Unbroken

It was about the middle of Friday afternoon and the three men hung on crosses. Normally crucifixion included the slow, agonizing death as part of capital punishment. But this day was different. Because it was Passover and a holy day, the Jewish leaders did not want the crucified men, or their dead bodies, to stay on the crosses. It would be best if the men were dead and their bodies removed before sundown, the beginning of the Sabbath.

The leaders knew some men who were crucified hung on to life for a day or more. They didn’t have time for that. They realized they must go to Pilate . . . again. This time they asked Pilate for permission to break the legs of the three men hanging on the crosses. At this point in the excruciating death on a cross, a crucified man must push up with their legs in order to breath. Even though pushing up on their feet nailed to the cross brought horrible pain, it was the only way they could draw one more breath. If their legs were broken, they could no longer lift up to breath and would die from asphyxiation.

Once the death squad received Pilate’s orders to break the legs of the crucified, they set to it. They had broken the legs of many of the condemned before. It was part of their job. The faster the men died, the faster their work was done. The Roman soldiers came to the first thief –the one who had mocked the man called Jesus--and broke his legs. Next, they came to the second thief—the one who said “Jesus remember me when You come in Your kingdom” and broke his legs. As expected, the two thieves died quickly. The one who refused to believe in Jesus began eternity without God. The one who believed Jesus was the Son of God began eternity with God.

When the soldiers got to Jesus, they saw He was already dead. They were experts at death and realized there was no need to break his legs. But just the same, a soldier rammed his spear into the side of Jesus.

The Roman death squad was doing their job. But they didn’t know they were fulfilling prophecy written hundreds of years before:

“Not a bone of Him shall be broken,” from Psalm 43:20.

“They shall look on Him whom their pierced,” Zechariah 12:10.

Most of the death squad was unmoved by the crucifixion of Jesus. But one Roman, a centurion, stood in front of Jesus as He breathed His last breath. After Jesus gave up His life, the centurion said,

“Truly this man was the Son of God.”  

Carla Killough McClafferty