WELCOME & INTRODUCTION
WARNING LABELS
We live in a world that unfortunately has an abundance of people who do things they shouldn’t. That goes for using products incorrectly—by that I mean not for their intended purpose. Also, people have been known to have accidents and rather than improve the situation or product, manufacturers and property owners put a warning label on these things so they can protect themselves from lawsuits just in case.
Some things in life should go without saying, but it seems there’s always somebody who needs to be told not to step into an empty elevator shaft.
SIGN IMAGES
1. This is a Stop Sign
2. Chainsaw
3. (Is this is New York?) No Horn Blowing
4. Back Door
5. Bottomless Pit (redefine that word)
6. Elevator (time to take the stairs)
7. Do not sit here
8. Keep Out—Church (we would never have a sign like this here)
The people during the time of Jesus’ crucifixion also wrote a sign and there were some people who didn’t like what it said while others saw it as a necessary statement about the man hanging on that cross. This morning we are going to share in hearing about the Sign of the Cross.
Let’s read our passage this morning.
JOHN 19:17-22 – The Crucifixion
So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 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. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
Many have probably wondered if I was going to talk about the sign of the cross that many people make with their hands as they enter a cathedral, church, or some kind of religious service. No, today we are going to talk about the literal sign of the cross…the sign that was placed above Jesus on the cross.
This sign is more than just an inscription. There is so much more to it than that.
It is fitting that crucifixions would take place at “the Place of a Skull” which sounds very morbid. Jesus would carry the big piece of timber and bear his cross. This is something that he had told all of his disciples they would need to do. Bearing a cross would be no easy task for someone who had endured hours of beatings and torture. Simon of Cyrene would end up carrying it for Jesus.
One might wonder what Simon was thinking during all of this. Would he too be crucified? When he laid this cross on the ground, did he have a first-hand view of the soldiers nailing Jesus’ hands and feet? Did he have sympathy or did he become a mocker and one of those who said, “He saved others…why doesn’t he save himself?” Maybe he said it to Jesus “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
Or, he might have been one wagging his head and unable to speak of the horror happening before him.
He likely could read the inscription Pilate had written and put on the cross. Perhaps he was also carrying that. Is this really the “King of the Jews?” The cross of a King…what did he do to deserve this?
To many, it might seem like just a bit of history recorded in the gospel of John and just a note of fact that happened in the greater story of the crucifixion. Maybe it has merely been a bit of trivia in a gameshow style bible bowl question. I had such a question once and got it correct I might add.
Maybe you have never really thought about this bit of trivia other than the events surrounding this. However, this inscription brings with it quite a large significance. This inscription written by Pilate and put on the cross caused a great deal of stress and anxiety to the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees. I want to take us through this event and help us understand their dilemma. Maybe we can see the bigger picture in this seemingly little event. I want us to get a good understanding why this sign was placed to begin with and its significance.
1. IT WAS CUSTOMARY
It was a custom by the Romans to hang what was called a (title-us) “titulus” around a criminal’s neck or have it carried before him on a pole on the day of execution. A titulus was a wooden tablet covered with gypsum and then written in black letters the charge for which the person was condemned. At the crucifixion, it would be affixed to the upper portion of the cross above the criminal’s head for everyone to see what this person had done to deserve execution. At the same time, this sign was also a warning for everyone to see—obey the Roman law and don’t commit this same crime or you too will be in this same position.
As Mark 15:26 puts this,
And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”
Little did the Romans know, but their custom mimicked a custom that all Jews would had for Passover. Families would prepare and set aside their sacrificial lambs four days prior to the sacrifice. This lamb was to be without spot or blemish. In keeping the lamb for four days, it showed its quality and health. When Jewish families arrived in Jerusalem with their lambs for Passover, they would bring with them, or purchase, a name tag for their lambs.
This name tag, made of copper, would have the family name written on it. This was done so they could attend in the temple for their worship and sacrifice to God. If their lamb ran off, they could identify it and get it back. Their particular lamb could be picked out if they wanted to, but even more so, they wanted God to know they were observing the Passover (as if God didn’t know which of His people were attending), but that the lamb that bore their family name was being sacrificed on their behalf.
The sacrificial lamb, perfect and without blemish, with the name of the family written around its neck. And now Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb of God, perfect and without sin, with the names of the faithful written on his heart and with a sign proclaiming who he is.
It is amazing how all the aspects of the Passover pointed directly to Jesus as the Passover Lamb for the world so many years before the crucifixion. By placing this sign, the Romans were unknowingly letting the Jews know that this was the last sacrifice that would need to be made for sin whether they were ready to accept it or not.
2. AS A DECLARATION
The second aspect of this significant sign of the cross is in what it said. We read that Pilate wrote this inscription and had it placed on the cross above the head of Jesus. The inscription was translated into most of our English Bibles as “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” The Bible records that it was written in three languages: The Romans would be able to read what it said in Latin, the Jews would see the semitic Aramaic language, which was a more common Hebrew writing for them, and know what was written, and then anyone else who might like to understand the “crime” of Jesus would be able to read it in the common language of that day for all other nationalities which was koine Greek.
Many paintings of this crucifixion event come during a time when Roman Catholicism was prominent. And Latin was the language of mass and they found that language holy in its use. In their depictions of this scene, the painters would place on the sign above Jesus’ head 4 letters. Mostly due to how much room there is on a small sign…the whole inscription cannot fit and be easily painted. But also because of a tradition for the Jewish nation which dates back to the time of the Babylonian captivity. We call it an acrostic; where you take the first letter of each word to make a new one.
In the paintings, the sign would have the Latin letters I-N-R-I written on the inscription above Jesus’ head.
These letters stood for the four words: IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDAEORVM
Jesus—the Nazarene—the King—of the Jews
The Romans had the right idea according to Jewish religious customs, but in using the Latin language, it does not really reveal the bigger picture. When considering the inscription as read by the Jews, we can understand why the chief priests were so offended.
When reading this inscription as written by Pilate about why Jesus is on that cross, they would have seen the letters standing out right in their faces.
Yehoshua Hanatzri Vemelech Hayhoodem
Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews Y-YOD H-HE V-VAV H-HE
The name of God—Yahweh, YHWH, known as the tetragrammaton today—for their Almighty Jehovah. The Lord God Almighty. God had been nailed to the cross.
This offense to the Jewish leaders was just too much. When Pontius Pilate had that inscription put there, he had put the acrostic for “the Lord” for all the Jewish leaders and all their people to see because it was outside the city as people were arriving for Passover.
John 19:20 says, “Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city…”
When the religious leaders read the inscription, they came to Pilate and demanded that he change it. They wanted it to read: “He said, he was king of the Jews.” And in so doing the name of God would no longer be seen on that cross.
What was Pilate’s response? “What I have written, I have written.” If we go back and read previously in John’s gospel, we will see that three times Pilate said he could not find Jesus guilty deserving death. When asked if Jesus was “King of the Jews” he responded by saying that his kingdom wasn’t of this world. If it was, he would have servants fighting an armed battle with the people and the priests to prevent his capture. His kingdom was not of this world. Three times Pilate found no guilt. The Jewish people recounted to Pilate that he is trying to claim he is the Son of God. This frightened Pilate. Perhaps Pilate realized what Jesus was saying when he said his Kingdom was not of this world. Pilate wanted to know if this was true.
“Where are you from?” he asked.
There’s a lot that happens between this and the crucifixion, but Pilate’s inscription on the sign on the cross could have been a statement about a few different things:
1. Mocking Jesus for his bold proclamation. After all, they did put a crown of thorns on his head. And Pilate did say, “Behold your King!”
2. Pilate turning this back on the Jews for making him dirty his hands with an unjust execution. By calling him King of the Jews, he makes the Roman empire look more powerful and more able to handle all the surrounding nations. I can kill your King with ease.
3. Pilate, in the back of his mind, with his conversation with Jesus and the things Jesus tells him, fears that this man may have spoken truth. Pilate asks Jesus, “What is truth?”
When Pilate inscribes the words, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” and by writing it the way he did YHVH, he could have been saying you forced me to put God on the cross. Now you can own that sin.
Our Lord, used a Roman ruler, to put the holy name of God on the cross to show the world that Jesus Christ was the chosen Lamb. Jesus was marked for all who came for the Passover to see that He was the first sacrifice hanging upon that tree. In fact, while God’s own Son, the Lamb of God, was being executed, the priests at the Temple were preparing for the ritual of offering thousands of lambs for the people. The very lambs that were a type and shadow of the Lamb of God Himself. The Lamb who was dying right outside the city……for them.
As the Passover lambs were being taken to the Temple and their blood was flowing, on a hill called Golgotha, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, sinless blood was flowing for our redemption, and above his head for all to see was YHWH, his Father’s Name.
CONCLUSION
This simple sign. Similar signs had been placed for all that had been killed in this manner and method. None as poignant as this one. What we often have seen as just a fact in the story of the crucifixion has deeper meaning and significance than can ever be spoken.
A sign placed above Jesus’ head that gives the truth of the Good News that we all need to hear. Our God, planned from the beginning to give his own Son’s life for the sake of our sinful selves. All of the ritual lambs and goats and doves could never make up for our guilt. Only the sacrifice of God Himself could give us what we need to live eternally.
Maybe this is the first time you’ve heard the good news of Jesus’ sacrifice. Just wait until you hear about his resurrection! We’d love to share that with you as well.
INVITATION
