As Jesus was being crucified, a sign placed above his head proclaimed, “The King of the Jews.”
Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
As Jesus was being crucified, a sign placed above his head proclaimed, “The King of the Jews.” The nearby leaders and soldiers mocked Jesus, saying “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” They did not realize that Jesus was exercising his royal duty by giving up his life for others. They did not understand that, by not saving himself, Jesus was becoming the Savior of the world. He was a most unexpected King who would offer most unexpected salvation.
All four of the biblical gospels report that a sign was placed above Jesus on the cross. It identified him as “the King of the Jews” (23:38). It had been put there by soldiers following the specific orders of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect of Judea. But we mustn’t read this as Pilate’s statement of faith in Jesus. Rather, the prefect was seeking to mock Jesus and, indeed, all of the Jewish people. The terrible power of Rome, seen horrendously in the act of crucifixion, was what came down on any who proclaimed a kingdom other than that of Caesar. Pilate was saying, in effect, “You mess with our kingdom, this is what you get. Here, you trouble-making Jews, is your king, dying horribly on a Roman cross. Deal with it!” (In art, Pilate’s sign is often represented by the letters “INRI,” which represent the Latin words meaning “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”)
Of course, Pilate didn’t grasp the irony of the sign he had placed above Jesus. He did not believe that Jesus was in any way a true king. John’s Gospel records a snippet of conversation between Pilate and Jesus, in which Pilate asked Jesus if he was the king of the Jews (John 18:33). Jesus responded that his kingdom was “not from this world” (John 18:36). That seemed to satisfy Pilate, who changed the subject by asking “What is truth?” (John 18:38). He saw that Jesus was nothing like a real king, one with earthly power and authority. Jesus wouldn’t be sitting on a royal throne. He’d soon be hanging on a Roman cross, which is about as far from real kingship as one could be, from Pilate’s point of view.
The irony of Pilate’s sign is that it was true, but not in the way Pilate understood it. Jesus had indeed proclaimed the kingdom of God. He had acted in ways that revealed his own kingly authority. Yet he was not the king in any ordinary sense. He looked nothing like a true king from the Roman point of view. And he did not fulfill the kingly role that the Jewish people expected of the true messiah. In particular, Jesus did not save his people from Roman political domination. That’s what the messianic king was supposed to do, according to Jewish speculation. But Jesus didn’t exercise that kind of power, nor did he aspire to it.
Moreover, though he had been known as a miracle worker, Jesus’s saving power appeared to have deserted him on the cross. The Jewish leaders watching the crucifixion said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” (Luke 23:35). The Roman soldiers chimed in with their mockery, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” (23:37). Yet, what neither the leaders nor the soldiers understood was that Jesus, as God’s messianic King, had no intention of saving himself. He had come to save others. In fact, he had come to save others through his death. If Jesus had accessed divine power to save himself from the cross, then he would not have become the Savior of the world.
Jesus was a most unexpected King. No true king, from the Jewish and Roman perspectives, would die on a cross. No true king would sacrifice himself for the sake of others.
Jesus was a most unexpected Savior. Nobody other than Jesus himself, not even his closest followers, understood that the salvation of Jesus would come through his death on the cross. What appeared to be the ultimate defeat of Jesus and his mission was, in fact, the victory of God over sin and death.
Jesus is not just the King of the Jews, however. He is the true king over all things. He is the king on whose robe is inscribed, “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16). Everything on earth and in heaven belongs ultimately to King Jesus. One day his sovereignty will be recognized as every knee bows before him (Philippians 2:10). In the meanwhile, we who follow Jesus have the chance to acknowledge his kingly authority both in our words and in our lives. We proclaim King Jesus through living each moment under his sovereignty by seeking his justice, sharing his grace, and showing his love.
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