Titulus Crucis

Biblical Text

The Korean term joepae (罪牌) means "a placard on which the charge is written." All four Gospels report that such a placard was fastened above the cross of Jesus at his crucifixion. The wording differs slightly from Gospel to Gospel.

• Matthew 27:37: "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS."
• Mark 15:26: "THE KING OF THE JEWS."
• Luke 23:38: "THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS."
• John 19:19: "JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS."

The Gospel of John records several additional details. It states that Pilate wrote the title and that it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin (John 19:20). The chief priests asked that it be changed to read "he said, I am King of the Jews," but Pilate refused, answering, "What I have written I have written" (John 19:21–22). The New Korean Revised Version uses the term joepae in Matthew and Mark but renders the word simply as pae ("placard") in Luke and John.

Background

The original-language expressions also vary among the Gospels. Mark uses a phrase meaning "the inscription of his charge," while John uses the Greek word titlos, derived from the Latin titulus. Roman-era sources record instances in which the charge against a condemned person was written on a placard that was carried before him or hung on his body. This practice is understood to have served as a warning to those who witnessed the execution.

The charge against Jesus was that he had called himself a king and thereby set himself against the Roman emperor. Indeed, Pilate's interrogation centered on the question "Art thou the King of the Jews?" (Mark 15:2).

Significance

The titulus was an inscription intended for mockery and punishment. The Gospel writers, however, present it as a statement that ironically revealed the truth. The New Testament confesses Jesus as the Davidic king awaited in the Old Testament, that is, the Messiah; in effect, this confession was written on the cross by the hands of his enemies. Many interpreters read John's mention of three languages as showing that Jesus' kingship was proclaimed to the whole world.

Interpretations and Issues

The differences in wording among the four Gospels have been explained in several ways:

• Each Gospel abbreviated the full inscription.
• The inscriptions in the three languages differed slightly from one another.
• The Gospel writers conveyed only the essential meaning.

Whichever explanation is adopted, the common core is the phrase "the King of the Jews."

"INRI," formed from the initial letters of John's wording in the Latin Vulgate (Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum), has been widely inscribed on crucifixes and in paintings of the Western church.

Some sermons connect the titulus with the statement in Colossians 2:14 that "the handwriting of ordinances" was nailed to the cross, interpreting it to mean that the record of humanity's sins was fastened to the cross. The text of Colossians, however, does not refer directly to the titulus.

The Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome holds a wooden board said to be a fragment of the titulus. The board has been handed down together with the tradition that Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, discovered the cross. This is, however, an extrabiblical tradition, and a radiocarbon dating study is reported to have placed the board in the medieval period.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, the titulus is discussed mainly in Holy Week sermons, together with the Seven Last Words from the cross. The letters INRI are commonly seen on crucifixes in the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church. Because Protestant churches generally display a cross without a corpus, the inscription is rare in Protestant sanctuaries.