Christ in the Old Testament

Psalm 34:20

He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. (NIV)

Today’s Reading: Psalm 34

We are only going to focus on verse 20 of Psalm 34. The entire psalm is worthy of reading as it contains tons of wisdom in poetic form. Written by David as usual in a time of trouble, he encourages us to seek the Lord and reap the blessings from doing so.

Also worthy of reading is our devotional from February 4. Psalm 34:20 is a prophecy that ties back to the Passover and forward in its fulfillment in John’s gospel. John opens his gospel with John the Baptist declaring that Jesus is the Lamb and closes with the crucifixion which occurred during the Passover Feast. In fact, John references the Passover at least fifteen times in his gospel giving his gospel the nickname “Gospel of the Passover.”

The Roman soldiers would break the legs of their crucified victims to hasten their death. But they didn’t break Jesus’ legs because they saw that Jesus was already dead. God knew this would happen so it was instituted in His Passover instructions not to break any of the bones of the Passover lamb.

Sometimes it would take several days for crucified victims to die. Often on those occasions, the Roman soldiers would break their legs to hasten the death of the criminals. This practice was known as Crurifragium. They would use iron mallets or clubs and break their legs below the knees. Because the crucified victim could no longer hold themselves up to breathe, they would eventually suffocate. This seems cruel but the alternative would be to watch the victims be pecked alive for days by carrion birds. Crucifixion was simply a barbaric punishment.

The importance of Jesus’ bones not being broken lies in his willingness to lay down his life. His life was not taken from him. He wasn’t a victim. The soldiers didn’t take his life. When he was ready to die, he gave up his spirit of his own accord. “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John‬ ‭19‬:‭30‬).

Today’s Prayer: Thank you Jesus for offering your life as our Passover Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!