Lividity, the Curse, and Good Friday

Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. – John 19:31, 33

Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. – Mark 15:43-45

I heard it stated recently that the central doctrine of Christianity, the Resurrection, consists of three things we must believe: 1. that Jesus was alive, 2, that He died, and 3. that He was alive again.

Nearly every historian, Christian and non-Christian, believes that Jesus of Nazareth was a real historical figure. That He lived on earth at one point is rarely contested.

There are some who contend that Jesus did not die, He merely fainted (“swooned”) and regained consciousness later after being buried in a tomb for days. But for the most part, His death on a Roman cross is accepted by nearly every historian. This is the part of His life that we commemorate today, the poignant and most painful chapter of the story. And yet there is a note of triumph, as we see an ancient prophecy fulfilled “between the lines,” so to speak …

Having studied the Bible for over half a century, you’d think I would have picked up every bit of interesting trivia related to its contents, but far from it. Scripture is a bottomless well of information, some of which may seem trivial on the surface, but which upon further examination becomes a profound revelation (or confirmation) of the God behind it.

Case in point: my latest vocabulary word: lividity.

My apologies to the radio preacher who was speaking on this yesterday, as I don’t remember who you were, only that I was having a “senior moment” and was on the road earlier than I should have been. Providentially, I heard your message. (It’s embarrassing how many of my testimonies start out with a physical or mental blunder on my part.)

So, since I can’t quote the preacher, I will quote merriam-webster.com:

li·​vid·​i·​ty li-ˈvi-də-tē  specifically : reddish- to bluish-purple discoloration of the skin due to the settling and pooling of blood following death

Since at death the heart stops pumping, it makes sense that the blood in the body will pool at the lowest point. (Even this theater major understands the laws of gravity.) With this knowledge, one examining a dead body can determine not only how long the person has been dead but also the position of the body at death. If the person was shot or stabbed and knocked over, the lividity would occur at the back, front, or side, depending on how the body was lying.

Jesus, having been crucified, died in an upright position. In the time between His death and His body being taken down from the cross, the blood would have settled in His feet. So, those who removed Jesus from the cross would have found His feet to be in a state of lividity – or, as we non-medical people would call it, severely bruised.

Does that ring a bell?

To see the pertinent prophecy that was fulfilled that first Good Friday, we must go back to the very beginning, the book of Genesis. Man (and Woman) had barely been in the Garden for two chapters before the trouble started that led to the Fall that has cursed the earth and its inhabitants ever since. Given any tree they wanted to eat from except one, Adam and Eve, enticed by the devil in the form of a serpent, chose to disobey God and eat from that one forbidden tree. In Genesis 3 the Lord predicted that from then on, the woman’s pain would be multiplied in childbirth, and that the man would be subjected to “painful toil.” But before doing this, He pronounced a curse on the serpent (Satan) and prophesied his ultimate demise:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman,
    and between your seed and her seed;
he shall crush your head,
    and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

Thousands of years later, the body of Jesus (the “seed of the woman” – that is, born of a woman without an earthly father) hung on a cross, having given His life for our forgiveness and salvation …

His feet badly bruised.

But while Jesus’ heels were bruised, Satan’s head was crushed. As sad as the story is on Good Friday, we can also proclaim victory over our enemy, who set out from the beginning in the Garden of Eden to destroy us. He has not succeeded. The penalty was paid for our sin, and as Jesus declared with His last breath:

“It is finished.”

Our enemy is defeated, his head crushed by our Savior’s bruised heel.

HALLELUIA!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we can never thank You enough for the price You paid for our salvation. We have nothing to give You but our flawed and sinful lives, and yet this is what You ask of us. We give ourselves to You gladly and ask only that You make us into the people You want us to be, who will glorify You with every breath, in Your name. Amen.