Restoring Life: Bones & the BibleSample

RESTORATION

Given that our mission within the orthopedic community is the physical restoration of our patients, it seems fitting that on the final day of this plan we should explore a story about Jesus, as His life, death, and resurrection is the gift that provides us the ultimate restoration of eternal life. Fascinatingly, bones played an evidentiary role in displaying Jesus as the Passover Lamb for each of us. 

When God executed His final plague on the Egyptians, He called on the Israelites to sacrifice a lamb without blemish and paint its blood on the threshold of their door, which God would take as a sign to pass over their households and only kill the firstborn of the Egyptians. One element of the “without blemish” definition was that the lamb’s bones must have been intact and not broken. This also applied to the lamb they were called to sacrifice each year in celebrating Passover.

Fast forward to Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross. Crucifixion was an excruciating way to die. Any quick research into this practice perfected by the Romans reveals the horrors one experienced as they hung on the cross, waiting to die. The process was long, drawn-out, and miserable, and after a while, when the Romans finally decided they wanted their victim to die, they would break their legs. This prevented the prisoner from pushing up to gain their breath.

The Gospel of John tells us that Jesus declared, “it is finished,” and breathed His last breath before the Roman guards came to break His bones. This was symbolic and fulfilled the alignment that Jesus was in fact the Passover Lamb given for us, the sacrifice that was paid so God’s judgment would pass over us if we accepted Him as our Savior. 

Bones and the Bible go hand in hand. Our work as an orthopedic community, to physically restore patients back to the life they desire here on earth, is a reflection of the eternal restoration of life that is offered through the Gospel of Jesus. Let us rejoice in the remarkable calling we get to live out each and every day!

Questions for reflection:

How have you seen physical restoration reflect the eternal restoration of Jesus in the orthopedic community?