"If a child receives circumcision on the Sabbath, in order that the Law of Moses may not be broken, how can you be angry with me because I made a man sound and well on the Sabbath?

It was Preparation Day, so in order to prevent the bodies' hanging on the cross during the Sabbath (for the Sabbath was a great day) the Jews begged Pilate to have the legs broken, and the bodies taken away.