NOTHING MORE TO GIVE

“Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders 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.

“The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you may also believe. These things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of His bones was broken,” and, as another Scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.” John 19:31-37 NIV.

What an impression this scene must have made on John! Had he ever watched a crucifixion before? Probably not. He was from Galilee. No doubt Jesus would not have lingered to gaze at so cruel and gruesome a way of execution with His disciples, just for entertainment or out of curiosity, especially knowing that He was to suffer the same fate.

But John was drawn to remain because it was his beloved Master who hung there. He could not tear his eyes away, although he was horrified at what he saw. Three men dangling from wooden stakes, suspended on vicious iron nails, blood dripping from multiple wounds! The one in the centre was hanging limply, head resting on His chest. He was obviously already dead. The other two were in the final minutes of their lives.

To add the final touch to their suffering, at the request of the Jewish leaders, Pilate ordered that their legs be broken to hasten suffocation. With well-aimed blows on their shins, the soldiers did as they had been instructed. First one thief, then the other; but when they looked at the centre figure and saw that He was dead, they didn’t bother. Instead, just to make sure, an unnamed soldier callously dug his spear into Jesus’ side. Out flowed a river of bloody liquid – was it the last of the Saviour’s blood, shed for the sin of the world.

He had given everything. There was nothing more to give. Even the final drops of His blood were sacrificed for us. He was bled out — exsanguinated — just a lifeless shell still hanging there.

This scene was forever etched on John’s memory, so much so that he recorded everything in detail and vouched for his trustworthiness so that his readers would believe his report and put their faith in Jesus as the Son of God. After all, what other character in human history had ever had his story told in such detail hundreds of years before it happened?

Like giant jigsaw puzzle, piece by piece, prophets and poets had written and sung His story, and now it was being put together and lived out in front of John and those who stood by. Anyone who chose to, could put the pieces together and finally look with wonder on the Son of God.

But the picture was not yet complete. A few more pieces remained. As John stood gazing at the spectacle, how did he feel?  He could only look on helplessly, knowing that he had no grave in which to bury Him.  In any case, the body of his Master belonged to the Roman government, and he had no power to rescue Him from the fate of criminals — the Jerusalem rubbish dump in the Valley of Hinnom — where the bodies slowly roasted in the ever-burning fire.

But wait…God had taken care of everything and there was yet another prophecy to be fulfilled. “Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body will also rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.” Psalm 16:10.

God had His men waiting in the wings…