November 21, 2023
Too Late
(Some information may be too graphic for small children)
“ … but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.” John 19:33 (NASB)
Years ago, I arrived at a car accident. Two elderly people were involved. They were on their way to the hospital for a doctor’s appointment. When they got to the light in front of the hospital, the elderly female (the driver), accelerated through the light. She ran the red light. A car coming through the intersection struck her vehicle in the middle of the car striking her husband’s side of the vehicle. Both cars were rendered undrivable in the intersection. When I arrived, I went to check on both drivers and passengers. The other vehicle’s occupants had no injuries. The elderly woman only had a broken ring finger, while the elderly man was unconscious. When the Rescue Unit arrived, they began to treat the man and woman. As they began to extricate the man from the car, his leg broke removing him. I heard the snap of the bone when he was moved. It was partially broken at the time of impact. The man collapsed from the lack of stability in the leg. I thought, “Once the leg breaks there is nothing to support that part of the body.” Truly our bodies are wonderfully created. All work in perfect harmony together.
“... they saw that He was already dead...” Jesus was in full control of His destiny. No breaking of His legs could thwart God’s plan. The debt was paid for mankind. Calvin says, “That they break the legs of the two robbers, and after having done so, find that Christ is already dead, and therefore do not touch his body, appears to be a very extraordinary work of the providence of God. Ungodly men will, no doubt, say that it happens naturally that one man dies sooner than another; but, if we carefully examine the whole course of the narrative, we shall be constrained to ascribe it to the secret purpose of God, that the death of Christ was brought on much more rapidly than men could have at all expected, and that this prevented his legs from being broken.”[1] So much of what happened to Jesus is best explained by those who have commented from the past. “According to Tasker: The occurrence of the death of Jesus earlier than the authorities had expected made it unnecessary for the soldiers to hasten the end by breaking his legs so that the body might be removed and buried before sunset, when the new day began, which was not only a Sabbath but the Passover Sabbath. There was thus no violation of the Jewish law that the body of a condemned man must not hang all night upon a tree (Dt. 21:23). The evangelist is also careful to note that another law, relating to sacrifice, was also fulfilled. This stated that no bone of the sacrificial lamb should be broken (Ex. 12:46). The sacrifice of the true Passover Lamb is thus shown to have been complete both in the perfection of its own inner self-offering and in its external details (Tasker, p. 212).”[2]
Our bodies truly are a wonderful creation. Another wonderful thing is God sent His Son to be our perfect sacrifice. No man could control Jesus. What is refreshing for me as I read these passages, is the final relief my Savior received when He entered back into glory with His Father. His time for suffering was over. He won our victory, but it couldn’t come without His death!
[1] Calvin, J., & Pringle, W. (2010). (Vol. 2, p. 239). Logos Bible Software.
[2] Gangel, K. O. (2000). (Vol. 4, pp. 353–354). Broadman & Holman Publishers.