As It is Written, Jesus is King!

John 19:17-27

The King on a Cross

17 And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, 18 where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. 19 Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was:

JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

20 Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

21 Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'He said, "I am the King of the Jews."'"

22 Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. 24 They said therefore among themselves, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be," that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:

"They divided My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots."
Therefore the soldiers did these things.

Behold Your Mother

25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!" 27 Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

Jesus carried His own cross to the place of death outside the camp (Hebrews 13:11-13) where the sacrifices were taken after being offered on the altar for the sin of the people.  We now go to Him who sacrificed Himself for us outside the walls of the world we live in that who have been atoned for may suffer and die with Him and in Him.  Jesus was crucified with two criminals as if Je was counted among them, He who was perfectly righteous and absolutely innocent.  Pilate must have remembered that Jesus told him of His kingdom in heaven and put a sign on the cross identifying Jesus as the King of the Jews, of God’s people, who we now are also who are in Christ throughout His sufferings, death, and resurrection.  He is the King of all kings (1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14, 19:16) and the Lord above all others!  The chief priests opposed this sign and demanded it be removed but it was kept up as a testimony to the truth for all to read and consider who Jesus was as the Christ and Son of God.  What Pilate had written, he had written, just as the prophets before inscribed God’s word for all to read throughout all time until His return and final judgment in those words is delivered.  They crucified Him according to Psalm 22:18 as they divided up the valuable clothes of Christ as their temporal reward for putting Him to death as God’s instruments to fulfill all things for our salvation.  In the end, the Lord looked at John who wrote this account and committed His earthly mother to his care as if a son to replace the one she was about to lose.  He dosmas the Lord said.  This account leads up to the final moment of the Lord’s life as a man and subsequent rise out of death into bodily life again before ascending once more where He came down into the lower parts of creation, namely the earth, to accomplish our salvation through His atoning sacrificial death administered by Himself as our great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14).  May we worship Him in eternal thankfulness for dying to pay the infinite price for our sins as we consider these things.  It is written, Jesus is King!