Rev. Slopsema is pastor of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Walker, Michigan.

The Jews therefore because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 

Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. 

But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs . . . . 

For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. 

John 19:31-33, 36

It was Friday, the day of the Jewish Passover.

It was also the day of Jesus’ crucifixion. At 9 o’clock in the morning Jesus had been nailed to a cross at Golgotha, just outside Jerusalem, between two other malefactors.

The Jewish leaders were concerned that the bodies of Jesus and the malefactors not remain on the cross during the Sabbath day, which was rapidly approaching.

And so they went to the Roman governor, Pilate. From Pilate they obtained permission to break the legs of Jesus and the malefactors, thereby hastening their deaths. In this way all three could be disposed of before dark.

The legs of the two malefactors crucified with Jesus were broken. But when the soldiers found Jesus already dead, they thrust a spear into His side, rather than break His legs.

John, who observed all this, saw in this incident a fulfillment of prophecy: “A bone of him shall not be broken.”

Being a fulfillment of prophecy, this incident also proclaims to us the gospel of salvation.

It was the day of the Passover feast.

It was also the day of preparation, that is, the day of preparing for the Sabbath day which was to follow. And since this was the week of the Passover feast, this particular Sabbath was “an high day,” a special and sacred Sabbath. The Jewish leaders did not want the bodies of Jesus and the malefactors to remain upon the cross over this special day.

We must bear in mind that in this OT era a dead corpse would defile the land. For that reason it was the practice to bury the dead, if at all possible, by sundown. In fact, God had given instructions through Moses that when a corpse was hanged in a tree as an intensification of capital punishment, the corpse was to be buried by sundown, lest if defile the whole land.

Now it was the concern of the Jewish leaders that the land be not defiled with the corpses of Jesus and the two malefactors. We see here a hypocrisy that is well-nigh unbelievable. The Jewish leaders were all concerned about defiling the land of Canaan with a few dead corpses. But at the same time, however, they saw no trouble with defiling the land by murdering Gods Son on the cross.

Be that as it may, the Jewish leaders went to Pilate and obtained permission to break the legs of Jesus and the malefactors. This was a common way to hasten the death of those crucified. One crucified could hang on for several days before death finally came to deliver him from his agony. But when his legs were smashed, shock set in and death came rather quickly. This is what the Jewish leaders requested be done with Jesus and the malefactors so that their bodies could be disposed of by sunset and the land be not defiled. Pilate willingly granted this request.

Evidently the soldiers started with the two malefactors, smashing their legs to bring a quick death.

But when the soldiers turned to Jesus, who was hanging from the middle cross, they found to their amazement that Jesus had already died. And so, instead of smashing His legs, they thrust a spear into His side, drawing blood and water. This was done, evidently, to assure that Jesus was in fact dead.

John, who observed all this, was led by the Spirit to see in this a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. These things were done, that the Scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of Him shall not be broken.

The Old Testament passage that John has in mind is obviously Exodus 12:46, which records the instruction of Moses to Israel concerning the original Passover supper. Each family was to slay a lamb and sprinkle its blood on the doorposts. That very night the lamb was also to be eaten by every family in its home. Nothing of the lamb was to be carried outside the home. Nor was a bone of the paschal lamb to be broken.

Upon close examination, we discover that this instruction of Moses to Israel was indeed a prophecy.

In fact, the whole Passover feast was a prophecy which looked ahead and pointed Israel to the great salvation of God in Jesus Christ. The Passover lamb and its blood pointed ahead to the Lamb of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who through the shedding of His own blood would forever deliver us from the power of sin and death. For this reason God required the Passover to be repeated year by year.

In this setting, the fact that no bone of the Passover lamb was to be broken was also a prophecy of what was to come.

And it was fulfilled on the very last Passover day that ever had any significance for the church of God. When the Lamb of God was slain on the cross and His blood was shed, no bone of Him was broken.

The fact that no bone of Jesus was broken is a testimony of Jesus’ perfect righteousness.

This is plain from Psalm 34:19, 20, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.”

Here the Psalmist speaks of the suffering of the righteous. Many are the afflictions of the righteous. However, the Lord delivers the righteous out of all his afflictions so that no bone of him is broken.

This is exactly how God dealt with Jesus. Jesus was afflicted at the hand of His enemies and suffered greatly. He was betrayed and slandered. He was buffeted and spit upon. He was maimed by the soldiers’ whips and crucified. Yet the Lord kept all His bones. Not a one of them was broken.

What a wonderful testimony of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ!

This righteousness of Jesus is our salvation.

The righteousness of Jesus attested to through the keeping of His bones is, first of all, the righteousness Jesus possesses as the Son of God. Jesus is Gods eternal and only begotten Son! And as the Son of God Jesus possesses the perfect righteousness of God. This righteousness is His even in our flesh. Being the eternal Son of God, Jesus is not guilty of the original sin of mankind. Being divinely conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary, Jesus escaped the pollution of sin that has laid hold of the human race. And therefore Jesus lived in perfect obedience to the Father from the cradle to the grave.

But, more importantly, the keeping of Jesus’ bones is God’s testimony to the righteousness of Jesus Christ as our Mediator.

As our Mediator Jesus lived all His life on the earth under the heavy burden of sin. No, it was not the burden of His own sin that He bore. For we have just seen that, personally, Jesus was without sin. The burden of sin He bore was the burden of our sin. Being our Mediator, Jesus is personally responsible for the sin of all Gods elect people. That sin was placed upon Him from birth.

And for that sin Jesus endured the bitter wrath of God all His life long. He endured the wrath of God as He lived in a world that is under the curse of God. He endured the wrath of God as He was contradicted by wicked men. Especially did He come under the weight of God’s wrath when He was nailed to the cross. For that was the accursed death. There, at the cross, Jesus suffered all the agony of hell as the just punishment of God for our sm.

The fact that God preserved all His bones is Gods seal and testimony that through His inexpressible anguish, Jesus has completely paid the price of sin and is perfectly righteous before God as our Mediator.

And this is our salvation.

For, the sins for which Jesus paid the penalty at the cross were not His own but ours.

And the perfect righteousness of Jesus, attested to by the keeping of His bones, is a righteousness He has obtained for us that we may be righteous before God.

This righteousness becomes ours through faith in Jesus Christ. Let us therefore cling by faith to Jesus our Savior, putting all our trust in Him alone.

Then we will be righteous before God in Him and heirs to eternal life.