John 19:19-20
Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek.
It was customary to write down what the condemned was dying for. The man next to Jesus likely bore a similar sign that read, “Robber” or “Thief.” We don’t know why Pilate wrote this of Jesus. We remember that he found no guilt in our Lord and had sought to release Him so, perhaps, this was a sarcastic slap in the face of the Jews that had threatened and manipulated him. Obviously, there is no way that he truly understood the meaning of what he had written or else he never would have consented to Jesus going to the cross in the first place.
It’s interesting that God saw fit to arrange the circumstances like this. Here hangs Jesus, the sinless son of God, the Savior of the world from its sin and rebellion, and Pilate has called Him the King of the Jews. Not only this but Pilate has it written in all of the world’s languages, for that matter. Aramaic was the local tongue; Latin was what the Romans spoke and Koine Greek was the common, or street Greek, that had dominated culture since the time of Alexander. Thus, everyone could read the inscription. This was no Tower of Babel. God made sure in His providential care and concern over all of life’s details that even now, even during the crucifixion, that there would be no mistaking that Jesus Christ was the true Israel.
And He was, indeed, the King of the Jews. Sarah gave birth to Isaac through God’s promise; Mary conceived likewise. He was sent into the wilderness and tempted for 40 days; the Jews had wandered the wilderness for 40 years in their sin. Moses had come down the mountain with the Law; Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, went up the mountain to expound on the Law. Jesus was the true Israel – the seed of the woman, the offspring of Abraham, and the son of David. Jesus hangs there on the cross as the fulfillment of the Old Testament. He is the King sent to the Jews to deliver them from their bondage and all who believe in Him are the true Israel. He is the last sacrifice. This was the very moment that every nuance of the sacrificial system pointed towards in the old pages.
Sin demands death as its punishment. Christ dies for us. God’s perfect moral character requires absolute perfection from us. Jesus’ spotless life and perpetual obedience are imputed to us – His righteousness for our sin. He takes our punishment and gives us His holy and blameless character. And He has told the disciples of this all along. Yes, indeed, Jesus is the perfect prophet, priest and king of the Jews. Pilate knows nothing of all of this but he knows kings and Caesars. Nevertheless, he gets it right in this part: Jesus is the King that Israel, in its sin, rejected and had crucified. And this is how the gospel was then brought to the rest of the world so that all who believe would be able to enter eternal life. Salvation was truly of the Jews because Jesus was and is the true Israel.
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