Scapegoats And Saviors Series

Around the First Century, experts and historians estimate that at least a hundred thousand pilgrims would descend upon Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Some of them would come from as far away as Cyrene in northern Africa … Macedonia, Thrace, and Pontus along the Black Sea … Cyprus … Ephesus, Pergamum, and Philadelphia in Asia Minor … Galatia … and along with them, thousands upon thousands of sheep literally being lead to the slaughter … lambs without blemish … perfect sacrifices for Yahweh, the God Most High.

They would be sacrificed on the 14th day of the lunar month of Nissan, which usually falls somewhere around this time of year. Each lamb had to be set aside for four days prior to the day of their sacrifice … on the 10th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan. During those four days, the lamb’s health would be observed and they would be evaluated and authenticated by the Temple priest to determine if they were worthy and acceptable to be offered as a sacrifice without flaw and blemish as commanded by God in Deuteronomy 22:21: “When anyone brings from the herd or flock a fellowship offering to the Lord to fulfill a special vow or as a freewill offering, it must be without defect or blemish to be acceptable.”

When the pilgrims would arrive in Jerusalem for the Passover, they would either purchase or bring with them a special bronze name plate to hang around the lamb’s neck. The bronze plate would be etched with the family’s name to designate who or what family was offering that particular lamb as a Passover sacrifice.

Think about it. Hundreds of thousands of sheep every Passover for centuries … that’s literally millions upon millions of sheep being slaughtered and sacrificed to the Great I Am. Yet one sacrifice would stand above them all … a perfect Lamb … a Lamb without blemish … a Lamb that came all the way down from Heaven and wore a very special name plate designating His connection to a very distinct family. We learn about this special name plate in the Gospel of John 19:19-22:

Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” (John 19:19-22)

The sign that Pilate had made up for Jesus was called a “titulus.” It was made of wood and covered with gypsum. It was kind of like a white or silver blackboard that could be used over and over again. The prisoner’s charges would be written on the ‘titulus’ in black letters and either hung on the criminal’s neck or carried before him on their way to meet their fate. Once they reached the place of execution, the ‘titulus’ would be nailed to the cross above the criminal’s head.

We just heard what was written on Jesus’ titulus: “Jesus of Nazareth – The King of the Jews.” Pilate had it written in three languages … Hebrew for the Jews … Latin for the Romans … and Greek, the common language of the day, for everyone else.

Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent … that they were both being used in a cruel game. He tried several times to convince the Jewish religious leaders to release Jesus but they would threaten him if he did: “If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the Emperor” (John 19:12). Very effective threats, to say the least … nothing that Pilate wanted to get back to Caesar, true or not.

The sign … or titulus … was an opportunity for Pilate to humiliate the Jewish authorities who had blackmailed him into crucifying an innocent man. The first thing he had written on the sign was “Jesus of Nazareth.” There was a saying amongst the Jews: “Can any good come out of Nazareth?” We heard Nathaniel say it when his friend, Philip, told him that he had found the Messiah … Jesus of Nazareth.

Nazareth was a hick town … barely a spot on a map … a one-light town, so to speak. The idea that a great king like David or Solomon could ever come out of some backwoods town like Nazareth was just ridiculous … laughable.

Pointing out and emphasizing that Jesus was from Nazareth was pure mockery. “Some king,” Pilate scoffs. “A carpenter … from Nazareth. Really? A loser king from a loser town. A loser king fit for a loser people. Look! Look at what I did to your ‘King’ from Nazareth!”