It was the day of Preparation, and the next day was a High Sabbath. In order that the bodies would not remain on the cross during the Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed.

Exodus 12:16
On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly, and another on the seventh day. You must not do any work on those days, except to prepare the meals--that is all you may do.

Deuteronomy 21:23
you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Joshua 8:29
He hung the king of Ai on a tree until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take down the body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And over it they raised a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.

Joshua 10:26
After this, Joshua struck down and killed the kings, and he hung their bodies on five trees and left them there until evening.

Matthew 27:62
The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and Pharisees assembled before Pilate.

John 19:14
It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, about the sixth hour. And Pilate said to the Jews, "Here is your King!"

John 19:42
And because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they placed Jesus there.

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