THE INSCRIPTION OVER JESUS’ HEAD AT THE CROSS

I want to talk a little bit about the following verses. I wish I had thought of this before Easter, but I didn’t.

John 19:16-22

Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led [him] away.

And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called [the place] of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:

Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

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

This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, [and] Greek, [and] Latin.

Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.

Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.

Why did the Pharisees object to the inscription that Herod had put over Jesus head? Why did they want Herod to change it? Well, the first reason is obvious. They didn’t like Him being called the King of the Jews, because they did not want to believe He was. The second reason has to be explained.

*First of all, I want to talk about the Hebrew name for God. One needs to know that Hebrew reads from right to left. So, here is how His name is spelled: H V H Y (Y being the first letter and H the last letter.) It’s pronounced: HEI VAV HEI YUD.

The inscription over Jesus head went like this in Hebrew: Yeshua HaNazarie Vemelekh HaYhudim. Here is what each word means:

Yeshua—Jesus
HaNazarie—of Nazareth
Vemelekh—the King
HaYudim—of the Jews

Look carefully at the first letter of each word. What does it spell? It spells the Hebrew name for God. That was what the Pharisees really objected to. They did not want to believe that He was God either. They wanted Herod to say, “He said, I am King of the Jews.” That would have changed the acrostic. Whether Pilot knew that he had made an acrostic or not, one can only surmise. I think it was a God thing.

(Source : *Secrets of the Hebrew Letters (DVD) by Joseph Prince)