Mocking.

[MoreCoffee]

Jesus Christ
King
Of the Jews​

So wrote Pontius Pilate on a board to be placed above the head of Jesus on the cross. It was mocking the Lord. But like Caiaphas who spoke prophetically concerning Jesus "it is better for one man to die than for the whole nation to perish" so here Pilate writes prophetically. The man so ignominiously beaten, bloodied, and crucified under the placard is in fact the King of the Jews and the King of Kings; his very existence undermines Pilate's position as governor of Judea. The Lord's existence diminishes Caesar from emperor-god to created man who will be judged by the man on the cross.

There are a lot of mocking ironies in holy scripture that speak ultimate truth without the writer or speaking knowing it.

 

[atpollard]

I believe it was more irony than mockery.

The Sanhedrin wanted Jesus executed for blasphemy but had to lie to Pilate and accuse Jesus of sedition against Rome. So there is a divine irony when they then object to the sign but it is too late to have it changed. Christ was in reality King of the Jews, and Israel had once again rejected their king.

Pilate wanted to free Jesus because he saw a man who had done nothing deserving of death. Yet political reality forced his hand and he was compelled to oblige the Jewish hypocrisy and execute Jesus. Pilate did have one final political statement to make ... the sign is a stark reminder to the Jews that they are a conquered people and THIS is how Rome deals with Jewish kings. The “world” at the same time could not recognize its true king, while it carried out his very commands to crucify the Lamb of God for their sins, and was the instrument to unknowingly proclaim the reality to both the Jews and the world.

Neither the Sanhedrin nor Pilate got what they wanted, yet God about to be crucified got exactly what he had proclaimed through his prophecies would happen. The sign spoke the truth, David’s throne would forever be occupied by its new king and all he commanded was being done.

 

[MoreCoffee]

I believe it was more irony than mockery.

The Sanhedrin wanted Jesus executed for blasphemy but had to lie to Pilate and accuse Jesus of sedition against Rome. So there is a divine irony when they then object to the sign but it is too late to have it changed. Christ was in reality King of the Jews, and Israel had once again rejected their king.

Pilate wanted to free Jesus because he saw a man who had done nothing deserving of death. Yet political reality forced his hand and he was compelled to oblige the Jewish hypocrisy and execute Jesus. Pilate did have one final political statement to make ... the sign is a stark reminder to the Jews that they are a conquered people and THIS is how Rome deals with Jewish kings. The “world” at the same time could not recognize its true king, while it carried out his very commands to crucify the Lamb of God for their sins, and was the instrument to unknowingly proclaim the reality to both the Jews and the world.

Neither the Sanhedrin nor Pilate got what they wanted, yet God about to be crucified got exactly what he had proclaimed through his prophecies would happen. The sign spoke the truth, David’s throne would forever be occupied by its new king and all he commanded was being done.

Pontius Pilate intended mockery, the irony is seen from our perspective because what Pilate wrote was the truth even though both he and the leaders of the Jews did not know it.

 

[TurtleHare]

Going through John 19 I am not seeing the mockery at all
Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

 

[MoreCoffee]

Going through John 19 I am not seeing the mockery at all
Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

There is more than one gospel in the holy scriptures look further afield and see what you can find.

Matthew 27:27-31 27 Then the soldiers of the procurator, taking Jesus up to the praetorium, gathered the entire cohort around him. 28 And stripping him, they put a scarlet cloak around him. 29 And plaiting a crown of thorns, they placed it on his head, with a reed in his right hand. And genuflecting before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews.” 30 And spitting on him, they took the reed and struck his head. 31 And after they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, and clothed him with his own garments, and they led him away to crucify him.

Matthew 27:32-44 32 As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. 33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), 34 they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 35 And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. 36 Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. 37 And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. 38 Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. 39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, I am the Son of God. 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.