by its shed blood (Exodus 12:6-7). It is also very interesting to note that none of the lamb's bones were to be broken (Numbers 9:12).

"Our salvation was made possible through the shed blood of The Savior, not by Him dying from exhaustion or a heart attack. That Roman soldier, almost certainly without realizing the tremendous significance of his brutal act, was the one who accomplished that requirement."

---end quote from source---

The sacrifice of the Passover lamb is perfectly represented in the death of Jesus.  His death was swift.  No bones were broken.  His blood flowed.  Death was by the hand of a man using a sharp instrument designed to bring swift death.

TEXTUAL SOURCES ON THE DEATH OF JESUS

Following are some outside, secular texts on the death of Jesus:

--Holoubek JE, et al. Execution by crucifixion. History, methods and cause of death. Journal of Medicine. 1995;26(1-2):1-16.
--Porter AM. The crucifixion. Journal of the Royal College of Physicians, London. 1991 Jul;25(3):271.
--Ball DA. The crucifixion and death of a man called Jesus. Journal of the Mississippi State Medical Association. 1989 March 30(3):77-83.
--Edwards WD, et al. On the physical death of Jesus Christ. Journal of the American Medical Association. 1986 March 21;255(11):1455-63.
--Johnson CD. Medical and cardiological aspects of the passion and crucifixion of Jesus, the Christ. Bol Asoc Med P R. 1978 March 70(3):97-102.

*The search engine Google.com was used to find the Internet sources.  One can find these sources using key text from the excerpts.  We are generally reluctant to give the actual Internet address as they may change over time and we are keeping this answer on file.
  
back to the top