Image: A hypothetical reconstruction of the Titulus Crucis by P. L. Maier.
Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on John 19:13-22.
And Pilate wrote a title,
and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE
JEWS (John 19:19).
In Roman crucifixions, it was
common for there to be a titulus, a
placard or tablet, spelling out the crimes of the condemned. John says that the
providential, guiding hand of God was there, directing Pilate to write, “Jesus
of Nazareth the King of the Jews” (v. 19).
The location of the crucifixion
was public and visible: “for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to
the city” (v. 20). The inscription was tri-lingual, in Hebrew, Greek, and
Latin. Jews, Greeks, and Romans could all understand it. The inscription
accused the Lord Jesus of being an insurrectionist. It mocked him as a failed
king. But, ironically, it told the truth. The chief priests were so unnerved by
this that they tried to get Pilate to change it (v. 21), but Pilate refused (v.
22).
Thus, Calvin says, Pilate, a
reprobate man, “by a secret guidance” was “appointed to be a herald of the
gospel that he might publish a short summary of it in three languages.” The
tri-lingual note anticipates the Great Commission (Matt 28:19-20), that men of
all nations, will come to know Christ. How happy is the foreign traveler when
he finds a sign in this native tongue! How glad the man who hears the gospel in
his heart language!
The apostle Paul is perhaps making
reference to this kind of title in Colossians 2:14 when he talks about Christ
“blotting out the handwriting of the ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.”
Indeed, all of our sin was nailed
to the cross. Our titulus was there.
Christ, our King, died on the cross for the sins of men from all nations.
Grace
and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
3 comments:
Thanks for keeping your blog up. Some of us, we read, maybe we learn a little something every so often. I appreciate your consistency and your efforts.
MJ, thanks for the encouragement. Nice to know someone is reading out there. Hope you've been able to find a church.
I'm attending:
Shepherd Church of the Nazarene
425 S Hamilton Rd, Gahanna, OH 43230
http://shepnaz.org/
on a fairly regular basis. Fairly regular. The Church offers three services; 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00. Each is progressively more contemporary or modern than the previous, so we have a traditional service at 8:00 AM. That's the service I attend, as I don't tolerate the modern music well.
They have a choir and sing the good old hymns at the traditional service. I like the choir, but the choir director (or minister of music) turns his microphone up too loud. The man drowns out the choir. He has a good voice and knows how to project it, and so doesn't need amplification. Some weeks the sound crew turns him down to a reasonable level.
The sermons are excellent. Pastor Rob Paugh presents a teaching sermon for the adult believer. I'm always learning something new.
The people are nice, although I don't think I have much in common with most of them.
There's a program called 'Rooted' which is described on the church web site. I don't understand how it works, and am not entirely sure what it's supposed to accomplish. There's a fair amount of 'encouragement' to enroll in the Rooted program, but I'm reluctant to do so.
Later daze, my Internet friend.
Jack
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