Lenten Midweek #3: Glory of Golgotha
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Trinity Lutheran Church-Columbia, MO
St. John 19:19-22
And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was Jesus Of Nazareth The King Of The Jews. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written I have written. (KJV)
The murder of Jesus, as gruesome and horrifying as it was, was masked behind the rule of law and due process. Jesus was formally condemned by duly appointed ecclesiastical, civil, and imperial authorities. When the execution of the sentence was pronounced upon Him, no formalities were overlooked; meaning, that as was custom, Pilate had a title, a superscription, prepared and fastened on the cross over Jesus’ head. It was normal for the Romans to do this, to publish the charges against the condemned person.
The title devised by Pilate was calculated to heighten the ignominy of the crucifixion, and probably also to raise the ire of the Jews, whom he despised as the most detestable creatures under Roman rule in all the empire. In Pilate’s sign is the attitude of slander, which is, of course, the attitude of all men who are held in spiritual blindness, whether out of ignorance or of spite. It brushed aside all considerations of right and fairness. The Romans, like all civilized peoples, showed some degree of respect for the human dignity of a condemned criminal and for the solemnity of judicial proceedings. Not so, however, in the case of Christ. He was not treated like the usual criminal, but was made the object of hatred and enmity; the roots of this hatred were sewn into the very cells of His accusers, this hatred of God had corrupted human nature since the Fall and persists to this day. The hatred of Christ spurned all considerations of decency. It was contrary to law and order when a servant of the court struck Jesus on the cheek, and also when in the palace of Caiaphas and in the judgment hall of Pilate, the soldiers insulted and spit upon Him taunted Him with bitter mockery. At the crucifixion, the hostile world and all fallen creation gushed forth vitriol from the bowels of Satan’s tyranny without restraint. Even Pilate contributed his share of ridicule because the title he prepared for Jesus was given out of scorn. Even if he hated the Jews, he still let their ridicule and abuse flow into the superscription and injured the integrity of Roman law.
And yet, in the same way that Christ was delivered up according to the counsel and foreknowledge of God, the guiding hand of Almighty God in the use of the superscription is seen: in what Pilate wrote and did and what he did and did not do in response to what the Jews vainly desired. God directed the thoughts and hand of Pilate. Just as Caiaphas uttered a truth against his knowledge and when he said, “It is expedient for us, that one should die for the people and that the whole nation not perish (John 11:50), so also the libel posted above Jesus’ head has a deeper meaning. To this meaning Pilate remained in ignorance; knowing nothing and remaining in darkness. All four evangelists report this incident down to the smallest detail, making it evident that the superscription was more than a legal formality gone wrong. It fulfilled divine purpose; it is preserved by the Holy Spirit for our good. The superscription is Christ’s own testimony of Himself shedding light on the meaning of His torture, suffering, and dying. By the counsel of the Holy Spirit we understand the real meaning of these words; He has enlightened them for us and gloriously fulfilled them before our eyes. And the mystery of God is that we, as Christians, by faith, would also write no other title than this: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Even if we were to use other words, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” or “This is Christ, the Promised Messiah” or “The Son of God, the Savior of the World” it would express the very same meaning Pilate published in ignorance. Even the Jews in their seething contempt suspected and inkling of truth and so asked Pilate for a correction, they asked for an emendation, “This man said…” . Thus, it is a superscription, a title and testimony of honor that God caused to be hung above the hanged Son through the hand of the unrighteous.
May the Lord enlighten and bless us as we consider the Title of the Cross: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Although Pilate’s work was intended to be a stigma, by God’s hand, it has become a title of honor which believers will cherish and praise unto eternity.
Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews. These words, supposedly, the reason why Christ was sentenced to death remind us of the Jews’ accusation: Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Cesar, or is no friend of Cesar’s (Jn. 19:12). The Jews presented their Messiah as a seditious man before the court; a rebel; a traitor to the empire when they delivered Him up to Pilate. The accusation and the verdict rendered by Pilate and the title of the verdict fastened above the cross, were lies, the most disgraceful slander. With all the appearance of truth, with a show of right and might, clever deception looking like due process, with the credentials and seal of Cesar, even the most impudent lies are frequently confirmed and receive respect and approval. History is littered with judicial miscarriages which the public readily swallows: whether it be Caligula’s brilliant Incitatus or a white Ford Bronco going down the interstate.
To paint Jesus as a seditionary, the Jews were right that in Pilate would have needed to write more precisely, “This man said, ‘I am king of the Jews.’” Pilate’s curt reply, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” pointed to the special purpose of the Roman judge. To some extent it reveals that Pilate may have indeed heard something of the hope of Israel; that he knew the Jews expected a Messiah, a King. In his dealing with them, it seemed likely that he would have learned that some honored and believed in Jesus as the promised Messiah. Yet, this belief and hope of the Jews Pilate desired to ridicule in the superscription. Now that they had handed over their Messiah in whom they hoped, it is as if Pilate said to them: “You have delivered your long-awaited Messiah into the hands of a heathen judge to have Him crucified! You fools! You surely must be the stupidest people in all the world! You mock your own hope and your own religion.” Pilate had indeed taunted them earlier when he asked, “Shall I crucify your King, your Messiah?” The Jews bound Pilate to sentence Jesus when he would have rather set Him free and spared himself the political trouble. Now, he avenges himself against them by deliberately describing this condemned man as the King of the Jews. Since Jesus truly was the Messiah, of whom Moses and Prophets had written, Pilate’s mockery boomeranged. The Son of the Most High had come to redeem these men and save them, but He was rewarded with mockery, ridicule, and shame for His great love. Christ took the mockery and ridicule upon Himself, remaining silent to the false accusations of His foes. Even on the cross He let all their invective pass over him and endured the mockery above His head.
When we look at the correct understanding of this reproach of Christ, when we consider the superscription carefully, we see that we are greatly alarmed and saddened that it does, in fact, point to our own shame. Because we have sinned, have sinned so disgracefully, Christ had to bear the disgrace. We lost our honor before God and men. If men speak disparagingly of us, we can hardly complain; and in God’s sight our reputation is even worse. We have nothing of which we can boast. We have stained ourselves a thousand times over. And we are still greedy for vainglory, seeking honor among men, fly into fits of passion, grow angry with our neighbors even for minor annoyances, or include only people we like in our lives. We relentlessly chase after honor, power, glory, reputation, respect. They are truly nothing; they vanish like chaff in the wind; they look like lies when we place ourselves under Christ’s cross attempting to cling to them and hope they avail us before God. But under the feet of Christ our true titles are affixed to us: poor, worthless, dishonorable creatures. In view of Christ’s cross and disgrace, our inordinate desire to flatter ourselves and our friends with beautiful, honorific names and titles, and eulogies should disappear, indeed we throw them off with embarrassment for clinging to them even a little bit. At all times we should confess in truth what we are: wretched, vile sinners, playing favorites. The only way we are honored and have any hope of being lifted up comes only by the disgrace and the cross of Christ
With that superscription Pilate revealed not only his own mind, but the attitude of the godless world. Ever since the crucifixion of Jesus, the world has ridiculed the possibility of a suffering Savior. Such is the attitude of blindness. The world constantly mocks and disdains the hope, the faith, the religion of Christians which is: Christ the Crucified. A king on a cross? The world can only assume this is the height of delusion. And yet even in its dismissal of it, it is still angry and bitter, much like the request of the Jews denied by Pilate. A Lord and King who with His cross and ignominy reveals the world’s vanity, how it refuses to acknowledge Him instead preferring its own might, honor, wealth, and glory. It is not enough to dismiss Christ, He must be forever be ridiculed. And just like the Jews at Jesus’ execution the world endeavors to make the King and His Cross contemptible in the eyes of men.
All who bear Christ’s name must also bear and share in Christ’s disgrace. He who truly confesses the name of Christ more highly than all the treasures and empty delights of sin and all the comforts of earth; he who prefers dwelling beneath the Cross to living in peace and comfort; he who sincerely acknowledges allegiance to Christ, will and must also be despised, ridiculed, hated, even persecuted, for the sake of Christ. That was the title the holy martyrs bore on their heads, for they loved their lives not even unto death. They knew whatever sins they had committed would be forgiven, even if it meant a weak confession of faith. Pagan Rome did and Hedonistic America can tolerate everything else about the Christian religion if only those who believe will deny Christ and shut up about the Crucified One. But it is only at the price of being shamed for the name and cross of Christ that a Christian can gain immunity from ridicule and contempt! We have not resisted to the point of shedding blood, therefore you must not be timid about asking employers to accommodate your commitment to worship and serving the church and putting all other things second to your life here and suffer for it. You must be shamed to be set free from shame. Blessed are all who are reviled for the Name of Jesus and are willing to let themselves be reviled!
Therefore, what is reproach among men is honor before God. The superscription above Christ’s head becomes a title of honor which believers cherish and praise to all eternity.
The superscription is proof of Christ’s innocence. The only fault the Jews could find was “that He had made Himself a king” (John 19:21). Even Pilate soon realized the emptiness of their charge. Though they repeated this charge Pilate declared, “I find no fault in him.” The implication of that title was, “King of the Jews, true enough; but what a king?!” A king who permits Himself to be innocently bound and crucified! Truly Cesar has nothing to fear from such a king as this. The irony is that Pilate’s word proclaimed the innocence of Christ for all the world to hear and for all who read Holy Scripture. God so guided history that no other charge could be made against the Son. The charge is the Name which implies no blemish. The last and eternal High Priest bore on His bloody forehead the unblemished priestly plate the same as Aaron: “Holy to the Lord.” (Ex. 28:36).
The scorn and ridicule of the world must always serve to confirm the innocence and truthfulness of the Christian religion and thus the honor of Christ. God makes evil things, even the hatred of Christ, serve His purposes. He directs history. When the world mocks the foolish faith and hope of Christians, it really is only betraying its inability to find any real complaint against Christianity. It must acknowledge the Bible teaches nothing evil, that it presents beneficial teachings, that Christians are harmless people. That the world cannot bear to see Christians cling to Christ and adopt His attitude and the unusual way which we despise all that has worldly honor, that we deny and forsake the lust of the world, there is the real wrong with which the world charges Christians as enemies.
The four words on the Cross are worth our consideration to better see and praise the wisdom of God. Pilate did not know what he wrote, but by His Spirit God has revealed their meaning to us.
First was the Name Jesus, the name intended for Him from eternity, announced by the angel before His birth, the Name which is the hope of angels and the comfort of men. The name Jesus, Helper, Savior, Joshua. By His passion and bloody sweat, His sufferings on the cross, He has helped us and redeemed us from the curse, sin, and death. God has attached this Name to the Cross, and by it we should know that there is none other Name, given under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
Pilate also wrote Jesus the Nazarene. To be a Nazarene is to be a despised one. This name was given in fulfillment of prophecy, (Matt. 2:23) not that the Messiah would come from Nazareth, but that He would be despised because He was from there as the Psalmist prophesies, “But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head…” (Ps. 22:6-7). And Isaiah also says, “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (53:2-3). And Christ Jesus fulfilled this perfectly. Christ Jesus thought it robbery to use His divine nature, so He made Himself of no reputation, took upon Himself the form of a servant, and made in the likeness of men, and humbled Himself and become obedient to the eternal will of the Father, unto death, even, death of the cross (Php. 2:5-8). The despised shoot of David should hang from the cross because this is He whom the prophets testified. He become insignificant, despised, so that He might lift up us worthless creatures out of our dust and filth and honor us. This Nazarene, the despised one, should according to Scripture come into the world, grow, be exalted, and become a great King, not by show of force, but by humility unto death which the Jews in denial of Holy Scripture could not accept.
Pilate, therefore, logically added the third title, “King of the Jews.” In spite of the suffering and disgrace, but truly a King, the King of Israel, the Son of God of whom and to whom all of Holy Scripture testifies. This king has won, gained, and purchased our souls by His own very body and blood. Thus we have become His own, we are made the inheritance of His kingdom. Wandering Arameans no more are we, but by His cross He has made us His kingdom even though His own people despised Him. And by the preaching of His cross, the true Israel, the Church of God is gathered. Pilate wrote in three languages, and since then the Gospel of the Crucified Christ has been and is to be preached to all Creation. By a large gathering from all lands, peoples, and tongues, this King of Israel will be confessed as the true and living God by all who are His own forever and ever. And He will also be confessed as King, even by those who denied Him as their king, until their dying breath, and sadly unto eternal death. In the eyes the world this King, by His death, surrendered His kingdom, but it is by death that He has truly established and confirmed it. Strangest victory indeed.
It is the hand of God that directs the hearts of men. The Jews in their demand for Pilate to change what he had written is evidence of this. Pilate did not want to let himself be enslaved by the Jews, but his firm refusal to their demands came too late. This is the case with people who permit themselves to be misled. After they have consented to evil, it is too late. Their tempers grow brittle, and they turn in anger on those who deceived them. In your life, evil and sin, therefore, must be resisted in from the very outset. Yet, it was God’s wisdom that permitted Pilate to yield to the Jews and have Christ executed. Thus, the Divine will was carried out. Pilate’s indecision and compliance served God’s plan to save the world. Pilate’s early willingness served God’s purpose and so did his refusal to change the superscription of ironic honor that hung above our Lord. Through this, we see that Christ’s kingship is eternal, and all the malice and hatred of the ungodly cannot overturn His throne. Men cannot rob the Savior and Redeemer of His rightful title and honor, nor can they destroy the Kingdom of His Holy Church. Those who are Christ’s own through faith in His redeeming love cannot be overcome by any power of earth or hell. Their names inscribed in the Book of Life by the King’s own blood cannot be removed. What God has written He has written unto eternity. Pilate wrote His inscription for scorn, but it was truly written to verify as the promise our salvation.
To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
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