Pilate’s Inscription: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews
I’m using what Scripture says Pilate wrote as the title. Every story has a title. Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. Other gospels say it was a superscription. It was his accusation. But John tells us it was the title. So I’m just going to take off of that and I want to tell you first of all about the title of the story. There’s something in a title. You’ve read books. You pick up a book. The first thing you do, you pick up the hymnbook. First thing you do, you look at that hymnbook. What kind of songs are in that? Gospel songs. How do you figure that out? You must be real smart. Either that, or you can read. But somebody wrote in gold letters the gospel hymnbook.
And so without even opening the hymnbook, you know that the songs in this book are gospel songs. They’re hymns. And there’s a collection of them in here. And you pick that all up just from the title. Well, there’s certain things you’ll pick up from this title. And many people went by the cross and they read the title because a title has got to be clear. Nothing complicated about that title, is there? Perfectly clear. And as people walk by the cross and as you read in the scriptures the title, listen to what it says. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Nothing foggy about that, is it? This is the story of Jesus. Whatever else you might know about religion or don’t know about religion, this is the story of Jesus.
Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Doesn’t tell you everything about it in the title, but you do get this. And don’t forget it. We’re preaching unto you Jesus. You need Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. You can’t afford to miss Jesus. That’s in the title. Title must be clear. But the title is also very concise. Doesn’t tell you the whole story, but there’s enough in that title that you know you know where he was from. He was from Nazareth. How do you know that? Said Jesus of Nazareth. You know what his claim was? King of the Jews. You pick all that up from the title. It’s it’s very concise, but it’s all there.
And you can see you can see the controversy that’s going to arise from that because even people in that day knew can any good thing come out come out of Nazareth? That was the first response of a man that heard about Jesus. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth, but that’s just concisely put together in the title.
Why “King of the Jews” Demands an Explanation
But a title also draws you in. It’s very capturing. The essence of the story is captured in this title. You know what the story is going to be about? It’s going to be about Jesus. It’s going to be about the Jews. It’s going to be about a king. And it’s going to be about a kingdom. Don’t you want to know about that story? I remember as a boy I’m dating myself now. Okay, I’m an old man. I don’t care. I grew up where you had a library card and you went to the library all the time. That was in my day and I used to walk. It was all just under a mile to the library from my house. But I used to go there because I got introduced to the Hardy Boy books and the library had them all. I had three or four of them, but the library had all those books.
And I can remember just picking them just going down the backs of those books and pulling them out and in gold letters, the mystery of the secret hollow or the mystery of the buried treasure. And I didn’t know what was in the book, but the title would capture me. And I take two or three of those books. Those are the best ones. And I’d take them just by the title. There was something about the title that captured my attention. That’s why they wrote titles like that. That’s why they put them on the spine of books. That’s why they emboss them in gold letters on the cover to capture your attention. Little did Pilate know when he wrote that title and put it on the cross, God used that to the Greeks, to the Romans, and to the Jews.
It was written in three languages to capture the attention of the hundreds and hundreds of people that passed by the cross that day. Multitudes passed by and something about that title captured their attention so that they would want to know what’s going on here. Don’t you want to know why Jesus ended up on a cross? Don’t you want to know why a king is being crucified? Don’t you want to know why they let him outside the capital of the Jews, Jerusalem? and nailed them to a cross just outside the city. Why are the Jews rejecting their king? Why are the Romans crucifying their king? What’s going on here? There’s something in that title that should capture your attention tonight.
And I hope it does because I want to tell you the story of Jesus, of Jesus and his love.
Who Wrote the Story of Calvary?
Not just the title of the story, but let’s look for a moment at the author of this story. We read that the Jews said to Pilate, “Oh, don’t write he’s the king of the Jews.” They didn’t believe it. He was, but they didn’t believe it. So, they said, “Don’t don’t write he’s the king of the Jews. Write he said I’m the king of the Jews.” Listen to Pilate’s answer. What I have written, I have written. I’m writing this story, not you. You see, the Jews wanted to write the story, and if they wrote the story, there’d be no salvation because they rejected Jesus. Pilate wanted to write the story because Rome said, “We’re the masters. You listen to us. We tell the story. You bow to it.” But no, no. No, no.
Rome didn’t write the story and neither did the Jews write the story. This story comes right from the very heart of God. It’s a story written by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It’s a story of the ages. It’s the whole reason for your existence. This story is the story of God’s love to us. The Bible tells us that this story was written by holy men of God moved by the Holy Spirit. Very simple way to explain that is this. See that pen? That pen can’t write. Oh yes, it has ink. It works. But you know what that pen needs in order to write? Needs someone to move it. And as I move that pen, the pen writes, but I’m writing. The Holy Spirit picked up men like I pick up that pen. And the Holy Spirit began to move those men to write the story.
The Holy Spirit wrote the story, but the father wrote the story. Listen to this. Hebrews chapter 1. God who in sundry times and diverse manners spake unto the fathers by the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son. God wrote the story. Listen to the words of the Lord Jesus. He that heareth my word, my word, and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life. The son wrote the story. This is a story that comes right from the heart of the triune God. This is God’s story of love for fallen mankind. Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. But the author of the story is none other than God himself. So why would God write a story? It’s the story of God’s love. That text right there on the wall, you can look at it.
That tells why God wrote the story. He wrote it out of love for your soul. God so loved the world and he told the story of his son. He gave his son. It’s actually the greatest love story that was ever written. It’s God’s love toward us. It’s how God loved a fallen, lost, sinful world and set out to save us from our sins. We didn’t want to be saved. That’s why we’re preaching tonight. This place is not packed out. People aren’t lining the streets to get in here. They don’t want the story. But God moved toward us. God’s love was shown toward us in sending his son. What a story.
The Night I Stopped Trying to Figure Out Salvation
Let me tell you in the last few minutes. Again, I’ve been trying to tell you this story for all week. Now, this is Saturday. So, for the whole week, I’ve been trying to tell you this story because I want to tell you the story beneath the title. Okay? Right underneath that title was the Lord Jesus nailed to a cross. And that tells the story. He was crucified. How does that tell the story? This is Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. What is a king doing on a cross? contrary to everything in nature, everything that we as humans do. The king sits on his throne and he sends out his soldiers to fight for king and crown. Isn’t that the way it works? But not this story.
This is a story of a king who’s suffering for his own subjects, his own people. This is a king who’s fighting for his own. This is a story of a king whose suffering that his people might be saved. That’s the story of Jesus. God so loved the world that he gave and can I interject there? Gave his own begotten only begotten son to the cross to suffer to bleed and to die to put away our sins. That’s what Christ was doing on the cross. He’s a suffering king that he might bring us into the kingdom of God. Remember what he said to Nicodemus the other night? The man that came to Jesus by night, he said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” What’s Christ doing on the cross?
He’s a king of a real kingdom and he’s suffering for the sins of his people so that they can enter the kingdom. Now let me ask you, did he suffer for your sins? He suffered for mine. I’ll never forget the night I understood that I was older than Tim. I was 16 years old and I couldn’t figure out God’s salvation. I somehow had it in mind. See, when I was in 10th grade, that’s when I got saved. When I was in 10th grade, one of the biggest rages going through that school was that crazy Rubik’s cube. Everybody had one. Everybody was doing it. And I couldn’t figure that thing out. That’s what I figured salvation was like. If I could just get the colors to line up, if I could just twist it the right way, I’d be saved.
And I used to sit with my Bible sometimes and figure and twist and turn it and read it and turn and read it. And I just couldn’t get the pieces to line up right. I just couldn’t get the pieces to fall in place. I just couldn’t figure this thing out. And like I often did with the Rubik’s cube, I’d throw it across the room. The night I got saved, I slammed my Bible closed and I threw it under the bed and I said, “I can’t get it. I can’t figure it out.” I remember walking across the bedroom and hitting the light switch. I was angry at God for not saving me. I was angry at myself for being too stupid to figure it out. And instead of just jumping in bed, for some reason, I dropped to my knees and I just said, “Oh, God, I’m too stupid to be saved.
I’ll just have to die and go to hell, an ungodly sinner.” And right there, I understood that’s why Christ died. Christ died for the ungodly. And I thought, “No, no, that can’t be.” And I remember sitting back on my heels and thinking, “No, John, you didn’t figure anything out.” But I knew Christ died for the ungodly. I’m the ungodly. Jesus died for me. And I simply bowed my head back down on the bed and I said, “Thank you, Lord Jesus, for dying for me. I’m saved.” That’s what he’s doing on the cross. It’s the story of a suffering savior, the savior of sinners who’s dying for the ungodly. Did he die for you? As a boy of 16, I found out he died for me and I simply thanked him.
Christ, the Sacrifice for Sin
But it’s not only the story of a suffering king for his subjects. I’ve told you in nights past, and I’m going to repeat it again tonight. This is the sacrifice for sin beyond what Pilate did and beyond what the soldiers did in crucifying him. Beyond what the Jews did in rejecting him and bringing him to Calvary. Beyond all the works of men, the Lord Jesus went to the cross like a lamb led to the slaughter. He went to the cross like a lamb going to the altar. He went to the cross as a sacrifice for sin. And as that sacrifice for sin, he paid the price of sin in full. He was a sacrifice wholly accepted by God. God finally had a sacrifice that could put away sin. All the other sacrifices covered sins for a season.
But Christ put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And under that title, Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews, is the sacrifice for sin. That’s what this story is all about. There is one sacrifice that God has accepted. And anyone who lays their hand on this sacrifice and says that’s my sacrifice for my sin, God accepts. Do no more. One sacrifice. If you claim Christ as your sacrifice, God will accept you. No other sacrifice will do. You must have Christ because this is the sacrifice for sins.
Christ, the Sinner’s Substitute
But lastly, and probably one of the sweetest things about this story, it’s a love story. You know, it’s not only about God’s love, but it’s about Christ’s love. In order to save us from our sins, out of love for our souls, he traded places. He took our place. You should have died on a cross for your own sin. I should die for my sin. But Christ loved us so much that he said, “Step aside, John. I’ll step in your place.” And that’s what he did. He took the guilty sinner’s place and suffered in our stead. The hymn writer said for us men, the savior bled. He took our place. Can you understand that tonight? This is the story of the sinner’s substitute.
And God is satisfied to accept the substitute in the place of the sinner and punish him as if he punished you. as if he punished me and demand that the payment must be paid to the uttermost farthing. Not a sin escaped. Here’s how the scripture says it. Romans chapter 8, he God spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. He didn’t hold back. All that we deserved. All that we should have suffered, God poured out on his own son at Calvary because he was our substitute. I’m glad he was my substitute. And I can clearly say I don’t need to die for my sins. They’ve been paid for because I died in the person of my substitute when Jesus died for me. And Pilate wrote the title, but God wrote the story. Can you find your place in that story?
As a lost sinner for whom Christ died, if you could tonight, you could be saved because Jesus took our place. The Lord Jesus suffered, bled, and died for the guilty, that the guilty might go free.
