Good Morning Friends,
The day of Jesus’ crucifixion was the day
before the Jewish Sabbath. As evening approached, and with it the beginning of
the Sabbath day, the Jewish leaders became concerned about Jesus and the others
being crucified with Him. They did not want to defile the Sabbath by having them
on their crosses when the holy day started.
Pilate agreed to deal with their concerns and
sent soldiers to break the legs of the three on the crosses, an action that
would quickly bring death. When they came to Jesus, John records: “But when
they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his
legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a
sudden flow of blood and water.” (John 19:33-34)
John includes this remarkable testimony:
“These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: ‘Not one of
his bones will be broken,’ and, as another scripture says, ‘They will look on
the one they have pierced.’” (John 19:36-37)
The first prophetic statement came from
Psalms and the second from the writings of Zechariah. Both of those books were
written hundreds of years before Jesus was even born. How did the prophets know
of the details that would surround the death of the Messiah? They didn’t. They didn’t
even know what they were talking about. But God did! God deliberately had those
phrases included in the Old Testament so that when Jesus died Bible students
could look back and affirm that what happened was what God knew would happen
and what God planned to have happen.
The death of Jesus, down to the details, did
not come as a surprise to the Father. It was His plan and it happened to
accomplish His purposes. That’s how much He loves you. He planned for the
provision of your salvation, down to the details, hundreds of years before
Jesus came, thousands of years before you were even born!
His, by Grace,
Steve
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