John 19:19-22 English Standard Version
19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 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.”
The plaque has been reduced to 4 initials from the Latin translation, INRI. Without some additional studies the meaning of INRI might be misunderstood. Incomplete explanations leave room for others to fill in the blank space with their own thoughts which might lead to vain imaginations.
Some just cannot live with what is written and have to obscure the truth to fit comfortably within the confines of their personal comforts.
The Jews did not have the right to remove and replace what Pilate had written.
Nor do we have the right to change what God has written. If it makes us uncomfortable then the issue is with us, not God’s Word. The religious leaders of that time had their reason for wanting the words changed.
We must remember that the first principles of truth is to drive the darkness from ourselves.
John 3:20 English Standard Version (ESV) For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
Psalm 141:4 English Standard Version (ESV) Do not let my heart incline to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity, and let me not eat of their delicacies!
If our souls become discomforted by God’s Word there is good reason for it and we should look within ourselves for the problem.
His Word is the answer to our problems.