How Did Christ Die?
Some have expressed difficulty with the timing of events surrounding Christ’s actual death. In the book of John it reads as though Christ was already dead when the soldier pierced His side with a spear.
“But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:33-34).
We are left with the question of how and when did Christ actually die. The importance of this is what the shed blood represented. If Christ died without the final shedding of blood then the focus of His need to shed blood changes. Along with other sections of scripture, the Apostle Paul makes it clear when he says:
“Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all …” (Hebrews 9:12).
“And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22).
Christ ratified the new covenant with blood – His blood. So how He died is important.
The account in the book of John is missing one detail. In Matthew 27:49 the last part of the verse is omitted. The Moffat version contains it as it is in the original manuscript but left out of the King James Version. The Moffat version reads:
“But the others said, ’Stop, let us see if Elijah does come to save Him!’ Seizing a lance, another pricked his side, and out came water and blood. Jesus uttered a load scream, and gave up His spirit” (Matthew 27:48-50).
The problem with John’s version is a common Greek tense called the aorist tense. According to The Complete Word Study New Testament, “The aorist tense is used for simple, undefined action … In other words, it refers only to the reality of an event or action, not to the time when it took place.” John 19:34 should read, “But one of the soldiers hadpierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water had come out.”
Jesus was still alive when the soldier pierced His side with a spear. He died almost immediately as a result of the sudden loss of blood.
This is important for us because the blood is directly associated with the New Covenant and the remission of sin. As Paul records in 1 Corinthians 12:25:
“In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me’”
Brian Orchard
