TITULUS CRUCIS (INSCRIPTION ON THE CROSS)

John 19:19
And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was Jesus Of Nazareth The King Of The Jews.

John is the only one of the four evangelists to bear the inscription: “Jesus Of Nazareth The King Of The Jews” (John 19:19). In fact, Matthew reports this inscription: “This is Jesus, the king of the Jews” (Matthew 27:37), while Mark and Luke both report: “The king of the Jews” (Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38). John is also the only one of the four evangelists to report the news that the inscription was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek (John 19:20). The Hebrew inscription had היהודים (Hyhudim) ומכל (Vmlk) הנוצרי (Hnotsri) ישוע (Yshu) – which is read from right to left (Yshu Hnotsri Vmlk Hyhudim) – abbreviated becomes יהוה (YHVH), the sacred name that God revealed to his people. That inscription reported in three languages, only by John, has no historical value, but theological. Hebrew is the language in which the books that are part of the Old Testament were written. Greek is the language in which the Gospel was preached and the books that are part of the New Testament were written. Latin is the language of the imperial city in which the apostle Peter established his episcopal seat as the center of government of the Church, and in which Christianity took the place of paganism, becoming the only religion of the Roman Empire. The inscription with the greatest historical value is probably the one reported by Mark and Luke: The king of the Jews. “In fact, the high priests objected to this inscription, saying to the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate: “Do not write: the king of the Jews, but that he said: I am the king of the Jews “(John 19:21). The inscription was surely written in Latin: Rex Iudaeorum, since the Romans would never have bothered to put on the head of what was believed to be a criminal, an inscription in three different languages. Reporting the inscription in Hebrew, John, albeit in a veiled way, is telling us that God himself was placed on that cross.