As we continue forward in our year focusing on prophecies and connection points between the Old Testament and Jesus’ ministry, we arrive at a set of passages in the Old Testament that are easy to skim over, but ones that speak out for Jesus being the Messiah in an amazing way. While a number of our previous prophecies could be claimed as simply being phrases Jesus chose to use while teaching, preaching, or sharing God’s message, what we will read about in this episode’s passages is something that would be entirely outside of Jesus’ control.
To set the stage for the amazing detail Jesus’ life fulfilled, let’s first turn our attention all the way back to near the end of the time the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. In the Old Testament book of Exodus, chapter 12 we discover the last plague God sends on the Egyptians, as well as the origins of one of the greatest celebration feasts in the Jewish calendar. Reading from the New American Standard Bible, and starting in verse 43:
43 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: no foreigner is to eat of it; 44 but every man’s slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it. 45 A sojourner or a hired servant shall not eat of it. 46 It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it.
In this brief description of the Passover sacrifice and the Passover meal, one key description of the lamb that was sacrificed and eaten is that none of its bones were to be broken. While this description also points forward to Jesus’ disturbing challenge regarding eating His flesh that is found in John’s gospel, when we frame Jesus’ words as referring to Himself being the Passover sacrifice, we can understand that He came to fulfill what the Passover sacrifice pointed forward to. In an amazing way, the Passover both looked back in remembrance of God freeing the Children of Israel from Egypt, but it also pointed forward to the Messiah freeing God’s children from the penalty of sin.
To also emphasize the symbolic nature of the Passover Lamb not having any of its bones broken, we move forward to the book of Psalms. In Psalm, number 34, starting in verse 15, David writes:
15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against evildoers,
To cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry, and the Lord hears
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones,
Not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.
In this psalm, it is interesting in my mind that David includes a description of bones being kept intact, and that not even one bone would be broken. While the immediate context of this psalm is that this is describing those who are righteous, a technical look at this framing results in the ultimate conclusion that the only truly righteous person is Jesus. This then means that even if David is describing a larger group of God’s people, included within those he describes would be the Messiah.
Moving forward to the New Testament, and to the point after Jesus has taken His last breath, we discover how Jesus came very close to failing this prophecy. After Jesus had died, as the day was nearing its end and the Sabbath was about to begin, we read about some of the religious leaders wanting to speed along the deaths of those who were hanging on the crosses that day.
In John’s gospel, chapter 19, starting in verse 31, we read:
31 Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; 33 but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. 36 For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, “Not a bone of Him shall be broken.”
In this passage, John, who was an eyewitness to the crucifixion, shares the detail that while both of the other crucified men had their legs broken to hasten their deaths, when the soldiers came to Jesus to do the same thing to Him, they chose not to, on account that He was already dead.
It is amazing in my mind that under any other set of circumstances, Jesus’ legs would have been broken. If the religious leaders had requested this sooner, or if Jesus had lived even a little longer, it is not a stretch for me to picture Jesus’ legs being broken. However, while I imagine that Satan wanted to do everything he could to break Jesus out of matching prophecy, God’s timing in this event succeeded.
Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice, and after He had breathed His last breath, His bones remained unbroken. Jesus’ death ultimately becomes the perfect Passover sacrifice because Jesus’ life and body fulfills the requirements of the Passover sacrifice. Jesus is the only individual to have avoided being stained by sin and Jesus’ bones were not broken after the point of His death.
While some people might look at the requirements placed on the Passover sacrifice and claim that they are impossible to reach, these requirements were put in place because there was only ever going to be one Person able to reach them. That person is Jesus, and His life fulfilled the foreshadowing of the Passover for all of God’s people.
Like we’ve touched on in our last several episodes, Jesus came to solve the sin problem in this world. Sin became a problem for humanity before you and I ever took our first breath, and Jesus came to solve the problem sin created also before our first breath. The choice is now up to us whether we will choose sin and all its penalties, or whether we will move forward in our lives leaning on Jesus and actively stepping forward into eternity with Him.
As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:
As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to lean on Jesus for the strength to move forward in life. Place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and His sacrifice to be your solution to the problem of sin in the world.
Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself, to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Through regular prayer and Bible study, discover who Jesus is and just how much He loves you and wants you with Him in heaven.
And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or drift away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!