Last time we saw that Peter’s overconfidence and pride kept him from trusting the Lord. His pride began to cut away at his faith. His weak faith in Jesus began to give way to fear. Denying the Lord Jesus was a natural consequence of this fear.
Someone has said, “The conclusion of a dying faith is fear.” Peter’s pride had replaced faith and his dying faith gave way to fear. Fear led to his denial of Jesus.
But the Bible teaches in 1 John 4:18-19 that “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.”
Who wrote this? John did. John referred to himself as “the disciple that Jesus loved.” The Gospel of John reports this four times (19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20). Does this mean that Jesus did not love the other disciples?
No. John 13:1 tells us that “Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”
But John refers to himself as “the disciple that Jesus loved.” What is this saying? This lets us know that John was secure in the love of Christ! John followed Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest but Peter followed Jesus from a distance (Mat 26:58).
John was secure in the love of Christ but Peter was not secure in Christ’s love. Peter had an overconfident spirit and he also had an insecure love.
An Insecure Love
Peter was not secure in the love of Christ and when confronted about his relationship with Jesus, he denied His Savior. The Apostle John was secure in the love of Jesus.
John followed Jesus from the Mount of Olives all the way to Mount Calvary. He was at the foot of the Cross when Jesus committed to him the responsibility of caring for His mother Mary. The other disciples were nowhere to be found.
This is the way it is for many Christians today, you cannot find them when Jesus needs them. They are nowhere to be found or they follow Him from a distance. They are afraid for their lives. They are not secure in the love of God so they are ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now don’t get me wrong, Peter had courage. He was an experienced fisherman and it takes courage to be on the water in the midst of turbulent waters and winds and rocking boats (Deadliest Catch TV series).
Peter showed courage when he took up the sword to fight for Jesus. But when it came to a question asked of him by a little servant girl, he failed the test.
Like Peter, some Christians are afraid of no one—they do not care what anyone thinks about them. Amazingly, they have the courage to face a street gang at gunpoint but when it comes to standing up for Jesus, they fall apart at the seams. They are not secure in the love of Jesus?
The Apostle Paul was secure in the love of God and writes in Romans 8:
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."
Rom 8:37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When it came to the love of Jesus, Peter was insecure. This is why, after His resurrection, Jesus would ask Peter three times—one for each time he denied Jesus, “Do you love me Peter?” Later in this message we will find that Peter’s answer was a testimony to his insecurity in the love of God.
Peter was insecure in the love of Jesus but it gets worse…He forges an unholy alliance.
An Unholy Alliance
John 18:18 Now the servants and officers who had made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself.
Where is Peter now? He is actually standing around with the enemies of the Savior and warming himself with them! Doesn’t Peter know the words of Psalm 1?
Psa 1:1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
Peter was now “standing in the path of sinners…”
John 18:25 Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore they said to him, "You are not also one of His disciples, are you?" He denied it and said, "I am not!"
In order to get a feel of the level to which Peter has fallen, we need to put all of the Gospel accounts of Peter’s denial together, there are at least five different statements that Peter makes in denying Christ:
"I do not know what you are saying." (Matthew 26)
"Woman, I do not know Him." (Luke 22:57)
"Man, I am not!" (Luke 22:58)
“But again he denied with an oath, "I do not know the Man!" (Matthew 26)
“Then he began to curse and swear, saying, "I do not know the Man!" (Matthew 26)
Peter denied Jesus on three occasions but made at least five different statements of denial.
At this point the Scripture tells us that Peter is cold and so he stands around a fire trying to get warm (vs. 25).
Peter is not just physically cold; he is experiencing what I will call spiritual hypothermia. Hypothermia is when the temperature of the body begins to cool.
Peter is not only cold physically, he is cold spiritually. The fervency he once had for the Lord Jesus has cooled and he now seeks to warm himself with the enemies of Jesus.
Have you ever been there?
Perhaps you remember the days when you were “on fire” for the Lord Jesus. You lifted the Lord’s Name on high. You loved to sing His praises. You were so glad He was in your life. You were so glad He came to save you.
You read the Word of God regularly; studied the Word of God regularly. You came to church saying, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” You were always busy serving the Lord and telling people about Him.
It was only a few hours earlier that Peter was in Jesus’ face declaring that he would die for Him; now he was denying that he was with Him.
Peter suffered from spiritual hyperthermia—he was spiritually cold. Sometimes we get spiritually cold—the Apostle Paul knew this and reminded Timothy to “fan into flame the gift of God…to kindle afresh the gift of God that was in him.” (2 Tim 1:6)
Peter was also suffering from spiritual hypersomnia…too much sleep.
The night that Jesus was betrayed would be a night that challenged the disciples more than any other. What did Jesus tell them to do in order to prepare?
Did He tell them to get plenty of sleep? No! Jesus told His disciple to get ready for those challenges by “watching and praying.”
Mat 26:36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said^ to His disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray."
Mat 26:37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed.
Mat 26:38 Then He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me."
The words “keep watch” is from the same Greek word used other places in Scripture:
1 Cor 16:13 Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
Col 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;
Not only did Jesus tell His disciples to stay alert, but to pray that they may not enter into temptation.
Mat 26:41 "Keep watching and praying, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Mat 26:42 He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, "My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Thy will be done."
In verses 43-47 Jesus returns He finds His disciples asleep again; so He goes back to His place of solitude and prays once more and returns still a third time and finds them asleep.
Jesus was teaching His disciples another lesson and Peter slept right through it.
Jesus was trying to teach His disciples how to “watch and pray.” This is what the Christian should be doing when evil is down the road and approaching.
Evil is always going to be in this world. Temptations will always be abundant while we are in this world. The sad thing is that some Christians wait for evil to be right up on them and in their face and then they cry out for God to deliver them.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus tries to warn Peter and the other disciples not to wait for evil to be upon them but to be on the alert and be on the lookout for the evil that’s coming.
Peter eventually learns this lesson. In the first of his two New Testament letters Peter would write, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (vs. 5:8)
The Christians are to be of sober spirit—this means the follower of Christ is not to be intoxicated by the things of this world so as to have his spiritual senses dulled. He is to be alert!
Peter was sleeping when He should have been alert. When evil was at the corner—they were sleeping. When evil was at their doorstep—they were sleeping…when they should have been watching and praying!
I think all the pain and heartache that occurred that night in the life of Peter could have been avoided if only he had been watching and praying. Just think of all the heartache many Christians could have spared themselves if they would have only been watching and praying?
Peter could have been prepared for all the temptations that lay ahead of him. He could have been strengthened to fight the fiery dart of pride that was hurled against him by the devil. He could have been prepared to stand with Jesus that night rather than to deny Him three times.
But now we find him warming his hands with the enemies of Jesus. His hands were warm, but his heart was cold.
Denying the Lord has a harmful effect on Peter. What happens is that Peter’s spiritual hypothermia, or the cooling of his faith in Jesus, begins to permanently impact his spiritual strength and stamina.
We do not hear anymore of Peter until after Jesus is crucified, buried and raised from the dead. So we momentarily take our attention off Peter and focus our camera lens on Jesus.
What was Jesus doing while His disciples were sleeping? The Bible records in Luke 22, that in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed all night long. Verse 44 reads, “And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”
This is actually known as a medical condition called hematidrosis, a condition that is associated with a high degree of psychological stress.
What happens is that severe anxiety causes the release of chemicals that break down the capillaries in the sweat glands. As a result, there’s a small amount of bleeding into these glands, and the sweat comes out tinged with blood—a very, very small amount of blood—mixed with sweat.
Jesus knew what was coming. He knew He would be crucified for the sins of the world.
In His humanity, pleaded with the Father to remove this cup from Him, praying, "Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done."
After wrestling in prayer a few times and finding His disciples asleep a few times and while telling them to be alert, a multitude came, He was arrested and taken into custody (Luke 22:63-65).
Suffering in the Custody of the Sanhedrin
While He was in the custody of the Sanhedrin (the Chief Priests and Scribes), the Bible says the guards blindfolded Him and mocked Him and beat Him, struck Him in the face as they were saying, "Prophesy, who is the one who hit You?"
When it was morning Jesus was taken before the Sanhedrin, both the chief priests and the scribes questioned Him. When He acknowledged that He was the Christ, the Son of God, the high priest tore his robes and accused Jesus of blasphemy.
Matthew 26:65-68 tells us that those assembled cried out that “Jesus was worthy of death” and began to spit on Him and beat Him with their fists while others slapped Him.
After this Luke 23 says they took him before Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. Pilate interrogates Jesus for a minute and discovers that Jesus was a Galilean, so he sends Him to Herod, because Galileans are under Herod’s jurisdiction.
Luke 23:9-10 tells us that Herod questions Him at some length while the chief priests and scribes vehemently accuse Him but Jesus doesn’t say a word. Herod treats Him with contempt as he mockingly dresses Him in a beautiful robe and sends Him back to Pilate.
Pilate interrogates Jesus again. Matthew chapter 27, Mark 15, Luke 23 and John 19 records the interrogation. After speaking with Jesus, Pilates announces to the crowd that he finds no fault in Jesus.
But the crowd rejects his decision. Pilate tries to compromise with the vicious, satanically-inspired crowd. He follows the Jewish custom to release a criminal during the Passover celebration.
He gives them the choice of releasing Jesus or a robber named Barabbas (John 18:40) the rowdy crowd chooses Barabbas. After this Pilate symbolically washes his hands of his actions and then has Jesus scourged. (Matthew 27:26, Mark 15:15 and John 19:1)
Suffering by Scourging
Unless you are familiar with the Roman method of scourging you will think that someone just took a whip to Jesus but this would not come close to an adequate description.
The word scourge is from a Latin word that is made up of two parts, excoriare "to flay" and corium = "skin"). These words describe the result of using a whip or lash to inflict severe corporal punishment on the back.
The Roman soldier would use a whip of braided leather with metal balls woven into it. When the whip would strike the flesh, these balls would cause deep bruises or contusions, which would break open with further blows. The whip oftentimes had pieces of sharp bone as well, which would cut the flesh severely.
A third century historian by the name of Eusebius (U-seb-i-us) described a flogging by saying, “The sufferer’s veins were laid bare, and the very muscles, sinews, and bowels of the victim were laid open to exposure.”
Many people would die from this kind of beating even before they could be crucified. At the least, the victim would experience tremendous pain and go into hypovolemic shock.
Hypovolemic shock means the person is suffering the effects of losing a large amount of blood. As a person suffers this kind of blood loss, four things happen:
The heart races to try to pump blood that isn’t there
The blood pressure drops, causing fainting or collapse
The kidneys stop producing urine to maintain what fluids are left
The person becomes very thirsty as the body craves fluids to replace the lost blood volume.
There is evidence of this in the Gospel accounts.
Jesus was more than likely in hypovolemic shock as he staggered up the road to the execution site at Calvary, carrying the horizontal beam of the cross. Finally, Jesus collapsed, and the Roman soldier ordered Simon to carry the cross for Him (Mat 27:32).
Later in John 19:28, the Bible says that “Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I am thirsty.’”
Because of the terrible effects of this beating, there is no question that Jesus was already in serious to critical condition even before the nails were driven through His hands and feet.
By the way, in John 19:2-3 it is recorded that after the scourging, “the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and arrayed Him in a purple robe; and they began to come up to Him, and say, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and to give Him blows in the face.”
Jesus suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane and He suffered in the custody of the Sanhedrin. Jesus suffered by scourging. Now Jesus is on the Cross, suffering under the agony of a Roman crucifixion.
Suffering the Agony of the Cross
Crucifixion is an ancient method of execution, where the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead. The cross was the instrument for exacting capital punishment on those who were guilty of committing capital crimes.
Today, when condemned criminals are executed it is a quick death—a merciful execution, but when it came to the ancient practice of crucifixion, it came crudely and slowly.
At the end of my notes I have a detailed description of the physiological agony and suffering our Lord went through that led to His death.
The point of all of this was that Jesus was dead! As we come back to Peter…he follows Jesus from a distance and when asked if he was one of those with Jesus, Peter denies Christ three times with swearing and cursing. With his last denial a rooster crows and Jesus looks at him. The Bible says that Peter runs away weeping bitterly.
Jesus is crucified and dies. His body is laid in a borrowed tomb and this brings us to John 20:10, where you will find the words: “Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.”
You see, an overconfident spirit, an insecure love and unholy alliance oftentimes led to an empty hope.
An Empty Hope.
Peter and the other disciples just went home. Jesus had called them to “Follow Me.” For three years they have hung out with Jesus, ministered with Jesus. They saw the lame walk and the blind see. They saw the dead coming back alive by the power of God!
But now Peter and some of the other disciples return to their homes—for them it is over—“it was good while it lasted but it’s over.” In John chapter 21 Peter tells some of the other disciples that he’s “going fishing." (John 21:3)
He’s given up on Jesus. He’s given up on the disciples and the ministry. Peter says, “I’m going fishing…”
Mediocrity is contagious. The disciples say to Peter, “We’re going with you…” The Bible says, “They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing.”
Peter started out with Jesus; he denied Jesus and now has nothing. Jesus says, “Without Me you can do nothing…” Peter fishes all night long and catches nothing.
I personally know of some Christians who have started out with everything: Good health, good marriage, lovely children, houses and cars but over time begin to deny Jesus. Like Peter who fished “all night long” they have nothing…their health has failed, their marriage on the rocks, their children have left the faith, much of the prosperity they enjoyed is gone.
Even if they have managed to keep all the wealth and prosperity of the world, they have lost their joy because they are no longer walking with Jesus.
Living in a state of denial is not the place you want to be. Jesus says in Luke 12:8-9, “… whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.”
In 2 Timothy 2:11-12 Paul writes, “This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.”
Thus far we’ve been looking at the life of Peter and found that he had:
An overconfident spirit
An insecure love
An unholy alliance
An empty hope
With the last point in our outline we will see that all is not lost for Peter. God hasn’t forgotten.
Someone said, “When our shame is deep His grace is deeper still.” Another wise person said, “There is never a pit so deep but that God's love is deeper still.”
It was because of God’s love and grace that Peter gained “A restored fellowship.”
A Restored Fellowship
Jesus was dead. Peter and the other disciples went back to their fishing trade.
But Jesus’ death was the Father’s plan. None of this took God by surprise. The death of Jesus Christ was planned before the foundations of the world were laid (1 Pet 1:20; Rev. 13:8).
Why is it so important that Jesus die? It is important that He die because if He hadn’t died, there would be no basis for a resurrection from the dead—which is at the core of the Christian’s faith (1 Corinthians 15).
Why did He die? The Old Testament book of Isaiah was written approximately 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. In this book, the death of Christ and the reason for His death was foretold.
Isa 53:3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Isa 53:4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isa 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
Isa 53:6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.
The death of Jesus Christ was not merely the martyring of a religious leader. The death of Jesus Christ was not just a way that evil men got even with Him for rubbing them the wrong way.
The death of Jesus Christ was the loving and merciful act of the God of heaven who gave only Son as a sin offering to pay the price for sin in order that sinners such as you and me might be forgiven.
Isaiah 53:10 says, “But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; When He would render Himself as an offering for sin…”
Jesus faced capital punishment for our capital crimes against God. The same Peter who denied the Lord three times would go on to write in 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God…”
Jesus died to pay for our sins. We were the guilty ones. But Jesus, who was innocent, became our substitute and atoning sacrifice.
God the Father accepted the sacrifice of His Son by raising Him from the dead! Listen to Peter again in Acts chapter two:
"Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know-- this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. “And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. (Acts 2:22-24)
Again, this is the same Peter who denied the Lord three times who now boasts in His resurrection from the dead! This is why we are celebrating today…Christ lives!
Let’s return to where we left off in our story…
After Jesus’ death on the cross, Peter and the other disciples hopelessly went fishing. The Bible says they fished all night and caught nothing.
In John 21 John writes that “when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any food?" They answered Him, "No." And He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.”
The Bible also says that when this happened John said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea.”
Jesus tells them to bring some of the fish they had caught so they can have a meal.
Here is where Peter’s fellowship with Jesus was restored. Verse 15 tells us that when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?"
Peter says to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." Jesus says to him, "Feed My lambs."
Verse 16: Jesus said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?"
Peter answers, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." Jesus says to him, "Tend My sheep."
Verse 17: Jesus says to Him a third time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?"
Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep.
Notice that Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Why would He do that?
Through this line of questioning Peter is reminded of the three times that he denied Jesus. But with each time Jesus tells Peter to feed His sheep Peter is told that Jesus had forgiven him!
But something else is going on here. Remember how Peter’s mouth always got him into trouble? Here Jesus asks Peter some questions and this time, rather than shooting off his mouth, Peter takes the time to think about the question and to answer each one honestly.
Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love-agapao me…? Peter replies, "Lord you know that I love-phileo you…"
Phileo may be defined as “a warm affection” toward another. Agapao, however, is a self-sacrificing kind of love. It is a commitment to someone that expects nothing in return.
In other words, Jesus asks Peter "Do you love me with a self-sacrificial love where you would be willing to give your life for Me expecting nothing in return?"
Peter answers, "Yes Lord; You know that I only value you greatly as a friend."
Like Peter, some of us don't “love” the Lord Jesus as much as we think or say we do.
We say we “love the Lord” but perhaps we need to admit that we only value Him greatly but would not be willing to give our lives for Him. Peter had to come to this realization the hard way and in the end that was ok with Jesus. Jesus was still willing to entrust His flock with this now-humbled man.
What a wonderful scene. The same Peter who began to curse and swear saying, “I do not know the man” was now sitting with Jesus and given the responsibility to shepherd (care for) those who would become followers of Christ!
We ended last week’s message noting that the Bible says we are a “work in progress.”
In Philippians 1:6 Paul writes, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” God began that good work in Peter and was faithful to complete it.
Next time we will see more of Peter’s life. God forgave Peter and gave him an assignment and God wants to do the same for you. He doesn’t expect you to be perfect; He does expect you to be truthful like Peter and to admit your shortcomings to Him.
There may be someone in our midst that’s here today and needs this kind of work to begin in your life. God’s redemptive, life-changing work can begin today for you. It begins as you become a follower of Jesus Christ.
Suffering on the Cross
After His scourging, Matthew 27:33 says that Jesus is taken to Golgotha; the word Golgotha means “Place of a Skull.” He was probably laid down and His hands nailed in the outstretched position to the horizontal beam. This crossbar was called the patibulum, and at this stage it was separate from the vertical beam, which was already permanently set in the ground.
The Romans used spikes that were five to seven inches long and tapered to a sharp point. They were driven in His wrists about an inch or so below his palms. The nail would go through the place where the median nerve runs so it would be very painful, to say the least.
In fact, the pain was so unbearable that they had to invent a new word: excruciating. Literally, excruciating means, “out of the cross.”
At this point Jesus was hoisted as the cross bar was attached to the vertical stake, and then the nails were driven through Jesus feet—more excruciating pain.
Psalm 22, which foretold the crucifixion hundreds of years before it took place, says in verse 14, “And all my bones are out of joint…” When Jesus was hoisted up as the crossbar was attached to the vertical beam, His arms would have been immediately stretched under the weight of His body. Mathematical computations calculate the stretching of His arms would be about six inches which would have caused both shoulders to have become dislocated.
Once a person is hanging in the vertical position, crucifixion is essentially an agonizingly slow death by asphyxiation. The reason is that the stresses on the muscles and diaphragm put the chest into the inhaled position; basically, in order to exhale, the individual must push up on his feet so the tension on the muscles would be eased for a moment. In doing so, the nail would tear through the foot, eventually locking up against the tarsal bones.
After managing to exhale, the person would then be able to relax down and take another breath in. Again he’d have to push himself up to exhale, scraping his bloodied back against the coarse wood of the cross.
This would go on and on until complete exhaustion would take over, and the person wouldn’t be able to push up and breathe anymore. As the person slows down his breathing, he goes into what is called respiratory acidosis—the carbon dioxide in the blood is dissolved as carbonic acid, causing the acidity of the blood to increase. This eventually leads to an irregular heartbeat. In fact, with his heart beating erratically, Jesus would have known that he was at the moment of death, which is when he was able to say, ‘Lord, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ And then he died of cardiac failure.
Even before he died—and this is important too—the hypovolemic shock would have caused a sustained rapid heart rate that would have contributed to heart failure, resulting in the collection of fluid in the membrane around the heart, called a pericardial effusion, as well as around the lungs, which is called a pleural effusion.”
The significance of this is that when the Roman soldier came around and, being fairly certain that Jesus was dead, confirmed it by thrusting a spear into his right side. It was probably his right side; that’s not certain, but from the description it was probably the right side, between the ribs.
The spear apparently went through the right lung and into the heart, so when the spear was pulled out, some fluid—the pericardial effusion and the pleural effusion—came out. This would have the appearance of a clear fluid, like water, followed by a large volume of blood, as the eyewitness John described in his gospel.
John probably had no idea why he saw both blood and a clear fluid come out—certainly that’s not what an untrained person like him would have anticipated. Yet John’s description is consistent with what modern medicine would expect to have happened.
There is more CSI evidence that Jesus really died but I do not have time to go into it here. The point of this discussion is that Jesus really died. There is no possible way that Jesus could have survived all of this suffering.
Could He have faked His death and then somehow gotten past the trained eyes of the Roman soldiers who specialized in execution? No way! In fact, if a prisoner somehow escaped, the soldiers would have to pay for their blunder by being put to death themselves.
