John 19:17-37; 1 John 5:5-7 Apostles’ Creed / Third Article: Water, Blood & Spirit
“It is finished.” Many tried to keep Him from saying that. Bystanders, soldiers, the religious authoritarian thugs, and one of the criminals hanging next to Him. All instruments of and temptations from Satan himself! “Come down!” they shrieked. “Save yourself! If you’re truly the King of the Jews – the promised Messiah, God’s own Son -- hop right off that cross! After all, we all know that God’s Son can’t die! So get down! And then start this salvation business from scratch! Get a kingdom of God cranked up like it’s supposed to be: without all this weak, ineffective, brutal suffering nonsense! Keep this up and we know that you’re just a fraud!”
He says it nonetheless! “It is finished!” And what He says He does!
And that’s salvation! The redemption job: done. The history of the world and the universe comes to its ultimate climax here. He who suffers under Pontius Pilate is the hinge, the linchpin, upon which the world’s rescue hangs – the fulcrum upon which it turns.
“It is finished.” He speaks. Just like in the beginning. “Let there be light.” And it was so. So now here: “Let there be salvation.” And it is so. And it is very good! Perfectly done! The Father is well pleased with this sacrifice that ends in His Son’s bloody death. Always has been. Always will be. And so all your sin is answered for in this Passover Lamb’s body hanging graveyard dead on the Tree. He is the atoning sacrifice for all your sin.
Yes, that’s right, all! All the sin you know. All that you don’t know. All the sin you love to do. All you hate to do. All sin! He didn’t leave any of your sin or any of its punishment out of His Good Friday suffering. Total Savior. He does what He says: “It is finished.” Your salvation has been won! Jesus died for you!
What a treasure! What a gift! He would now bestow and give to you the benefits of His “It Is Finished” death on the Tree.
So look what He does – even in death! For you His side, His life giving flesh is sliced wide open. The solder takes a spear. Pierces the second and last Adam’s side in the deep sleep of death. And miraculously, from this second and last Adam’s rib (if you will) flows a stream of water and blood! Water and blood!
What does this mean? Listen to 1 John 5: “Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the one who came by WATER and BLOOD – Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by WATER and BLOOD.” And then John expands who’s at work for you in Christ’s WATER and BLOOD that flowed from His Body on the Cross. “And it is the SPIRIT who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the SPIRIT, the WATER, and the BLOOD and the three are in agreement.”
Do you get John’s point? John is telling you why WATER and BLOOD flowed from the Savior’s Body. WATER, BLOOD, and HOLY SPIRIT testify – they give witness that Jesus is indeed God’s Son. Just like the sky going black, the earthquakes, the rocks splitting wide open, the temple curtain torn in two from top to bottom and the tombs of many holy ones breaking open -- so too the WATER, BLOOD AND HOLY SPIRIT cry out that Jesus truly is the Savior of the world!
And more. Even today the WATER, BLOOD, AND SPIRIT testify to Jesus. The Spirit, at work in the church, through the proclamation of the Word proclaims the good news that Jesus got the salvation job done for you! Do you remember Jesus’ promise: “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who goes out from the Father, HE WILL TESTIFY ABOUT ME,” (John 15:26) “The Spirit will bring glory to me. He will take what belongs to me [salvation] and make it known to you,” (John 16:14). The holy office of preaching is the very office of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3) by which He calls you by the Gospel and enlightens you with Christ’s gifts -- the benefits of Calvary!
WATER, BLOOD, AND SPIRIT. The water of Holy Baptism and the Blood of the Sacrament of the Altar hooked with Christ’s Word are the Spirit-filled -- Lord and Giver of Life witness to the Savior who died for you on this day we call “Good.” Yes, these two sacraments are the Spirit’s own witness that you are forgiven, redeemed, and saved only for Christ’s sake! In fact, they are the very means / instruments by which He grants you the benefits Jesus won for you.
From the first Adam’s side God fashioned a wife. “Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh,” Adam said of Eve. Now from the deep sleep of death God fashions a bride for the second and last Adam, Jesus. And she is the church. Created and sustained from the WATER and BLOOD that flow from Christ’s side. The church, Christ’s holy bride, is bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh (Ephesians 5)!
WATER AND BLOOD -- from the side of Jesus. The Holy Spirit uses the two sacraments in the church to wash and cleanse you from all sin. To quench the thirst of God’s wrath against you. You are saved through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit in the baptismal flood (Titus 3). Born from above by water and the Spirit (John 3). Kept with Jesus in the true faith through the cup of the new testament in His blood shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sins.
After all, the WATER and the BLOOD that flow from His side are the WATER and BLOOD of God’s very own Son in which all the fullness of the deity dwells. Life-giving WATER. Life bestowing BLOOD!
“It is finished!” (Salvation, that is!) And that very good salvation is delivered for you. Jesus says so. “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,” (Mark 16). “Given and shed for you. And I promise that you’re forgiven,” (Matthew 26). His words are Spirit and they are life: FOR YOU!
In the Name of Jesus.
