Today is Good Friday, so someone long passed labeled the first Friday after Passover, the day we remember the crucifixion of Jesus, the Christ. Many have stated an opinion on the label. It is just a label to me. Like all labels, it means one thing to someone, and then the same label will mean something altogether different to someone else.
Take, for example, another label with different meanings depending on the reader. Over Jesus’s head was hung a lie that cannot be more true, depending on the individual. “This is the King of the Jews,” it read (38). Pilate intended it to be the official Roman sentence, the reason Jesus was crucified. Yet, he knew Jesus was innocent and not deserving the capital punishment. He placed it above Jesus’s head as insurance for being accused of political corruption. So, for Pilate, “King of the Jews” had several meanings.
The label over Jesus’s bleeding head was self-justification to the Jewish religious and social leaders. “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One,” they said (35). Jesus, during their mock trial, had clearly stated that he was the Messiah, the Son of Man, the Son of God, who would be seated at the right hand of the Mighty God (22:67-70). Since he was now nailed to a cross with a mocking label over his head, they felt proud that they were right about him, for Jesus did not save himself. Pride blinded them to the true meaning of what it meant to be King of the Jews. As his people suffered for his sake, so Jesus suffered for their redemption. He would not come down. He would die.
The two criminals crucified with Jesus, one on each side, had different meanings for Jesus being the King of the Jews (32, 39-42). For one, Jesus was someone to hurl insults at, a place to expel hate and rage. For the other, Jesus being the King of the Jews, was his last hope for salvation from eternal punishment (41-42). He sought pardon from the King. He asked, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom, when you come with your kingly power.”
So now I sit pondering what it means to me that Jesus is the King of the Jews.
