No Broken Bones
Author: Frank Tunstall
When I first began to think seriously about this story, I wanted to weep. John the apostle was at Golgotha in those final moments when Jesus took His last breath. But the great apostle did not leave Golgotha immediately. John could not seem to walk away – something held him at the cross. So, he lingered.
“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. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water” (John 9:31-34).
According to the Law of Moses, a dead body could not be left exposed overnight because even a criminal deserved a smidgen of respect (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). This meant Jesus the sinless Savior could not be left on His cross overnight either.
Jesus made my curse His curse, and made yours His curse too.
Jewish leaders saw no holiness in Jesus of Nazareth, but they were highly motivated to protect the ceremonial holiness of the Passover festival. They went to Pilate and asked him to order the legs of the three crucified victims broken to speed their deaths; they had to be taken down from the cross before the sabbath began at sunset. The soldiers went to do this final brutality of crucifixion and actually broke the legs of the two thieves. But they found Jesus was already dead, so His legs were not broken.
Did Jesus actually die on His cross? Many unbelievers even today ask that question. It is clear the soldiers certified Jesus as dead. What the soldiers did not know was in those moments very precious prophecies would be fulfilled.
Four passages of Scripture frame this discussion. First the Prophet Moses decreed the bones of a sacrificial lamb could not be broken. Moses pronounced it during the sacrifice of the first Passover that launched the Exodus from Egypt 3500 years ago (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20).
Faithful Jews kept the practice for the next 500 years before King David addressed Moses’ prophecy in a second affirmation. David turned it into an even clearer Messianic prediction: “He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken” (Psalm 34:20 KJV; Exodus 12:46; John 19:36).
When Jesus launched His ministry some 1500 years after Moses lived, John the Baptist prophesied Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament laws regarding sacrifices. John baptized Jesus and identified Him as the Lamb of God. Jesus was not another lamb in the long line that began with Moses’ Law, but the very special one-and-only Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God in the tabernacle in heaven. There would never be a need for another (Hebrews 9:11).
Jesus was scourged with the fearsome Roman whip that literally cut Him open. So why not broken bones too? And, if a priest is going to kill a lamb, why would there be an injunction against breaking a bone? The ordinary person would not see significance in whether or not a bone of a sacrificial animal was broken while preparing or during a sacrifice. I wondered myself in years past if you are going to kill a sacrificial animal and drain his blood as a substitutionary sacrifice for sin, why does it matter if a bone is broken at some step in the process?
For the Messiah to make the perfect sacrifice, not having a bone broken had to apply to Him too. The fact that Jesus could suffer such a brutal beating without having a single broken bone is itself amazingly miraculous.
Think about it. There does come a time when we must obey God even when we do not understand why.
Jewish priests kept the sacrificial code even after King David went on to his reward. Every priest who slaughtered a lamb took care not to break a single bone of the possibly million or more animals and turtledoves who were killed from Moses to Christ. King Solomon offered 142,000 cattle, goats and sheep at the dedication of the temple, for example (1 Kings 8:63). Moses’ injunction was preserved in the sacrificial system for 1500 years, until Jesus Christ our Savior and Messiah took it off the shelf of history and fulfilled it.
But the question remains – why? Why in the ancient councils of God was it put into the master plan of the ages at all?
About 1500 years after the Holy Spirit led Moses to put that command in the Law, and a thousand years after David gave it Messianic focus, the purpose became clear. Jesus was the reason why it was in the Law as a prophecy. He would fulfill Moses’ and David’s prophecies on His cross.
Two compelling reasons follow. The all-knowing mind of God who sees the end from the beginning put it in the Law and let it sit on the dusty shelf of history so that its fulfillment would be a striking proof of the power of prophecy in the death of Jesus, the Messiah and Son of God. And second, Isaiah quoted God as saying prophecy proves God’s own identity: “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come” (Isaiah 46:9-10; Hebrews 10:1-18).
Jesus died just minutes before the soldier arrived at His cross to break His legs; hence, Jesus met the requirement and died the death of a sacrificial lamb, without a bone being broken.
A third prophecy to be fulfilled in those moments came from the Prophet Zechariah: “They will look on me whom they have pierced” (Zechariah 12:10). One of the soldiers, for no good reason known to the soldier, thrust his spear into Jesus side, and did it forcefully enough to penetrate Jesus’ heart and lungs. It brought “a sudden flow of blood and water.” When Jesus’ heart stopped pumping, a little blood and a little water was left in His body. Yes, Jesus gave it all for our salvation.
In that inhuman historic moment, this soldier’s random act of cruelty gave added proof Jesus died. These hardened soldiers who had seen many men die certified that Jesus was in fact dead. Then to add to this certainty, when the soldier thrust his spear into Jesus’ side, if there had been any life at all left in the Lord’s body, the spear would have caused some kind of a visible reaction, like a jolt.
Could it be possible Satan danced a jig when Jesus died, leaving these three prophecies unfulfilled? Did he gloat saying, ‘I’ve got him now; here are three he missed?’ But if Satan did, it surely was short-lived.
With these prophecies in full view, how can anyone deny the actual death of Jesus Christ?
Three prophets had spoken about these first moments after Jesus’ death.
Moses: “Do not break any of the [sacrificial lamb’s] bones” (Exodus 12:46).
David: “He [Messiah] keepeth all His bones: not one of them is broken.” (Psalm 34:20 KJV).
Zechariah: "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me Whom they have pierced” (Zechariah 12:10).
This understanding should be considered from another perspective. If Pilate had succeeded in sending Jesus back to the Sanhedrin for punishment, the authority of prophecy would have been shattered. Stoning was the form of capital punishment with the Jews, and Jesus would not have been crucified, as Jesus Himself had prophesied. Bones surely would have been broken by the stones (violating both Moses’ and David’s prophecies, and Jesus’ side would not have been pierced, leaving Zachariah’s prophecy unfulfilled.
Think about it. None should doubt with these kinds of prophetic fulfillments happening, prophecy serves to convince people Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb of God. These prophecies foretold by three prophets (Moses, David and Zechariah) were like icing on a cake. [The function of icing is to make an already good cake even more delicious.] These prophecies help to give the Gospel a tantalizingly sweet taste for all people who taste and see (Psalm 34:8; Luke 2:10-12; 24:52). And, they open the door for the fulfillment of a fourth prophecy. King David predicted the Messiah’s grand resurrection (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27; 13:35).
It is worthy of repetition: John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, apparently stayed at the cross through more of the ordeal than any other disciple. Those were surely hours of horror beyond imagination for John. He watched Jesus die like that. John felt totally helpless because He could do nothing to aid his Lord. It all happened right before John’s eyes that were no doubt very red from his hot tears.
John recorded it as his testimony, saying he knew he was telling the truth as an eyewitness. This kind of prophetic fulfillment simply cannot be fabricated. Only God can predict accurately what will be happening a thousand years in the future. The Apostle John said he was there on the scene and witnessed the fulfillment of these prophecies in what had to be an act of God. The events probably occurred in about ten minutes’ time. John went on to record the story as his personal testimony in his Gospel, “so that you also may believe.”
Let me please say it again. When I first began to think seriously about this story, I wanted to weep, and feel sure John was crying his eyes out amid the agony. But the great apostle did not leave Golgotha immediately. John could not seem to walk away – something held him at the cross. So, he just lingered. Then the soldiers arrived and with cold hearted ruthlessness began to carry out the order to break their legs.
“The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: ‘Not one of His bones will be broken,’ and, as another Scripture says, ‘They will look on the one they have pierced’" (John 19:35-37; Zechariah 12:10).
It is appropriate to add a fourth prophecy to conclude this study. King David penned a thousand years before this event that our Savior would not suffer decay (Psalm 16:10). Instead, He came out of His borrowed tomb on the third day in a glorified body, the firstfruits of the resurrection (Matthew 27:59-60; 1 Corinthians 1:20; 15:42-53). “[Jesus] Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24-25).
Now, I have two questions for you, my dear reader:
Is your heart open to prophetic ministry in your church? And,
Have you been spending enough time lately at Jesus’ cross?
Author: Frank Tunstall
When I first began to think seriously about this story, I wanted to weep. John the apostle was at Golgotha in those final moments when Jesus took His last breath. But the great apostle did not leave Golgotha immediately. John could not seem to walk away – something held him at the cross. So, he lingered.
“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. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water” (John 9:31-34).
According to the Law of Moses, a dead body could not be left exposed overnight because even a criminal deserved a smidgen of respect (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). This meant Jesus the sinless Savior could not be left on His cross overnight either.
Jesus made my curse His curse, and made yours His curse too.
Jewish leaders saw no holiness in Jesus of Nazareth, but they were highly motivated to protect the ceremonial holiness of the Passover festival. They went to Pilate and asked him to order the legs of the three crucified victims broken to speed their deaths; they had to be taken down from the cross before the sabbath began at sunset. The soldiers went to do this final brutality of crucifixion and actually broke the legs of the two thieves. But they found Jesus was already dead, so His legs were not broken.
Did Jesus actually die on His cross? Many unbelievers even today ask that question. It is clear the soldiers certified Jesus as dead. What the soldiers did not know was in those moments very precious prophecies would be fulfilled.
Four passages of Scripture frame this discussion. First the Prophet Moses decreed the bones of a sacrificial lamb could not be broken. Moses pronounced it during the sacrifice of the first Passover that launched the Exodus from Egypt 3500 years ago (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20).
Faithful Jews kept the practice for the next 500 years before King David addressed Moses’ prophecy in a second affirmation. David turned it into an even clearer Messianic prediction: “He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken” (Psalm 34:20 KJV; Exodus 12:46; John 19:36).
When Jesus launched His ministry some 1500 years after Moses lived, John the Baptist prophesied Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament laws regarding sacrifices. John baptized Jesus and identified Him as the Lamb of God. Jesus was not another lamb in the long line that began with Moses’ Law, but the very special one-and-only Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God in the tabernacle in heaven. There would never be a need for another (Hebrews 9:11).
Jesus was scourged with the fearsome Roman whip that literally cut Him open. So why not broken bones too? And, if a priest is going to kill a lamb, why would there be an injunction against breaking a bone? The ordinary person would not see significance in whether or not a bone of a sacrificial animal was broken while preparing or during a sacrifice. I wondered myself in years past if you are going to kill a sacrificial animal and drain his blood as a substitutionary sacrifice for sin, why does it matter if a bone is broken at some step in the process?
For the Messiah to make the perfect sacrifice, not having a bone broken had to apply to Him too. The fact that Jesus could suffer such a brutal beating without having a single broken bone is itself amazingly miraculous.
Think about it. There does come a time when we must obey God even when we do not understand why.
Jewish priests kept the sacrificial code even after King David went on to his reward. Every priest who slaughtered a lamb took care not to break a single bone of the possibly million or more animals and turtledoves who were killed from Moses to Christ. King Solomon offered 142,000 cattle, goats and sheep at the dedication of the temple, for example (1 Kings 8:63). Moses’ injunction was preserved in the sacrificial system for 1500 years, until Jesus Christ our Savior and Messiah took it off the shelf of history and fulfilled it.
But the question remains – why? Why in the ancient councils of God was it put into the master plan of the ages at all?
About 1500 years after the Holy Spirit led Moses to put that command in the Law, and a thousand years after David gave it Messianic focus, the purpose became clear. Jesus was the reason why it was in the Law as a prophecy. He would fulfill Moses’ and David’s prophecies on His cross.
Two compelling reasons follow. The all-knowing mind of God who sees the end from the beginning put it in the Law and let it sit on the dusty shelf of history so that its fulfillment would be a striking proof of the power of prophecy in the death of Jesus, the Messiah and Son of God. And second, Isaiah quoted God as saying prophecy proves God’s own identity: “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come” (Isaiah 46:9-10; Hebrews 10:1-18).
Jesus died just minutes before the soldier arrived at His cross to break His legs; hence, Jesus met the requirement and died the death of a sacrificial lamb, without a bone being broken.
A third prophecy to be fulfilled in those moments came from the Prophet Zechariah: “They will look on me whom they have pierced” (Zechariah 12:10). One of the soldiers, for no good reason known to the soldier, thrust his spear into Jesus side, and did it forcefully enough to penetrate Jesus’ heart and lungs. It brought “a sudden flow of blood and water.” When Jesus’ heart stopped pumping, a little blood and a little water was left in His body. Yes, Jesus gave it all for our salvation.
In that inhuman historic moment, this soldier’s random act of cruelty gave added proof Jesus died. These hardened soldiers who had seen many men die certified that Jesus was in fact dead. Then to add to this certainty, when the soldier thrust his spear into Jesus’ side, if there had been any life at all left in the Lord’s body, the spear would have caused some kind of a visible reaction, like a jolt.
Could it be possible Satan danced a jig when Jesus died, leaving these three prophecies unfulfilled? Did he gloat saying, ‘I’ve got him now; here are three he missed?’ But if Satan did, it surely was short-lived.
With these prophecies in full view, how can anyone deny the actual death of Jesus Christ?
Three prophets had spoken about these first moments after Jesus’ death.
Moses: “Do not break any of the [sacrificial lamb’s] bones” (Exodus 12:46).
David: “He [Messiah] keepeth all His bones: not one of them is broken.” (Psalm 34:20 KJV).
Zechariah: "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me Whom they have pierced” (Zechariah 12:10).
This understanding should be considered from another perspective. If Pilate had succeeded in sending Jesus back to the Sanhedrin for punishment, the authority of prophecy would have been shattered. Stoning was the form of capital punishment with the Jews, and Jesus would not have been crucified, as Jesus Himself had prophesied. Bones surely would have been broken by the stones (violating both Moses’ and David’s prophecies, and Jesus’ side would not have been pierced, leaving Zachariah’s prophecy unfulfilled.
Think about it. None should doubt with these kinds of prophetic fulfillments happening, prophecy serves to convince people Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb of God. These prophecies foretold by three prophets (Moses, David and Zechariah) were like icing on a cake. [The function of icing is to make an already good cake even more delicious.] These prophecies help to give the Gospel a tantalizingly sweet taste for all people who taste and see (Psalm 34:8; Luke 2:10-12; 24:52). And, they open the door for the fulfillment of a fourth prophecy. King David predicted the Messiah’s grand resurrection (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27; 13:35).
It is worthy of repetition: John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, apparently stayed at the cross through more of the ordeal than any other disciple. Those were surely hours of horror beyond imagination for John. He watched Jesus die like that. John felt totally helpless because He could do nothing to aid his Lord. It all happened right before John’s eyes that were no doubt very red from his hot tears.
John recorded it as his testimony, saying he knew he was telling the truth as an eyewitness. This kind of prophetic fulfillment simply cannot be fabricated. Only God can predict accurately what will be happening a thousand years in the future. The Apostle John said he was there on the scene and witnessed the fulfillment of these prophecies in what had to be an act of God. The events probably occurred in about ten minutes’ time. John went on to record the story as his personal testimony in his Gospel, “so that you also may believe.”
Let me please say it again. When I first began to think seriously about this story, I wanted to weep, and feel sure John was crying his eyes out amid the agony. But the great apostle did not leave Golgotha immediately. John could not seem to walk away – something held him at the cross. So, he just lingered. Then the soldiers arrived and with cold hearted ruthlessness began to carry out the order to break their legs.
“The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: ‘Not one of His bones will be broken,’ and, as another Scripture says, ‘They will look on the one they have pierced’" (John 19:35-37; Zechariah 12:10).
It is appropriate to add a fourth prophecy to conclude this study. King David penned a thousand years before this event that our Savior would not suffer decay (Psalm 16:10). Instead, He came out of His borrowed tomb on the third day in a glorified body, the firstfruits of the resurrection (Matthew 27:59-60; 1 Corinthians 1:20; 15:42-53). “[Jesus] Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24-25).
Now, I have two questions for you, my dear reader:
Is your heart open to prophetic ministry in your church? And,
Have you been spending enough time lately at Jesus’ cross?