John 19:19-20

Normally the judge of a person sentenced to crucifixion would order that a placard (Lat. titulus) identifying his crime would accompany him to the place of his execution. This would inform onlookers who the criminal was and why he was suffering such a terrible fate as they passed him. The soldiers would then affix the sign to the criminal’s cross for the same purpose. [Note: Carson, The Gospel . . ., p. 610.]

The Gospels all report slightly different inscriptions. Probably what Pilate really wrote was the sum of all these variations, and the Gospel writers each just quoted a part of the whole. Perhaps some or all of the evangelists paraphrased the inscription. Another possibility is that the Gospel writers may not have been translating the same language since Pilate ordered the charge written in three different languages. [Note: Edersheim, 2:590-91.] Aramaic (popular Hebrew) was the common language spoken by the Jews in Palestine. Latin was the official language that the Romans, including the soldiers, spoke. Greek was the lingua franca of the empire. Pilate continued to insult the Jewish hierarchy for forcing his hand by identifying Jesus this way for all to read. However, his trilingual notice was God’s sovereign way of declaring to the whole world who His Son really was, the Jewish king whose rule is universal.

Clearly Pilate regarded Jesus as guilty of sedition, the political charge that the Jews had brought against Him rather than the religious charge of being the Son of God (18:33). By identifying Jesus as the Jews’ king and then crucifying Him, Pilate was boasting Rome’s superiority over the Jews and flaunting its authority.