Out of the Heart 

OUT OF THE HEART are the issues of life.

(A re-print of a message in a discussion that took place [several] years ago in a FidoNet echo.)

>From a message of 25-Dec-91 08:16 by User-3. to User-2.--
>>>From a message of 14-Dec-91 02:41 from Richard Clark to User-1.--

>>>>RC> God was manifest in the flesh, as it is written. The body without the Spirit is dead. The Spirit did not die.

>>>>>U1> And just how dead was he?

>>>>RC> Before Pilate released the body, he called in the centurion to verify the BODY was dead. Jesus gave up the ghost, ceasing to breathe, and his heart was pierced: "But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water." (Jn.19:34)

>>>U2> Dead men *Don't bleed*

>>U3> Where did you get this idea?

>U2> From being in nursing.

>>U3> The blood doesn't disappear when the heart stops.

>U2> Ever hear of gravity? When the heart stops blood and other fluids decend to the lowest point, which in the case of somone on a cross would be the legs. This causes a condition known as post mortem lividity.

First, The biblical text above said nothing about bleeding, but only that there "CAME ... OUT blood and water."

Second, Gravity would not drain blood upward from the heart of an upright dead man. (The valves of the heart would be uppermost.)

Third, Post-mortem Lividity "begins in one to four hours, depending on the AMOUNT of the blood in the VESSELS." The time between death, in Jesus' case, and the piercing, could have been less than an hour. The time of death was [after] 3pm, which is also the time when the Jews began final preparation for the feast of unleavened bread (cleansing their house of leaven, etc.), so his side would have been pierced shortly afterward, since the soldiers were sent because of the Jews' preparation, to hasten the death of those crucified. And also, the AMOUNT of blood left after scourging, and bleeding from his head, hands, and feet wounds, would have minimized any lividity.

Fourth, The "apex" (bottom) of the heart is under the "FIFTH rib", about 3 inches from the chest midline, on the LEFT side, which is where the spear pierced his "side" (Grk. PLEURA, "a rib, i.e. by extension, "side".) The Greek word for the coming out of the fluid is EXHALTHEN ("to escape"). Both the pressure of the spear and the point of entry at the bottom of the heart would be sufficient for there to be an immediate "escape" of fluid. That "water" also came out, indicates that both pericardium and HEART were ruptured.

Remember that Jesus is the Lord, who both died for our sins, and rose again from the dead for our justification through faith in his blood. Grace be with your heart for Jesus' sake. Amen. --Richard