GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
MARK 15:24b-26
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They divided his clothes among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each would take. 25 It was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him was written this way: “The King of the Jews.”
They divided his clothes. David said, “They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing” (Psalm 22:18), and certainly this act fulfilled that Scripture. Everything Jesus had for clothes was taken away now, perhaps only leaving a loin cloth (he had no personal rights under Roman law and the soldiers wouldn’t have cared about his dignity). His sandals, his undershirt, his hat or turban (most men wore them, Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 11:4 apply to the Christians of Corinth, not to Jesus and certainly not to us today)– all of Jesus’ clothes were divvied up by casting lots (a little like throwing dice). John mentions a specific item, the seamless chiton or undershirt, which they cast lots for so that they wouldn’t have to tear it.
The third hour was around nine in the morning. A look at Jesus’ parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) shows that dawn was considered the first hour, midmorning was the third hour, noon or midday was the sixth hour, and so on.
The inscription was written in three languages, and each Gospel gives a variation of these sentences. In full, it was: (THIS IS) JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS (John 19:19). Matthew includes the “this is” but omits “of Nazareth” (Matthew 27:37). Mark’s account, which is before us, only has “The King of the Jews,” while Luke’s account also includes “This is” but omits even the Lord’s name or “of Nazareth.” There are at least three reasons for the discrepancy, which is not really a discrepancy at all, but four accounts of the same sentence:
First, Matthew, Mark and Luke simply report the full inscription in a shorter fashion, the way that eyewitnesses remember events with greater or less detail than one another.
Second, Matthew might be quoting the Aramaic line, Mark the Latin, and Luke and John the Greek line, and there may have been differences in the translations of Pilate’s words in the other two languages.
Third, it is most likely that each writer is emphasizing one or another part of the inscription. Mark’s is brief but includes the “King of the Jews” line. The others all do the same, with a little more detail.
In fact, it is Pilate’s wording that we should focus on, whichever Gospel account is read at this point. Pilate was careful to say, “King of the Jews,” which drove the Sanhedrin up the wall. This was not the charge they wanted to read, but it’s what Pilate wrote. It wasn’t any charge at all, but it’s what all of the people would see. The people believed that Jesus was the Savior, the Messiah, and they even called him the Christ (which is Greek for Messiah, Matthew 26:68; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20). “The crafty mind of Pilate had so worded it that it was no indictment of Jesus at all. Rather, it proclaimed that ‘this man’ (John 19:21), a term used in the sense of ‘this no-account fellow’ or ‘this scoundrel,’ was King of the Jews, the one in whom the messianic hope of all devout Jews was at long last fulfilled” (Werner Franzmann, Bible History Commentary New Testament p. 898).
Pilate wouldn’t give in when the Jews wanted the inscription changed. “What I have written, I have written” was all he would say (John 19:22). Pilate was just being stubborn; just being contrary to what the Sanhedrin wanted, and he was just making a statement that he wouldn’t be pushed around anymore, but the result was that what he wrote was exactly the truth. The true, one and only King of the Jews was this man, Jesus of Nazareth, crucified for our sakes. “Jesus Christ stood firm for our sins to the point of death.” “Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18). In fact, in the cruel crucifixion of Jesus, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). And so we praise God the Father for sending Jesus; we praise Jesus our Lord for laying down his life for our sins; and we praise the Holy Spirit for giving us faith in Jesus to save our souls—and the Master has no need of anything else except that we should praise him. I will praise the Lord more than a young calf with horns and hoofs (Psalm 69:31); I will praise him with my life. When I am sick or hurting, I will ask: How sickly and hurting do I make my Master in Heaven when I sin against him? When I am wounded by the pain of temptation, I will ask, “How badly don’t I wound my God when temptations come to me?” When I am lonely, I will ask, “Dare I make God lonely by staying away from him and his word rather than scrambling for his constant companionship?” When I grieve, I will ask, “Do I make God grieve over sin, that brought death into the world?” And when I am happy, triumphant, among good friends, and content, I will ask: “Do I remember to praise my God for the bright sun and the forgiveness of sins and my contented faith on days like this day?” And I will turn to him, turn and turn again (for the Lord is near those who turn to him ), and give him my thanks and praise always.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Mark 15:24b-26 The Inscription