Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
There is no evidence that P.T. Barnum said this but he is credited for saying, “There is no such thing as bad publicity.” Pilate thought he was being ironic by calling Jesus “King of the Jews”. The irony is that he publicly proclaimed the truth of the gospel and provided the first translations of it. It was in Aramaic, the common form of Hebrew at the time, for the Jews, in Latin, for the soldiers and government officials, and in Greek, the universal language at the time, much like English is today. The chief priests saw the danger and asked for a new translation that fit their worldview. “No dice”, said Pilate (My translation).
We now have thousands of translations of the Bible in many languages. Their purpose is to reveal the word of God so they understand its meaning and are saved. Too many people would seek a made-to-order translation to fit their worldview, like the chief priests did. They would have Jesus be a nice man, not a judge. What he is is what our best translations say he is. He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. That’s good publicity!
Dear Lord, thank you for the gospel that we can publicly proclaim the way you meant it. Help us to discern truth from error in this broken world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church