“How could the Lord say that His body was broken for us if other verses say that none of His bones were broken?”

Speaking of the bread that the Lord broke at the last supper (1 Cor. 11:23), Paul said,

“…He brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is My body, which is broken for you…” (v. 24).

As the Lord broke the loaf of bread for the apostles to share, He used the broken bread to illustrate how His body would be broken for them on the cross. But speaking of the soldiers who crucified Him, John said:

“…they brake not His legs…that the Scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of Him shall not be broken” (John 19:33,36).

John was quoting Psalm 34:20. We also know that the cross was a type of the Passover (1 Cor. 5:7), and speaking of the Passover lamb, God told Moses, “neither shall ye break a bone thereof” (Ex. 12:46 cf. Num. 9:12). So how could the Lord say His body was broken for us?

Well, a body can be broken without breaking any bones. None of Job’s bones were broken, but he spoke of how God “breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds” (Job 9:17 cf. 16:14), a breaking which included the breaking of his skin (7:5). Other verses speak of the breaking of a body’s teeth (Psa. 3:7; Pr. 25:19; Lam. 3:16; Psa. 58:6), its heart (Eccl. 12:6) and other parts (Lev. 21:20). The “blood and water” that flowed from the Lord’s pierced side indicate His heart was broken, for the heart rests in a saline sac. So there is no contradiction between John 19:36 and 1 Corinthians 11:24.

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

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