Restoration , Redemption , Reconciliation

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.
	Exodus 12:46
Why was no bone to be broken? I suggest three reasons . . .  Restoration. David—a shepherd by trade and a sheep by nature—speaks of restoration when he writes, “Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice” (Psalm 51:8). You see, in Bible days if a lamb continually placed its life in jeopardy by wandering away, the shepherd would break its legs, set the bones, and carry it on his shoulders for the following six to eight weeks until the bones were healed. During that period, the lamb would develop such a deep affection for the shepherd, that when its legs were healed, it would remain by the shepherd’s side all the days of its life. Jesus, being the sinless Lamb of God, however, had no need to be broken. Redemption. “Where sin abounds, grace abounds more,” Paul declares (see Romans 5:20). What is the basis of grace? The blood of Calvary. Where is blood produced? In the bone. Therefore, in insisting that not a bone be broken, it’s as though God is saying, “I don’t want any suggestion that there is a limitation to the blood. I want people to understand that where sin abounds, grace always abounds more.” Reconciliation. To hasten death, soldiers would break the legs of those being crucified. However, when they came to do this to Jesus, they were so surprised that He had died in only six hours that they poked a spear in His side to make sure (John 19:34).  If you are estranged from, or at odds with someone with whom you were once close, the only way there can be reconciliation is if someone dies. Jesus models that for you and me. He died to reconcile us to the Father, but He died quickly. It was not unusual for victims of crucifixion to prolong their lives eighteen hours or more as they hung on the cross. Not Jesus. With the work of reconciliation complete, He released His spirit relatively quickly in order that He might race to Easter, to resurrection day. That’s the key: the sooner we die, the sooner we’ll be at Easter Sunday. Pastor Jon Courson  Promise Verse for the Day.