Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the Gospel according to Saint
John, chapter 19. John's Gospel, chapter 19, and
verse 36. For these things were done, that
the Scripture should be fulfilled, a bone of him shall not be broken. John 19 verse 36. In our text it clearly sets forth
two things that are joined together. One is the word of God and the
other is providence. The word of God is given, is
prophesied, what should come about, and in God's time and
way that then comes about. And in the plan of salvation
and in the way the Lord teaches his children, often those two
things are joined together. The things that happen very often
bear a lasting stamp upon the word that is taught at that specific
time. We might be tempted that we were
deceived or that the word wasn't really from heaven or it wasn't
God's teaching, but when we remember the providence and maybe things
that have affected our lives, changed the course of our lives,
they cannot be changed. I've probably mentioned before
how I've always been struck with the Apostle Paul, Festus, when
the Apostle Paul was telling his testimony, he said, Thou
art mad, much learning doth make thee mad. And Paul was telling
of the vision that he had on the Damascus Road. But it was
something that really happened on the Damascus Road, and Paul's
life was never the same again. It was a life-changing event. And we are to note those times
when the Lord causes those things to work together for good. Remember Romans 8, we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them that are the called according to his purpose. And especially,
I see what God does in providence and what he does in grace in
our souls. And the Lord first began with
me and brought me under conviction of sin and a real desire and
thirst for the Word and to be taught of God. He was also doing
something else which I didn't realise at first, but He took
away the love that I had for earthly things and things that
I used to do, especially the concerts, choirs and Things which
were joined with the world, they lost their attractiveness. There was a vanity stamped upon
them. Eternal things were real. And
I couldn't see the link. I couldn't work out what was
wrong with me, why I didn't enjoy the things I enjoyed for many
years. And yet now, and very soon after,
I could see the link. between the two. And so the Lord
in John 6, we had in Providence first the miracles that the Lord
did with the loaves and fishes, and the day following he based
his whole discourse on that, prefacing it with, labour not
for the meat that perisheth, but that which endureth unto
eternal life. And so he set himself forth as
the bread of life. And when we think of how the
prophets were led like to the potter's house, they viewed those
things and then there's a spiritual lesson to it. When the disciples
saw the stones of the temple, draw the Lord's attention to
it, the Lord immediately turned it to spiritual teaching. One
stone shall not be left upon another. And he led to the teaching
of what was to be the signs of the end of the world and the
destruction of the temple. And so when we have a verse like
this, these things were done. Those things were done there
at Calvary, that the scripture, the word, should be fulfilled,
the bone of him shall not be broken. May we notice this in
the scriptures, in the fulfilling of the scriptures, And may we
notice it also in our lives as well, and it be a witness as
to the consistency of the Spirit's work, how the Word is taught,
and how we are taught in the Scriptures, and how we are taught
in our own hearts and in our lives as well. Hymn writer says,
just thou mind, the spot and place where Jesus did thee meet,
He's referring to that same thought of remembering, perhaps a chapel,
or a place in the road, or circumstances in which the Word was blessed
to us. And we remember that place, and
each time we go past it, it comes back to remembrance. When Jacob
was blessed when he left his father and mother, and lay with
stones for his pillow. The Lord met and blessed him
there. But immediately that place became a special place. He called
it Bethel, the house of God. He set up a pillar of stones
there. He said, how terrible is this
place? It's none other than the house
of God. He would always remember leaving
home, always remember that first night, always remember the blessing. And when he comes back after
20 years, It's still that place. As the Lord reminds him of it,
go, go to that place. Every blessing the Lord gives,
he knows where he's going to give it, how he's going to give
it, and he remembers it too. And the Spirit is the remembrance,
so to bring these things back to remembrance. Sometimes if
someone asks us our experience or what our hope is, our minds,
at least mine does, go completely blank. And I don't know where
to start, I don't know what to say. And then other times it
just, something will be reused as a trigger and it'll flow in
one after another of what the Lord's done. And those are nice
when the Lord brings it to remembrance, when it may be we've forgotten
it, or perhaps think that there's nothing to remember anyway. And
the Lord says, yes there is, what about this, and what about
that? I want to look this evening at
three points. Firstly, a fulfilled prophecy
of our Lord that is testifying to his being the true Messiah. These things were done that the
scripture should be fulfilled, the bone of him shall not be
broken. And then secondly, the spiritual
relationship between Christ and his people, and also people to
people as well. We've sung about that in our
middle hymn. And thirdly, Christ's care of
his church, and we're specifically thinking of this in looking at
the idea of a bone as the people of God, and we'll look at that
under that point. Firstly, a prophecy of the Lord. We read in the psalm, Psalm 34,
of the prophecy. Going back towards
the end of the psalm, verse 20. He keepeth all his bones, not
one of them is broken. This is a Masianic psalm. It is speaking of the Lord, speaking
of the righteous one, and this is the scripture that is fulfilled. Now, the Jews, some of them,
had expectations. What would happen when the Lord
came? They were able to tell Herod,
he was to be born at Bethlehem. The woman at the well of Samaria,
the Lord had told her in her own words all things that ever
I did, and she had said to the Lord, we know that when Messiah's
cometh, he will tell us all things. And the Lord had already told
her these things, told her about her life, about the marriages
that she'd had and broken, and how she was living at the present
time. She said, I perceive that thou
art a prophet. But that one thing that she knew
about Messiahs, the Lord began with that one thing and how he
dealt with us, with her. And so when she calls those as
Samaritans, she doesn't say what the Lord said to her immediately
after she'd said, When Messiah's cometh, he shall tell us all
things. The Lord has said, I that speak unto thee am he. But she
doesn't say that to them. She says, come see a man that
told me all things that never I did. Is not this the Christ?
In other words, the thing that I knew, and no doubt some of
them knew about Messiah's, this man fulfills that. He is telling
us, he is telling me of all things. And so with here as well, we
have an event of the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. Those that
the Jews said was not the Messiah. They accused him of blasphemy.
They crucified him on pretenses that he was against the Romans
and they brought false charges against him. Pilate says, I find
no fault in this man. But while he is being crucified,
there are scriptures being fulfilled again and again. Chesed is every
one that hangeth upon a tree. The very method of his crucifixion,
they pierced my hands and my feet. The verse following our
text, They shall look on him whom they pierced. He shall make
intercession for the transgressors. He made intercession for one
of the dying thieves. All of these events, these things
that are actually happening at Calvary, are fulfilling the Scriptures. God is causing it to come to
pass, and not by chance, But he is setting his seal that this
is my beloved son. This is the Messiah, this is
his sacrifice, this is his offering. And John here, he highlights
this. He is seeing this and he is bearing
witness that this is fulfilling the Scriptures. Isn't it good
that we know the Scriptures well and we compare what is happening
in our lives with the Scriptures? And that there are times that
we clearly see this is fulfilling the scriptures. This is what
God said would happen. And so this what he said, are
the bones of our Lord. Now how remarkable. There were
three crucified. And those two on each side, they
had their bones, their legs broken, but the Lord not. And why not? Because he was dead already. The Lord said, no man taketh
my life from me, I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay
it down, I have power to take it again. And it was because
he laid down his life, because he had yielded up his spirit,
that he did not need to have his legs broken. But even then,
how easy it would have been with the soldiers just to do so to
them all. But instead, they did something
different and pierced his side. And again, those looking on that
knew the scriptures saw that fulfilled as well. Wonderful
providences that were done that put the seal and the stamp
This is the Lamb of God. This is the true Messiah. This
is He of which it was said that His bones would not be broken,
His literal bones, His legs like the dying thieves, that theirs
were broken, His was not. And in this point is set the
seal. how many of the Lord's dear people
have, through this one text, had a light shine upon it and
be able to see and believe that the Lord Jesus is the Christ,
that this is what was foretold of Him, and this is what was
miraculously done. Scriptures can be fulfilled by
men who wouldn't want them fulfilled, who didn't know what they were
doing in that respect, who thought they were their own masters,
and yet the Lord is in control. In Calvary especially, you see
the joining together of the sovereignty of God, the causing everything
to happen as had been foretold, and yet not being the author
of sin, and the ones that do it are doing it by wicked hands,
ye have crucified and slain." They're joining together that
mystery of a sovereign God and of sinners and their actions
against God. Or may we see it this evening
as this stamp of the true Messiah, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. I want to look secondly at the
spiritual relationship between Christ and his people. The Apostle Paul, when he writes
to the Romans, He likens the Church of God as the body of
Christ. And he says in verse 4, For we,
as we have many members in one body, and all members have not
the same office, so we being many are one body in Christ,
and every one another. And so he pictures this body
of Christ and Christ as being the head of that body. Our Lord on earth, he speaks
of that union with him and his people and how that he would
come and dwell with them and be with them. We're told in Ephesians
of that union as a mystical union, as a marriage union between a
husband and wife, Christ being the bridegroom and the church
as being the bride. But in the body, of course, in
the body we have the bones in that body. And so it is in that
way that I want to lead to our third point as to that union
that our Lord has with his people. If something happens to our bodies,
whatever limb or whatever part of our body, the rest of the
body feels that. It is not separated from it. If it be even a thorn in the
flesh, then just that which is very small affects our whole
being. And so with the Church of God
is to know that the union between them and Christ, the Lord feels
for his people. Whatever they go through, whatever
he's done to them, however much they might be injured or broken,
he knows and he feels that. And our text here, a bone of
him shall not be broken. If we're thinking of that, of
God's children, it doesn't certainly mean that they will never have
a broken bone. Many, many of them have had accidents
and have that. Many persecuted, have their bones
broken in persecution. It is not meaning like that.
In a spiritual sense though, The Lord is He that breaks and
He heals. And it is in that sense, in a
spiritual sense, not a literal sense. The Lord, when He wounds
His people, it is that He heals them. And so when the text says,
a bone of Him shall not be broken, a bone of His spiritual body,
a bone of the Church, shall not remain broken, shall not remain
unhealed. He shall heal. His church, his
body shall be perfect. He cares for it. He watches over
it. He feels for it. This is a union
and a blessed union it is between Christ and his people. So on to look in the third place
of the care that our Lord has over his people. And I want to
go to Ephesians, to that beautiful passage in Ephesians 5, that
speaks from verse 22 of that union. Wives, submit yourselves
unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is
the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. and He is the Saviour of the
body. Where, therefore, as the Church
is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands
in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for it, that
He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the Word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish. And at the verse 30, he's, well,
verse 29, for no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth
and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church, for we are members
of his body, of his flesh and of his bones. This is a great
mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church, and the
passage speaks of that care that the Lord has over His Church. Now when we think of David, now
David wrote Psalm 34 that we read, he also wrote Psalm 51. 51 was when David had sinned
in murdering or having Uriah murdered and he'd gone into Bathsheba. And so he had sinned, he was
under the chastening of God, God had forgiven his sin, God
had instigated bringing his sin to lie, to bring him convicted
of it, and then told him thou shalt not die The Lord hath also
put away thy sin. Psalm 51, a beautiful psalm of
David's confession and pleading for mercy. Have mercy upon me,
O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according unto the multitude
of thy tender mercies. Plot out my transgressions. But when we come to verse eight,
we read this, make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones
which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins and
blot out all mine iniquities. Now if we have a broken bone,
it's painful, I understand, I've never had a broken bone, and
it certainly would be debilitating, necessitating splints or using
crutches, and it would be seen by others round about. David's sin was secret and yet
it was seen in David's chastisement, the sword shall not depart from
thine house. And David writes in this way,
that the Lord, through conviction, through dealing with him, through
chastening him, the Lord had broken his bones, not literally,
but spiritually. So he says of his heart as well,
verse 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken
and a contrite heart. O God, thou wilt not despise. And so it's what the Lord has
done in dealing with his people, not only to break, but also to
heal as well. And the sense of sin also brings
the same words, the same description. Another psalm of David, Psalm
38, from verse 1, O Lord, rebuke
me not in thy wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure,
For thine arrows stick fast in me, arrows of conviction, and
thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh
because of thine anger, neither is there any rest in my bones
because of my sin. And again the same illustration
is put forth that the Lord is dealing, he's watching over his
church, he's not suffering sin. Upon them, we read in Hebrews
12, that the Lord chasteneth every son whom he receiveth. But wherever the Lord casteth
down, he will bring up. Dear Job, and it wasn't chastening
in his case. He said with his friends, it
is the Lord that casteth down, not man. But then the Lord raised
up again. And may that be the encouragement
as well. Have you healed while hearing
the word this evening that a cast down, and the reason you're cast
down is because of your sin, because of what the Lord has
shown you, is in your heart, what you've done, what your life
has been like. Remember this, the Lord that
cast down in that way, he will heal. He doesn't just do it just
to crush, undefeat the sons of men. Wherever he brings conviction,
He then will lead to himself as the healer, as the remedy
for broken bones. Daniel or Nebuchadnezzar said
a real thing. You tell me the dream and I will
know that you can tell me the interpretation thereof. You show
me the person that God has convicted and shown them their sin. And
I show you the same person, that that same God will heal and will
reveal His Son and reveal the remedy. It is the same work of
God that convicts and that heals. The Apostle Paul found this.
He says, I was alive without the Lord once, but the commandment
came Sin revived and I died, but that which was ordained unto
life I found to be unto death, found at first as a conviction,
first bring him as a sinner. But as he says in another place,
the law is a schoolmaster unto Christ. The Lord was using it
to bring him to Christ, to bring him to seek for mercy, for grace,
for the blessing from the Lord alone. This is the Lord's care
over his people. So we have in the words of our
text a fulfilling of the scripture, a seal set upon the Lord Jesus
Christ. We have by implication as well
that which joins his people with him. The whole reason why he
suffered was to put away his people's sin. And we could put
it the other way as well. As much as the Lord, as the head
of the church, feels for his people's distress, there will
come a time when that is fulfilled, the next verse, they shall look
upon him whom they pierced. In other words, the members of
his They feel what the Lord has suffered,
bled and died for them. There's two ways. On one hand,
it's the Lord caring and feeling for his people. On the other
hand, it's his people realizing what their sins cost him and
what they did to him. May we be mourners over our sins
and after him. For these things were done. that
this scripture should be fulfilled, the bone of him shall not be
broken. Amen.