John 19:31

The Jews therefore, because it was the Preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the cross upon the sabbath (for the day of that sabbath was a high day), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

This verse, beyond all others in the New Testament, casts doubt on the widely accepted view that Christ was crucified on Friday. True, he was crucified on the day of Preparation, the day before the sabbath; but John was careful to point out that the ordinary sabbath was not meant, but rather the high day (also a sabbath, whatever day of the week it was) which always initiated the Passover celebration. A detailed discussion of this is in my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 12:40. It is the conviction of this writer that Jesus was crucified on Thursday, April 6,30 A.D. See CMK under Mark 15:42.

That their legs might be broken ... The hierarchy had hastily contrived the crucifixion without regard to the approaching high sabbath, and they were suddenly embarrassed by the prospect of the victims still remaining upon the crosses on the holy day, which in their view would have desecrated it. This brutal coup de grace was given by smashing the leg bones with a massive hammer and had the effect of hastening death. One suspects, also, that there was another motive in the minds of the priests who were so determined that the Lord should not be their Messiah. The well-known prophecy of Psalms 34:20 declared flatly that "He (the Messiah) keepeth all his bones; not one of them is broken"; and there is far more than a possibility that it was their purpose to thwart the fulfillment of that divine prophecy. If they could have succeeded, they might well have urged, afterward, that Jesus could not have been the Messiah, because his legs had been broken. Whether the Jewish leaders had that in mind is not known; but we may be sure that Satan had such a thing in view.

Christ was the great antitype of the paschal lamb, fulfilling the type in every conceivable manner. He died at the very moment the lambs were being slain for the Passover; and no bone of him was broken, despite the governor's specific orders, which were disobeyed. His innocence, submissiveness, and vicarious suffering also fulfilled the type.