- John 19:32-34
In describing the blood and water flowing from the side of Jesus, John is not giving a medical analysis. He is teaching the deeper meaning of the death of Jesus.
Earlier in John's Gospel, Jesus came to Jerusalem for the Jewish "Feast of Tabernacles."
On the last and most important day of the feast, Jesus stood up and exclaimed: "Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture says: 'Rivers of living water will flow from within him.' He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified." (John 7:37-39)
Now that Jesus has been lifted up on the cross and given over his life, the hour of his glorification has come. The blood is a sign of his dying - which is his glorification. The water is a sign of his Spirit which he promised to give.
"Let anyone who thirsts come to me."
Jesus speaks those words personally to each of us. And he promises to give us the gift of his own Spirit.
His own Spirit. The Spirit of Jesus given to you. Personally.
You have to think hard about that.
- Little Black Book, Diocese of Saginaw