“And he who has seen has borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. For these things came to pass, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, ‘Not a bone of Him shall be broken.’ ” John 19:35-36

Throughout the Old Testament record, the LORD’s broad brush strokes of the plan conceived before the foundation of the earth to bring forth the Savior were laid out, though somewhat concealed, through the fathers and the prophets.

By means of the inspired New Testament apostles and prophets, the details in that plan were revealed through fulfillment of Old Testament typology and prophecy. Here, in this quote by the apostle John, we have the classic example of the two (typology & prophecy) utilized in helping to establish a bedrock-type faith in Christ Jesus based upon reason and proof. The divinely directed pen of John gives a summary statement from two separate Old Testament passages. Exodus 12:43-46, “And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘This is the ordinance of the Passover: no foreigner is to eat of it; but every man’s slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it. A sojourner or a hired servant shall not eat of it. It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it.’ ” ; and Psalm 34:19-20, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the LORD delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.” (NAS) From the time that John the Immerser announced Jesus as the Lamb of God to his disciples (John 1:36), the process of opening their eyes (and ultimately ours) that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Rev. 19:10b) had begun. Remember brethren, the first Christians were able to prove from the Old Testament scriptures alone that Jesus was the prophesied Christ.  The arranged sacrifices and the pattern of the Tabernacle/Temple system under the Law could now be viewed and appraised properly as pointing to Christ and the true house of God, Christ’s church. Jesus, not only in His physical earthly life but also in His physical death, was sheltered in the promises and protection of the Scripture. That’s why when the soldiers came to break His legs as they had the other two thieves to hasten their death, finding Him dead, they didn’t. Thus the promise of Psalm 34:20 is kept and the type of the paschal lamb (Ex. 12:46) is fulfilled in Jesus. Of course, John goes on to note the final fulfillment of prophecy in Jesus’ death on the cross when the Roman soldier pierces His side so that “They shall look on Him who they pierced.” (Zech 12:10) To a reasonable person, these facts that buttress the Scripture, are truly amazing and offer further proof of a transcendent plan that cannot be opposed. Let’s consider some of the typology in the ordinance of the Passover lamb as encouragement to the people of God. The apostle Paul was moved to note for the Corinthian church, “For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.” (1 Cor. 5:7b) The implication is Jesus was the true Passover lamb. His spiritual blood now applied on the lintels and doorposts of His spiritual house, both individually and corporately, “His house whose house we are” (Heb. 3:6), makes provision for death to pass over us. Not only that, provision of proper value is placed upon our privileged position as the people of God. No foreigner (literally, son of a stranger), sojourner, or hired servant shall eat of it. We know we were once “excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise” (Eph 2:12) but that now we “are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household.” (Eph 2:19) We’ve been purchased with something better than silver or gold, “with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:19). The man Jesus Christ purchased us as bondservants with His blood. Once we were “circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God,” we were then given the privilege of participation in this memorial feast, the Lord’s supper, the true fulfillment of the Passover in remembrance that He “spared our homes” (Ex. 12:27) In appreciation of this the Israelites bowed low. Do you value the Scripture properly?