John 19:19

Pilate told one of his men to write some words on a flat bit of wood, to say why they were killing Jesus, and to nail it to the cross. He told that man to write, “Jesus, from Nazareth, the big boss over the Jews.”

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.

In Context

18Then the soldiers nailed Jesus’s hands and feet to the cross, and they stood the cross up so that Jesus was high up off the ground. And they also did that to 2 other men. They put one of them on each side of Jesus.

20Pilate wanted everyone there to understand it, so he told that man to write it in the languages of the Jewish people, the Roman people, and the Greek people. And those crosses were near the Jewish city called Jerusalem, so a lot of Jewish people read that sign.

Read all of John 19

Cross References

John 1:45Philip went to his friend Nathaniel and said to him, “We have found the special man that Moses wrote about in our Jewish law books. And God’s other messengers talked about this man too. His name is Jesus. He is from the town called Nazareth, and he is the son of Joseph.”

John 18:33Pilate went back into his house, and he called Jesus to come to him. Then he asked Jesus, “Are you the big boss over the Jewish nation?”

John 19:12After Pilate heard this, he tried again to let Jesus go free, but the Jewish leaders shouted, “But he is trying to be our big boss. And anyone that tries to be the big boss over a nation is going against Caesar, the big boss in Rome. So if you let this man go free, you are not Caesar’s friend.”

John 19:21The bosses of the Jewish ceremonies told Pilate to change the sign. They said, “Don’t write, ‘The big boss over the Jews.’ You have to write, ‘This man said that he is the big boss over the Jews.’”

Matthew Henry on John 19:17-19

Christ Condemned; The Crucifixion. 16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. 17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: 18 Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. We have here sentence of death passed upon our Lord Jesus, and execution done soon after. A mighty struggle Pilate had had within him between his convictions and his… Read the whole commentary →

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