John 19:31

The preparation] i.e. the day before the sabbath (Friday). The sabbath began at sunset on Friday: see on John 19:14. That the bodies] An accurate account of the Jewish practice, as opposed to that of the Romans, who left corpses to rot on their crosses. The letter of the Law (Deuteronomy 21:22) required the removal of the bodies in all cases before night; much more was it necessary in this case for the bodies to be removed, seeing that the morrow was a sabbath and a high festival. An high day] It was at once the sabbath and the first day of unleavened bread. That their legs] A specially Roman practice. The criminal's legs were broken with heavy mallets to accelerate death.