The Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit bear witness of Jesus in heaven, while in the earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood bear witness. The Scriptures document for us how, throughout His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus was filled and led by the Spirit to do mighty works. In today's study, we'll take a close look at the water and the blood.

 

The Gospel of John records that when Jesus was crucified, a soldier, in an effort to confirm He was truly dead, pierced His side with a spear. Blood and water gushed out, and John recorded it as a sign (John 19:34-35). It was the same John who mentioned in his Gospel that Jesus, "...went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples" (John 18:1). Cedron was a fast flowing brook rising near Jerusalem, between the Temple Mount and Mount Olivet. It was used as a sewage drainage, and every morning and evening, blood and water from the temple sacrifices drained into it. John knew quite well that blood and water flowed out of the temple.

 

Ordinarily, when the soldier pierced the Master's side, He shouldn't have bled the way He did because He was dead, and there was no blood pressure. But John bore witness that blood and water gushed out; this was a miracle! He remembered the Lord's encounter with the Jews at the temple when He said, "...Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19), referring to His body.

 

The old temple is gone; the new temple is here. Jesus is the new and living way! There's no more need for blood that drains into the Cedron Brook, because He's our temple and the Lamb that was slain once and for all, for the sins of the world!