The
Inscription on the Cross
"Pilate wrote a title also, and he put it on the
Cross.
And the writing was: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews" (Jn. xix,
19).
GOOD FRIDAY! Each recurrence of this day is a new experience. That
heart must be hardened indeed and utterly burnt out that would strive
to and succeed in closing itself utterly to the impressions this day
creates. Whoever has preserved even a spark of faith and charity cannot
view the tragedy on Calvary without emotion. What stirs us so deeply is
the clash between the most powerful contrasts: bloodthirsty cruelty and
infinite compassion; deepest disgrace and royal dignity; hell-born
debasement and Divine forgiveness; black guilt, enshrouding skies and
earth in darkness, and the dawn of the day of Redemption; cries of
salvation from the Cross, stirring prayers, mute weeping of faithful
souls at the foot of the Cross, and wild shouting and blaspheming on
the part of the mob of high and low degree.
All these contrasts meet and clash before the cross on Golgotha. By its
very form the Cross appears as a sign of contradictions and contrasts,
made up of guilt and redemption, disgrace and honor, lowliness and
grandeur. As the wood of shame, the most disgraceful of all instruments
of torture, it once cried out: "Ecce homo!" Behold the criminal between
two other criminals! But the Cross also has an inscription which speaks
a different language, announcing to the whole of mankind the royal
dignity of Him Who was crucified. Concerning this the Holy Evangelist
John reports: "Pilate wrote a title also, and he put it on the Cross.
And the writing was: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." The
meaning and import of this inscription shall be the substance of our
meditation today.
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The Prophets foresaw and foretold that the Messias would come as king,
and, however humble His coming in the flesh was, nevertheless a ray of
kingly majesty illumined the stable at Bethlehem. This ray emanated
from the star which led the Magi from the East to the manger. They
shouted the question of His kingship into the country of the Jews and
into their capital city: Where is the newborn King of the Jews, whose
star we have seen? And as a king the Child at Bethlehem received their
homage. Thenceforward, however, a dark cloud of lowliness and poverty
concealed this kingship, and naught more was said of it. Once indeed
the people, in a burst of enthusiasm, sought to take the Saviour by
force and crown Him king. But He concealed Himself from them and fled
into the mountain Himself alone (Jn. vi, 15).
But, beloved, at the moment when the Passion begins, the question of
Christ's kingship is raised again and, like a golden thread, runs
through all the disgraceful scenes and bloody abominations. The Saviour
does not meekly permit, but Himself arranges for a royal entry into
Jerusalem, with the multitude rejoicing loudly at His coming: "Blessed
be the king Who cometh in the name of the Lord!" (Luke xix, 38.) At the
trial, the high priests are the first to broach the issue of His
kingship. Their charge addressed to Pilate declares: He says He is
Christ, the King (Luke xxiii, 2); Pilate twice addresses the question
to the Lord, and when he asks: "Art Thou a king then?" the reply is:
"Thou sayest that I am a king" (Jn. xviii, 37).
Even Herod and the Roman soldiery, unwittingly, direct attention to the
kingship of Jesus and provide Him with the royal insignia---Herod
with the white festive robe, the soldiers with the mantle of regal
shade, the crown of thorns and the scepter of reed. They intended it
all as crude, cruel ridicule, but they were instruments of Providence,
compelled to testify to Christ's kingship and to provide Him with those
symbols of royalty which alone were worthy of Him and which He has
retained through the centuries,-----not a precious
crown, nor a scepter, nor garments fashioned of gold cloth, but rather
the blood-red purple mantle and the jagged crown of thorns and the
reed---fitting
insignia for the King of suffering, Who to redeem mankind, ascends the
throne of the Cross and goes to His death. Pilate presents Him as such
a king to the Jewish people and all of mankind: "Behold your king" (Jn.
xix, 14), and he determines the text of the inscription to be attached
to the Cross. This inscription also contains the title of king: "Jesus
of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." By the Governor's command these
words had to be inscribed in three languages, in Hebrew, Greek, and
Latin, so that the Jews and all the guests from the Græco-Roman
World Empire, assembled for the Passover, might read and understand
them.
It was customary at crucifixions to affix a white tablet, setting forth
the name and crime of the person crucified, to the section of the
upright beam of the cross extending above the cross-beam. On the Cross
of Jesus Christ there was no other guilt to be recorded than that He
was the King of the Jews. Pilate had written truly, even though he had
yielded to malice. He wished to be avenged on the high priests, who had
coerced him into pronouncing the death sentence, and on the entire
Jewish nation, by nailing to the Cross, as it were, Israel's hope for
the Messias and holding it up to the ridicule and ribald laughter of
the mob. The high priests feel this, and are greatly vexed. They send a
deputation to Pilate requesting him to change the inscription: Do not
write, King of the Jews; people might believe He was really our king;
write rather: He said he was king of the Jews; His crime was that He
unjustly set Himself up as king. But Pilate curtly replies: What I have
written I have written, not a letter shall be changed.
St. Augustine declares that Pilate was influenced at this moment by
Providence; a secret voice commanded him not to yield. The
inscription was not to be changed. It announces the most
momentous truth in the history of the world, and the Roman
Governor, in the designs of Providence, was to see to it that this
truth could be read from the Cross through all centuries: Jesus of
Nazareth is the Messias-King, promised to the Jewish people, and His
Kingdom, as indicated by the use of the three world-languages, extends
over the entire world and embraces all nations.
It is not my intention today to show how Pilate's unintentional
prophecy has been realized in the course of centuries. But I do wish to
direct your attention to the fact that its fulfillment began as soon as
the inscription was affixed to the Cross. The moment the Lord ascends
the throne of the Cross, he begins to rule as king. He draws the eyes
and hearts of all unto Himself, as He had foretold: "If I shall be
lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to Myself" (Jn. xii,
32). The attraction is not external pomp, but the intrinsic beauty of
His dignity, His miraculous patience, the royal color of His Blood, the
jewels of His Wounds, the diadem of thorns with the sparkling rubies of
the drops of Blood adhering to them.
The opening act of His reign is marked by the proclamation of a general
pardon. He commends His enemies to His Heavenly Father: "Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do." He Himself pardons the
penitent thief. Because he had honored Him as King ("Lord, remember me
when Thou comest into Thy kingdom"), this man was permitted to hear the
consoling words: "This day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." On the
Cross the Saviour founded His dynasty. His Mother is to be the mother
of the great family of the faithful. ("Son, behold thy mother; woman,
behold thy son.") And when all was fulfilled, He Himself announced with
a loud voice the completion of the founding of the realm, the victory
of His Kingship: "It is consummated!" While He yet hangs on the Cross,
His enemies are already judged and destroyed, the power of Hell is
overcome, the Old Covenant is ended and the New Covenant goes into
effect.
Thus the inscription became a reality on the very day on which it was
nailed to the Cross. That was the beginning of the kingdom of Jesus
Christ; and this beginning prefigures its entire later history. He will
ever remain---while time, measured by earthly standards,
endures---a
crucified king, wounded and bleeding and crowned with thorns. For
although He has entered into eternal transfiguration, He still
continues His Passion on earth in the sufferings and persecutions of
His Church; but His victory also is continued in the victories of His
followers over the world and the devil and in the invincibility of His
Church.
Even today mankind is divided into two camps under the Cross. On the
one side are those who raise their clenched fists and cry out: "We will
not have this man to reign over us" (Luke xix, 14), who join the mob in
reviling and mocking Him, who storm against the Cross and would fain
cast it out of the schools and out of public life. But let them rage as
they will, and try as hard as they can, their final achievement is ever
the same as that of Pilate and Herod and the high priests and the
impenitent thief.
In the other camp are those who recognize the kingship of the Crucified
Saviour, who are inseparably united with Him by faith, hope and
charity; who are related by the ties of blood, in the highest sense of
the word, to Him and His Holy Mother; who, therefore, along with Mary
and John and Magdalen and the penitent thief, share in the fruits of
the Redemption, in the blessings of His kingdom, and in the glory of
His triumph.
Our place is beside the Cross. We will keep faith with our Crucified
King, live and labor for Him, fight and suffer for Him. We will oppose
every attempt to dethrone Him, for His is the most lawful kingship and
the most bountiful in blessings---the one kingship
which brings salvation and assures peace. Then, too, it is the most
powerful, the most invincible, the eternally victorious kingship.
Therefore, woe unto those who oppose it, for it will be their ruin. The
godless, we read in the Apocalypse, shall fight with the Lamb, but the
Lamb shall overcome them, because He is the Lord of lords and the King
of kings (xvii, 14). Amen.
Source:
THE PASSION
A Sheaf of Sermons Selected from the Writings of
RT. REV. PAUL WILHELM V. KEPPLER
LATE BISHOP OF ROTTENBURG
B. HERDER BOOK CO.
Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, 1929 |
