John 19:31-37 :

Therefore the Jews, because it was the Preparation Day, so that the bodies wouldn’t remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special one), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Therefore the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who was crucified with him; but when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was already dead, they didn’t break his legs. However one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe. For these things happened, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, “A bone of him will not be broken.” Again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they pierced.”

John is making sure that we realize that he was an eyewitness to fulfilled prophesy from the Bible. Two things happened here that had to happen to the Messiah. He wasn’t to have any broken bones, but He had to be pierced. Since John was right there, he was able to give a personal testimony as to what happened.

First let’s read one of the prophecies from the Bible:

Exodus 12:46 :

In one house shall it be eaten; you shall not carry out anything of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall you break a bone of it.

Exodus is the second book of the Bible. It is very old, much older than the time of Jesus. This described the lamb that was to be used for the original Passover sacrifice. They had to prepare it in such a way that no bone was broken. This demonstrates that the Passover lamb was a symbol of Jesus the Messiah.

Again in Numbers it says this about the Passover as a regular requirement:

Numbers 9:12 :

They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break a bone of it. According to all the statute of the Passover they shall keep it.

Again in the Psalms it says:

Psalm 34:20 :

He protects all of his bones.
Not one of them is broken.

It makes sense that the true lamb of God wouldn’t have a broken bone during the death processes. In regard to Jesus being stabbed with a spear, we read this:

Zechariah 12:10 :

I will pour on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.

I don’t believe that the house of David has yet mourned as “for his only son” yet, but we can see that Jesus is the one. Someday, the Jewish people will see and understand that Jesus really was the one they were waiting for.

It is important for us to see how miraculous the Bible is. It will help us to realize that we can’t treat it like any other book because it speaks the truth whether it has happened yet or not.