Thursday 10th April
Read Mark 15:25-26
“It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.” (NIVUK)
The Jewish leaders took offense at the title Pilate placed over Jesus and sought to change it – despite their bringing Jesus before Pilate under that very charge. Whilst Pilate likely intended to offend the Jewish leaders, ironically, by writing it in this way the early church accepted the witness as true. It was written in Aramaic, Greek and Latin so that ‘the whole world’ could read and understand why Jesus was being crucified.
To believe that Jesus is the King, or Messiah, of the Jews is at the very heart of the Christian faith. Early believers understood that all the events of Passover week led to that inexorable conclusion. From Jesus’ triumphal entry as king, his overthrow of the temple order to make room for the gentiles, the Passover meal where He declared that the new Kingdom and covenant will be established by His death, to the direct answer to the high priests’ question concerning who He is and his acceptance of that title from Pilate. At the heart of the cross is Jesus’ claim to be King.
By writing this above Him, in three languages, this ‘truth’ was declared to the world. A truth that the early believers could not be forced to deny. On pain of death.
