Day 26
John 19: 19-22
19Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." 20Many 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. 21So 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.'" 22Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written."
King of the Jews (John 19: 19-22)
Pilate had written a sign to be fastened to the cross (verse 19). In the three great languages of the ancient world it said, 'Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews'. In these final chapters John emphasizes the kingship of Jesus. The Jews might have rejected him, the Roman authorities were too spineless to defend him, but John wants everybody to see that he was King. It helped that the inscription was in these three languages. The 'Hebrew' was Aramaic which was the local dialect; Latin was the official language of the government; and Greek was the commonly understood language of the empire. Whoever saw the sign would have been able to read it in one language or another.
Think: Once again, John emphasizes the kingship of Jesus. How? What does it imply for us?
