31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.
It was the day preceding the Passover Sabbath, a day which was devoted to special preparations – it was on this day that our Lord died. This confirms the fact that Jesus was indeed crucified on a Friday. The “rule following” chief priests and leaders of the nation at Jerusalem – the same ones who had cunningly convinced Pilate to crucify Christ – were now adamant to get Him off the cross in order not to break the Law. This would have been especially important to them since the Sabbath was fast approaching. The pretended sanctity of hypocrites is abominable is it not? Oh they were such pious people – so eager to do the right thing! Isn’t it funny how we can convince ourselves of the rightness of whatever we want to do? Indeed, the heart is deceitful beyond all cure. Deuteronomy gives us the Law these leaders were seeking to keep – this time rightfully so:
22 If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, 23 you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. Deut 21:22-23 (NIV)
Paul uses this text to support the doctrine of Christ’s substitutionary death for sinners in Galatians – our Lord becoming a curse for us on the cross redeeming us from the curse of the Law:
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." Gal 3:13 (NIV)
The breaking of the legs of the one being crucified was a common action in this barbarous mode of execution. With broken legs, the criminals would not have had the ability to lift themselves up to breathe. Discovering Jesus was already dead, the soldiers did not cruelly shatter His bones fulfilling prophecy once again. King David prophecies in Psalm 34:
20 he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. Psalms 34:20 (NIV)
This gives yet another proof that Jesus did indeed die – squelching any ridiculous rumor that He was taken off the cross alive. The Roman soldiers bear witness to this fact. Dying quicker than most ordinarily died on the cross, Jesus demonstrated He willingly laid down His life, yielding to death - yet He was not conquered.
Determined to make his work complete and certain, one of the Roman soldiers thrust his spear into our Lord’s side – rending the Holy Tent – breaking through to the very fountains of life. The soldier performed his duty in a rough, hasty and careless way simply to prove the body dead yet God methodically, miraculously and mysteriously had planned to demonstrate the purpose of Christ’s death - the two great benefits for which all believers could now freely partake – the water and the blood. This sudden flow of both blood and water coming from our Lord’s pierced side were metaphorical – the blood for our atonement, the water for our purification. They must always go together – Christ has joined them even in His death. Sin and guilt can only be cleansed and compensated before a Holy God by the perfect blood of Christ; the stains of our sins are washed away by the fountain of the water of purification – both flowing from the side of the Suffering Servant. Our Lord lovingly and lavishly provided for those who would believe in Him atonement, redemption, justification, forgiveness, reconciliation, cleansing and sanctification – praise Him!
“This morning let us hear the Lord Jesus speak to each one of us: ‘I will help thee’. ‘It is but a small thing for Me, thy God, to help thee. Consider what I have done already. What! Not help thee? Why, I bought thee with My blood. What! Not help thee? I have died for thee; and if I have done the greater, will I not do the less? Help thee! It is the least thing I will ever do for thee; I have done more, and will do more. Before the world began I chose thee. I made the covenant for thee. I laid aside My glory and became a man for thee; I gave My life for thee; and if I did all this, I will surely help thee now. In helping thee, I am giving thee what I have bought for thee already. If thou hadst need of a thousand times as much help, I would give it thee; thou requirest little compared with what I am ready to give. ‘Tis much for thee to need, but it is nothing for me to bestow. “Help thee?” Fear not! If there were an ant at the door of thy granary asking for help, it would not ruin thee to give him a handful of thy wheat; and thou art nothing but a tiny insect at the door of my all sufficiency. “I will help thee”.’ O my soul, is not this enough? Dost thou need more strength than the omnipotence of the United Trinity? Dost thou want more wisdom than exists in the Father, more love than displays itself in the Son, or more power than is manifest in the influences of the Spirit? Bring hither thine empty pitcher! Surely this well will fill it. Haste, gather up thy wants, and bring them there – thine emptiness, thy woes, thy needs. Behold, this river of God is full for thy supply; what canst thou desire beside? Go forth, my soul, in this thy might. The Eternal God is thine helper!” C. H. Spurgeon