The Wound That Proved the King

In 1774, French revolutionaries broke into the royal crypt at Saint-Denis to exhume the body of Henry IV, the beloved king who had been assassinated in 1610. For over a century and a half, rumors had swirled — some claimed Henry had survived, that a substitute had been buried in his place. But when they opened the coffin, they found the preserved wound: the exact stab mark between the ribs, precisely where the assassin Ravaillac had driven his blade on that Paris street. The wound told the truth. There was no mistaking it. This was the real king, and he had truly died.

John tells us something similar with striking, almost clinical precision. A Roman soldier thrust a spear into the side of Jesus, and out flowed blood and water — the unmistakable evidence of a real death, a genuine sacrifice. John pauses the narrative to insist: "The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true." He wants us to know this is no legend, no myth, no substitute on the cross. The King of Kings truly died.

Why does this matter? Because a real resurrection demands a real death. The Almighty did not stage a rescue. He walked through the full weight of human suffering and death so that when the stone rolled away three days later, it would mean everything. The wound proves the victory is real.