Water and Blood
Maundy Thursday
1 John 5: 5-12
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. I remember the births of all three of my children very well. It was such a blessing, but I also remember what Barbara had to go through during labor and then delivery. I still see the sweat running down her face and the painful expressions she had. One thing that stuck out in my mind during the first delivery was a vein popping out of her forehead. I was worried that it would burst. But when the time was right, she gave birth to each baby which leads me to the second thing that I remember very well and that is the blood. I remember seeing lots and lots of blood. It was hard watching her go through labor and delivery but when it was over there was much rejoicing at a baby being brought into the world.
When Jesus Christ was brutally crucified, it was not a beautiful site. It was gory as blood and sweat dripped profusely all over His dead body. As the Lord hung there on the cross people were mocking Him because they could not wait to see Him dead. Jesus suffered greatly and then when the time was right, He died. It was not until the Roman soldier finally took the tip of a spear and poked deep into Jesus’ side that the real treasure poured forth. It was blood and water.
John is the only Gospel writer to refer to the Roman soldier who struck Jesus’ side with a spear. John also adds this beautiful commentary later in his epistle from 1 John 5: 6-8. “This is He who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ, not by water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.” The water and blood refers to the testimony of Jesus’ Baptism and crucifixion, which revealed the love of God through Christ Jesus our Lord. The Lord lived a perfect life in our place and then He went to the cross to atone for all our sins. The Holy Spirit reminds us of what Jesus said and did to win our salvation in the Word. The water and blood also point us to Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. They are the means God uses to give us the gifts that Jesus won for us on the cross. The Word along with the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper transfer Christ, His love, His forgives, and His presence directly from the cross over two thousand years ago into our time and space right now. We remember what Jesus said at His ascension, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
Even though Jesus Christ has ascended, now filling all things in the universe, He is closer than ever to His Church. “For just as God formed a bride, Eve, from Adam’s side, so the Church, the Bride of Christ, is formed from the side of Christ” (Finn, Early Christian Baptism, and the Catechumenate). Just as Eve is the mother of all people, so the cross and Baptism are the birthplaces for all God’s children. This is what Paul wrote in Romans 6. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.”
But beyond the “water” of Christ’s cross pointing us to Baptism, we also recognized the “blood” that points us to what we celebrate this evening and that is the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper provides you with a regular, continual spiritual fountain of refreshment. In the book of Exodus, the people of Israel often complained because they could not find water. Moses was instructed once by the Lord to touch a rock with his staff. Water poured forth to quench their thirst. Well, isn’t it ironic that just as Moses struck a rock to bring out water, A Roman soldier would also strike the rock of all ages, Jesus, with a sword to bring out blood and water? Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 10:4, “For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.”
I pray that you will not leave here this evening without recognizing the tremendous treasure Jesus gives you right now with His true body and blood. The reason we are talking so much about blood and water today is because this is the night when our Lord washed His disciples’ feet and initiated a New Testament with the Sacrament of the Altar. Since He gives you this meal in such proximity to what we celebrate tomorrow on Good Friday, it is important to discuss both Sacraments, which we hold so dear.
The water and blood that poured out of Jesus’ side on the cross points us all to Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. They are a fountain of life. They bring all the spiritual wealth from what Jesus accomplished over two thousand years ago to you now. In Baptismal water, you were reborn, and now you die to sin because Jesus died, and all that sin was buried with Him. You will rise with Jesus to celebrate Easter soon. Through the Lord’s Supper you recall the cross of Jesus but you also receive His body and blood given to you for the forgiveness of sins. Tonight, let us celebrate all the treasures that Jesus gives to you. They are the greatest treasures of all. For the Lord gives to you grace, mercy, love, compassion, forgiveness, and eternal life. Amen.
Based upon the sermon series, Promised Treasures by Concordia Publishing House, 2023