They Pierced His Side

John gave us this detail about the crucifixion after Jesus had already died but still hung on the cross: “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:34).  Elder Talmage wrote of this passage in these words, “One of the soldiers, to make sure that Jesus was actually dead, or to surely kill Him if He was yet alive, drove a spear into His side, making a wound large enough to permit a man’s hand to be thrust thereinto. The withdrawal of the spear was followed by an outflow of blood and water, an occurrence so surprising that John, who was an eye-witness, bears specific personal testimony to the fact, and cites the scriptures thereby fulfilled.”  This was it appears the fulfillment of a verse from Zechariah when he wrote of how the Jews would one day “look upon me whom they have pierced” (Zechariah 12:10).  Jesus was indeed pierced by a spear, and it was a confirmation that He truly was dead.  John seems to have been referring to this again when he wrote, “This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood” (1 John 5:6).  John, likely the only eyewitness of the 12, wanted it known that he had indeed seen the blood of water and knew for certain that Jesus had died.               

            We typically think of the marks of on the hands and feet as the signs of Jesus’s death and resurrection, but the scar on his side was it appears just as important to Jesus as He showed Himself to those He loved.  When the Savior visited Thomas He said, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side” (John 20:27).  To the Nephites He said, “Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.  And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet” (3 Nephi 11:14-15).  Feeling His side was part of the confirmation for them that He really was the God of Israel who had been crucified.  He must have retained in the resurrection some kind of mark that could be felt on his side from where He was pierced.  In our dispensation the Savior again referred to this mark of His crucifixion: “Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:37).  The prints of the nails in his hands and his feet affirm that He was truly crucified and suffered immeasurably for all of us, but they don’t confirm that He died in and of themselves.  But the wound in His side that He showed to believers was the mark that confirmed He had indeed died and thus was resurrected.  Someday we will all see the wounds in His hands and feet as we kneel before Him, and when we do we should also look to His side to see and feel the confirmation of His death.