By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 1045am Svc, 2010-11-21

Text: John 19:16-24

One of the most important milestones in history was the invention of the movable type printing press in 1450 by Johannes Gutenberg. The first major book to be printed on that press was the Bible and only 180 copies were printed. This was followed by a proliferation of printing presses and thousands of Bibles in various languages printed within the next century. 

One very memorable printed edition of the Bible was a reprint of the King James Version by a printing company in London in 1631. But there was one very glaring error in this Bible which was not discovered until after a thousand copies had been printed. It was the omission of only one word: the word 'not' from the seventh commandment in Exodus chapter 20 which changed that commandment to read, 'Thou shalt commit adultery.' As a result of this serious omission, the printers were fined $300 (which was about a month's salary) and their printing licence was revoked. Most copies of this Bible (which became known as 'the Wicked Bible') were destroyed and only 11 of them have survived and are found in some museum collections today. This demonstrates the great consequences that a mere omission in printing can produce. 

This morning we are going to see how an omission in a piece of writing had great consequences as well. But this time, the omission had the effect of bringing out an important truth to the whole world - it brought out the real truth about the One who was dying on a cross. 

The passage of Scripture describes how our Lord Jesus was crucified. After Pilate had yielded to the intense pressure from the Jews to sentence Him to death, the Roman soldiers made Jesus carry His own cross to a place outside Jerusalem called Golgotha. It was about 9 am in the morning when they stripped Him and nailed Him to the cross. And two thieves were crucified at the same time, with Jesus right in between them. For the next 6 hours, Jesus endured the excruciating agony of a slow and painful death. It is said that crucifixion is the most cruel, most degrading and most diabolical form of execution ever invented by man. It was only used to punish pirates, rebellious slaves and the worst criminals in society.

The victim was fully exposed to the heat of the sun by day and to the chilly air of the night. The tension on the outstretched arms made it very difficult for him to breathe normally, causing moisture to accumulate in his lungs. Death resulted from a combination of factors including hunger, dehydration, loss of blood, hypovolemic shock and infection of the nail wounds. Besides the physical torture, there was also the emotional torture of being completely naked before a gaping crowd. Roman crucifixion was always carried out in a very public place with plenty of human traffic in order to maximise the victim's humiliation. That is why it was considered the most shameful and disgraceful way to die.

In the case of Jesus, all this was further aggravated by the insults that were hurled at him by the soldiers, chief priests, scribes and even by the two thieves who were crucified beside him. To make matters worse, the soldiers who crucified Him divided up His garments and cast lots for His coat right there in front of him.

Just imagine right now that you are one of those who were traveling to Jerusalem on that fateful morning. As you approach the gate on the northern side of the city you begin to hear a lot of groaning and shouting of very harsh words. When you look for the cause of the commotion you notice an unusually large crowd of people gathered around three wooden crosses on which human victims have been nailed. You observe that the most vocal ones in the crowd are the highest-ranking Jews of the city. And they seem to be particularly unkind to the victim on the middle cross. In fact this victim seems to be bearing the brunt of humiliation from everyone there including the other two victims. And so from what you see, you draw your own conclusion, 'This surely has to be a very wicked man. He must have done something really evil to be treated like this.' 

Out of curiosity you now go a bit nearer to find out exactly what this victim has done. You know that when the Romans conduct executions they usually place a signboard above each victim with his crime written on it. And so you look up at the signboards that are nailed to the three crosses. You read the victim's name and crime on the signboards of the right and left crosses. Both of them are thieves who had committed many acts of armed robbery. But the signboard that really puzzles you is the one on the middle cross, because there seems to be no charge or accusation of any crime on it. All that it says in three different languages is, 'This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.' 

If this Jesus of Nazareth is really the King of the Jews, as the signboard says, then why is He being crucified? And why is He so terribly maligned and humiliated by His own subjects? Why are the Jews not giving their king the honour He deserves from them? These were probably the kind of questions on the minds of many people who passed by Golgotha that day when they read the strange piece of writing that was attached to the cross of Jesus. The answers to these questions come in the form of three truths about that piece of writing. Firstly,

I. The Jews Wanted it to Depict Their Charge against Jesus.

According to v.21 when the chief priests of the Jews read the piece of writing they immediately complained to Pilate that it should read 'Jesus of Nazareth: He said, 'I am King of the Jews.'' And they were quite right. The purpose of the piece of writing was to correctly depict the charge for which Jesus was crucified. 

In our last two sermons on John's Gospel we had seen that when the chief priests and scribes brought Jesus to be tried by Pilate, their main accusation was that Jesus was a dangerous threat to the Roman Empire because He tried to make Himself the King of the Jews to start a rebellion. But when Pilate examined Him on this charge he found that the kingship that Jesus claimed was only a spiritual one and not a political one. Hence Jesus posed no threat at all to the Roman Empire, and Pilate rightly declared that he found no fault in Jesus. 

But after that the Jews put great pressure on Pilate: They threatened to report him to Caesar if he were to release someone who had claimed to be a king. Since Pilate loved his position as the Procurator of Judea he reluctantly gave orders to have Jesus crucified. The Jews were of course very happy about this. Their evil scheme had worked well. They must have thought, 'How smart we are to have used this accusation against Jesus, one that the Romans simply cannot tolerate.' The Jews wouldn't have had any success if they had used the real charge they had all condemned Jesus for in their own trial: The charge of blasphemy for claiming to be the Son of God. 

Little did they know that their scheme would backfire on them through the piece of writing that would be placed on the cross: 'Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.' It was supposed to read, 'Jesus of Nazareth: He said, 'I am King of the Jews.'' 

And since it was to be read by everyone, they thought that this piece of writing would justify the crucifixion of Jesus in the eyes of all men and free their own conscience from bearing any guilt for it. But they did not anticipate that Pilate would omit the words, 'He said, I am' from the piece of writing.

These omitted words made a lot of difference. Without them the writing was a proclamation rather than an accusation. It described Jesus instead of denouncing Him. And it had the effect of condemning the Jews because they would now be implicated as those who had put their own king to death. And this was probably what Pilate intended his writing to do, as we now see in the second point of our sermon.

II. Pilate Used it to Display His Contempt for the Jews

You will notice that when the Jews complained to him about his writing Pilate did not say, 'I am so sorry for the glaring omission. I must have been too tired when I wrote it. I will have it corrected at once.' No. He just looked at them and said with cold defiance, 'What I have written, I have written.' He must have been laughing within himself and savouring the sweetness of his psychological revenge. Now at last the Jews were paying dearly for forcing him to do their dirty work against Jesus!

We can learn a useful lesson from this: Whatever evil a person may scheme will backfire on him later on, for 'whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.' (Galatians 6:7) Please do not think that you can get away with sin and that you will not have to face its adverse effects for the Bible says, 'Be sure your sin will find you out' (Numbers 32:23). In the case of these Jews, Pilate was the one who made them pay for what they had done. But in the case of every unsaved sinner, God will be the one to exact the full payment. And it is a most fearful thing to face His righteous judgment. Let all sinners be warned that they have incurred God's wrath by their sins. 

And even though what Pilate did to the Jews here may have been used of God to make them pay for their sin, Pilate himself will have to answer to God for his own sinful motive of seeking revenge. What he wrote on that piece of writing was meant to display his personal contempt for the Jews. History records that Pilate could never get along with the Jews throughout his entire term as the Roman Procurator of Judea. He disliked them so much that he used any opportunity he had to put them down. And now he wanted them to be ridiculed by the world as a people who crucified their own king, and who really should be crucified along with Him. 

It was not that Pilate had any respect or regard for Jesus when he wrote the words, 'This is Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews' and placed it on the cross. If he had any respect or regard for Jesus, he would never have allowed His crucifixion to take place. To Pilate, the kingship of Jesus was merely a convenient means he could use to fulfill his own selfish purpose.

Do you know that many people today do the very same thing as Pilate? They make use of the name of Jesus as a means to fulfill their own selfish ends. Some proclaim that Jesus is king because doing so brings them good fortune. There are entertainers and singers and song writers who would praise the name of Jesus with music only because it boosts their sales and fills their coffers with wealth. In the world of Contemporary Christian Music one name that stands out is Amy Grant. She distinguished herself as the best-selling contemporary Christian music singer who has also gained recognition from the world as a contemporary pop singer, winning 6 Grammy awards. She became known as 'The Queen of Christian Pop.' But Amy Grant has absolutely no qualms about using foul language and in expressing views favouring pre-marital sex and rock music.

Let me say this: Anyone who uses the name of Jesus to gain popularity, power or prosperity is actually no different from Pilate who used the name of Jesus in his writing to display his contempt for the Jews. So please be careful not to use the name of Jesus as a means to fulfill your selfish ambitions and desires. If you really want to honour Christ, you must give Him the rightful place He deserves in your life as your Lord and King. Live your life fully for the Lord Jesus alone. And seek to exalt Him in everything you do so that the world may know that Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. And that was also the ultimate reason for the piece of writing that was placed on the cross of Jesus, as we now see in the next point of the sermon.

III. God Planned it to Declare Christ's Lordship to the World

Even though the writing of the words 'Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews' had emerged out of the sinful dealings between the Jews and Pontius Pilate, it providentially became the most accurate proclamation of the truth about Jesus, broadcast publicly in three main languages of that day. According to v.20 it was written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Latin was the legal and official language of Roman Empire. Greek was the international language of the world at that time - this is why the New Testament was originally written in Greek. Hebrew was the language of Israel, the nation God used to reveal Himself to the world. 

Thus this writing was meant to be read and understood by all men, regardless of race, language, age or social distinction. It declared to the whole world the amazing truth that Jesus was crucified as a King. Although He was being humiliated as the worst of criminals and suffering great agony on the cross, He was in reality the almighty King sacrificing His own life to save His people. 

Here was a King who is truly different from every other king or ruler this world has ever known. The kings of this world expect to be served and defended by all their subjects. But this King came to serve His subjects by saving them from sin and destruction. The kings of this world claim allegiance from their subjects either by force, or by right of inheritance or by being elected into office. But this King claims us for His own by redeeming us from eternal death and by receiving the punishment for our sins and dying in our place. He who knew no sin was made to bear our sins on the cross, so that we might be saved forever. 

Actually each of the four main words in this piece of writing on the cross bears wonderful testimony to these things. The first word, 'Jesus' means 'The LORD is salvation.' It reveals to those who read the writing with spiritual discernment that this very act of dying on the cross was the means by which God would save His people. 

The second word, 'Nazareth' is the name of the town in Galilee where Jesus grew up. But it also means 'Branch' (Hebrew: netser) which is a well-known designation for the promised Messiah of Israel. This can be seen in Jeremiah 23:5 'Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.' (cf. Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 33:15; Zechariah 3:8; 6:12) Hence the word 'Nazareth' tells all who read it with discernment that the one who was dying on the cross was from the royal line of King David. 

The next word, 'King' reveals to them that He who was dying on the cross reigns supreme even on the cross. He was not a helpless victim subject to the whims and fancies of wicked men. It was by His own sovereign will that He was nailed to the cross, to fulfill His glorious purpose for all His subjects. The last word on the piece of writing, 'Jews is actually derived from the name of the tribe of Judah, which means, 'He shall be praised.' It reveals that His act of dying on the cross would soon bring Him glory and praise. 

And so when we put all this together, we see that the piece of writing was God's declaration to all mankind that right here on this very cross is the true Messianic King who is accomplishing His sovereign will of saving sinners by whom He will be praised. 

This is the message that God wants all who look at the cross to receive. And we know that there was at least one person there who who understood it and responded to it. It was one of the thieves who were crucified with Jesus. This dying thief had at first joined the crowd in hurling insults at Jesus. But after some time he stopped doing it and even rebuked the other thief for continuing to hurl insults at Jesus. Then he turned to Jesus and said to Him, 'Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.' (Luke 23:42) These words indicate strongly that what caused this thief to change was that piece of writing on the cross that said, 'Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.' The thief had read this and pondered over its meaning. He had noticed how unusual it was - that there was no accusation of any crime in it, but a proclamation that Jesus is King. 

He may also have observed the Roman soldiers dividing up the garments of Jesus and casting lots for his coat, and he may have recognized that this was an exact fulfillment of Psalm 22:18 'They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.' And he may have recalled what was written in the latter part of that same psalm, 'All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the LORD'S: and he is the governor among the nations.' (vv.27-28)

And this may well have confirmed to that dying thief that he too needs to turn to the Lord now before he it is too late. He needs to acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth as his king in the hope that he may be among those who will worship Him when He comes into His kingdom. And when the dying thief did that Jesus replied to him, 'Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.' (Luke 23:43)

The message of the writing on the cross got through loud and clear to that dying thief and it brought him to salvation. Perhaps it may also get through to someone here today. Dear friends, if you have not turned to Jesus for salvation yet, I urge you to not to put it off any more. Look at the cross where the Saviour died, and behold how greatly He loves sinners like you and me.

Read carefully the writing on it that says, 'This is Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.' Can you see Him now as the great king who accomplishes His sovereign will of saving sinners by whom He will be praised? Will you obey His royal command to turn from your sins right now and ask Him for salvation? Will you be one of those who will praise Him for saving you? Will you hear the Lord Jesus saying to you when you die, 'To day shalt thou be with me in paradise'?

I trust that this message of the writing on the cross will speak not only to the unsaved in our midst, but to all of us who are saved as well. I believe it is saying to us that since the King we worship has suffered so much on the cross to save us from sin, we should not be unwilling to suffer for Him in our service. If we truly understand the message of that piece of writing well, we will no longer live as we do now - so complacent in our comfortable lives, so cold in our love and devotion to Christ, and so unwilling to give of our best to Him. How can we call Him our King if all that we give to Him are the leftovers of our time, talents and treasures? How can we call Jesus our King if we are not prepared to deny self, take up our cross daily and follow Him? (Luke 9:23)

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