Exodus 12:46
Each Passover lamb must be eaten in one house. Do not carry any of its meat outside, and do not break any of its bones. (NLT)
Today’s Reading: Exodus 12:31-47 and John 19:31-37
Just as God told Moses from the burning bush, Pharaoh decides to let the Israelites leave and they plunder the Egyptians on the way out. They pack up the gold and silver, wrap the unleavened bread in the plundered clothing and head out on their journey exactly 430 years to the day since they arrived during Joseph’s time.
The Scriptures tell us that there were about six hundred thousand men. The symbology of the number six seems to fit here. Remember that six usually refers to imperfection because it is one short of the perfect number seven. All of the events of the Exodus including the Passover are all meant to point to Jesus. This number is just a subtle reminder that this physical freedom from slavery for the Israelites is only temporary.
The LORD introduces some more new rules for the Passover to Moses. A highly symbolic new requirement is that they are not to break any of the bones of the Passover lamb. They were to roast it whole. This is a prophecy that Jesus would die with no broken bones. This wouldn’t seem unusual as most people don’t die with broken bones. Unless you are crucified. Then it’s not so unlikely.
During a crucifixion, the cause of death is typically suffocation. Once the victim loses all their strength in their legs, they can no longer push up to open their airway to breathe and they suffocate. This was a very long process and sometimes would take days for the victim to die. The Romans wanted the crucified to be an example to the people so the fact that the victim would suffer for days was somewhat ideal.
However there were times when circumstances required the Romans to speed up the process. In those cases, the soldiers would take a club and break the victims’ legs. Breaking their legs was actually seen as the merciful thing to do. The Romans didn’t usually do this because mercy was not the goal.
The Sabbath day for the Feast of Unleavened Bread would begin at sundown as Jesus hung on the cross. The Pharisees wanted the crucified bodies off the cross before then. So they go to Pilate and ask him to speed up this process. The Pharisees specifically asked Pilate to break the legs of the crucified and take down the dead bodies before the Sabbath began. Jesus’ disciple John tells us that Jesus’ legs were not broken because he was already dead when the soldiers went to break his legs.
These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken” (John 19:36)
The way John writes in his gospel makes me wonder if the Pharisees were attempting to keep this prophecy from being fulfilled in Jesus. All the Israelites including the Pharisees had likely just prepared their Passover lambs for the Passover meal that very day. Did it occur to one of them as they were preparing their lamb that Jesus had fulfilled all the requirements of the Passover in himself?
Remember that John the Baptist announced Jesus arrival on the scene with, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) The Pharisees were there every day with John the Baptist. Maybe one of them remembered those words and made the connection? If Jesus was the Lamb of God and the Passover lamb wasn’t to have any bones broken, they could break his legs and cling to the broken prophecy as evidence that they were right.
I don’t think the Pharisees saw all of that in Jesus. And I doubt they made the connection between their Passover lamb that was likely roasting that very moment to The Passover Lamb who was dying for their sins. I think they just needed to get this crucifixion over with so they could focus on themselves and have their holiday. But either way, Jesus died with no broken bones. Just another reminder that God fulfills His promises and the smallest of details are never missed.
Christ in the Old Testament 
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