For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.
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Exodus 12:46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.
Numbers 9:12 They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.
Psalm 22:14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
so that the Scripture would be fulfilled:
This highlights the importance of prophecy in the biblical narrative. The fulfillment of Scripture is a recurring theme in the New Testament, demonstrating that Jesus' life and death were in accordance with Old Testament prophecies. This phrase assures readers that the events of Jesus' crucifixion were anticipated and foretold by the prophets, reinforcing the divine inspiration and authority of Scripture.
“Not one of His bones will be broken.”
This is a direct reference to Old Testament prophecy, specifically Psalm 34:20, which states, "He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken." Additionally, it echoes the instructions for the Passover lamb in Exodus 12:46, where it is commanded that no bones of the sacrificial lamb should be broken. This connection establishes Jesus as the ultimate Passover Lamb, whose sacrifice brings deliverance from sin. The unbroken bones symbolize the perfection and completeness of His sacrifice, fulfilling the typology of the Passover lamb and affirming Jesus as the Messiah.
• John sets the scene: soldiers are sent to hasten the deaths of the crucified men (John 19:31-33).
• They break the legs of the two criminals, but they find Jesus already dead.
• Each detail— the gambling for His clothes (Psalm 22:18 fulfilled in John 19:24), the vinegar offered on a hyssop branch (Psalm 69:21 in John 19:29)— piles up evidence that the cross was not an accident but a series of planned fulfillments.
• The events “happened” under God’s direction, echoing Acts 2:23 where Peter says Jesus was “handed over by God’s deliberate plan.”
• John loves to pause and remind us that prophecy is being checked off in real time (John 12:38; 13:18; 17:12).
• Fulfillment means God’s written word proves true, underscoring Isaiah 55:11: “so is My word… it will not return to Me empty.”
• This moment highlights two truths held together:
– God’s sovereignty—He orchestrates history.
– Human responsibility—soldiers act freely yet serve His purposes.
• Luke 24:44-45 shows the risen Christ explaining that everything written about Him in the Law, Prophets, and Psalms “must be fulfilled,” the same conviction John voices here.
• John quotes Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12, regulations for the Passover lamb: “you shall not break any of its bones.”
• By dying before the soldiers could shatter His legs, Jesus perfectly mirrors the lamb sacrificed on Israel’s first night of deliverance. Paul later tightens the link: “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
• Psalm 34:20 also foreshadows: “He protects all His bones; not one of them is broken,” connecting Messiah’s affliction with the righteous sufferer David describes.
• The unbroken bones emphasize:
– The perfection of the Offering—no defect (1 Peter 1:19).
– The completeness of atonement—nothing left to add or finish.
– The reliability of Scripture—prophecies that might seem minor still come to pass exactly.
John 19:36 teaches that every circumstance at Calvary, down to whether a Roman club strikes bone, unfolds by God’s precise design. Jesus, the flawless Passover Lamb, fulfills centuries-old prophecy when His legs remain untouched, proving that the written word cannot fail and that our redemption rests on a sacrifice planned, foretold, and perfectly accomplished.
(36) For these things were done (better, came to pass), that the scripture should be fulfilled.--The emphatic witness of the previous verse is not therefore to be confined to the one fact of the flowing of the blood and the water, but to the facts in which the fulfilment of Scripture was accomplished, and which establish the Messiahship of Jesus.He saw--that which might have seemed an accidental occurrence--that they brake not the legs of Jesus; he saw--that which might have seemed a sort of instinct of the moment--that the Roman soldier pierced the side of Jesus; he saw in the water and blood which flowed from it visible proof that Jesus was the Son of man; but he saw, too, that these incidents were part of the divine destiny of the Messiah which the prophets had foretold, and that in them the Scripture was fulfilled. (Comp. Note on John 13:18.)
A bone of him shall not be broken.--The reference is, as the margin gives it, to the Paschal Lamb, in which the Baptist had already seen a type of Christ (comp. Note on John 1:29), and which St. Paul afterwards more definitely identifies with Him (1Corinthians 5:7). It is not equally apposite to refer to Psalm 34:20, as the thought there is of preservation in life, but the words of the Psalm are doubtless themselves a poetic adaptation of the words of Exodus.
Verse 36. - For these things came to pass, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Both the omission of the crurifragium, and the piercing of the Redeemer's side, with its solemn and strange issues, confirm to this great eye-witness the spiritual meaning and Messianic portraiture involved in them. A bone of him shall not be broken. This quotation from the ceremonial of the Passover (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12), where the lamb offered to God was to be shielded from unnecessary mutilation, is in harmony with the words of the Baptist, "Behold the Lamb of God!" and with Paul's language (1 Corinthians 5:7), "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us," and shows that the Fourth Gospel does recognize this parallel, which is in a very remarkable way thus quietly reaffirmed. This passage acquires meaning from the supposition that the Jews were hurrying away to eat their Paschal lamb, not a bone of which could be legally broken. The opponents of the authenticity think that incidents are invented to establish the supposed relationship. Those who seek to reply to them by explaining away this reference to the Passover think that Psalm 34:20 is referred to, "He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken;" but the force of that passage in this connection would violently clash with any such adaptation of it as could make it refer to the cruel and violent death of the Lord.