My Bible Study: Christmas Prophecy 21

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Christmas Prophecy 21

The Messiah would have no bones broken.

Prophecy -

Psalm 34:20

He guards all his bones;
Not one of them is broken.

Fulfillment -

John 19:33

But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.

It may be an odd detail to say that none of the Messiah's bones would be broken, until we look at the law for choosing a Passover lamb. We see in Exodus 12:5 that the people were to select a lamb without blemish, meaning perfect, no spot or oddity (Jesus fulfilled this by being sinless), and in verse 46 that no bone could be broken. John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world (see John 1:29).

Jesus is our Passover Lamb. He was even crucified on Passover!

Jewish law dictated that the bodies of the executed criminals be removed from sight before sunset (Deuteronomy 21:23). The Jews asked Pilate to break the legs of the three men being crucified (one of whom was Christ), so that they would die quicker and they could have them down before sunset. The crucifixion victim would push up on his feet to ease the constriction of the chest and draw breath. If the legs were broken they would suffocate to death. When the soldier came to Jesus, though, He was already dead. We see in John 19:30 that He gave up His spirit. It was Jesus' choice to give Himself as a sacrifice, He willingly did it. The Jewish leaders were only able to arrest Him when He chose, and He even died when He chose. It was all according to plan, every detail.

Did you know Jesus could have chosen not to go to the cross? His story is not a tragedy, it is not a story of martyrdom either. He did not die to stand up for something He believed in. He was not fighting against the establishment. He was giving Himself. Philippians 2:5-11 tells us that Jesus was obedient, this tells me He had a choice. In the Garden of Gethsemane, before the crucifixion, He was very distraught, and prayed to the Father and asked if there could be any other way. But there wasn't. So He willingly obeyed. He died for YOU.

But, GET THIS! Jesus is fully man AND fully God...

SO...

God really died for you.

God died in YOUR place!

God took YOUR sins on Himself.

Isn't that GOOD NEWS?!?