The Apostle John tells us that Pilate wrote it personally. He wrote it in Hebrew for the Jews, in Greek as the common language, and in Latin as the official language of Rome. When he answered the chief priest he spoke in the perfect tense, “what I have written will always remain written.”
“Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; but that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” (John 19:19-22)
What Pilate wrote was: Yeshua HaNazarei v Melech HaYehudim, which is an acronym on YHWH! If he had written it as he was requested, it would not have spelled out the Name of God. It is the name Yahweh that the Lord revealed to Moses through four consonants YHWH (also known as the “tetragrammaton”) which means “the self-existent, eternal God.” In the Bible wherever we see the name of the Lord in all capital letters LORD, it is literally “Yahweh.” When Latin-speaking Christian scholars substituted Y (which does not exist in Latin) with J, “Yahweh” was translated (JeHoWaH) as Jehovah.
Within the Bible, the beautiful names of God are made known to us in the form of Compound Titles which reveal the nature of our heavenly Father towards us. They include:
Jehovah T’sidkenu the Lord our righteousness Jeremiah 23:6
Jehovah Shammah the Lord ever present (there for you) Ezekiel 48:35
Jehovah Jireh the Lord who provides Genesis 22:8, 14
Jehovah Nissi the Lord our banner of victory Exodus 17:8-16
Jehovah Rohi (or Raah) the Lord our shepherd Psalm 23:1
Jehovah Rapha the Lord our healer Exodus 15:26
Jehovah Shalom the Lord our peace Judges 6:24
Grouped together, Psalms 22-24 are known as the “Shepherd Psalms.” Psalm 22 is “the Suffering Savior” but is quite remarkable in that it doesn’t seem to correlate with any portion of David’s life. In fact, this psalm is about a criminal being executed! Jesus quoted the first and last verses from Psalm 22 while He hung on the cross (verse 31= “he hath done this” = “tetelestai” = “it is finished” or “paid in full.”) Psalm 24 is the “Exalted Sovereign” and was sung the day after the Sabbath every Sunday in Herod’s Temple. It would have been sung upon Jesus’ triumphal entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
With only 6 verses Psalm 23 is one of the most well-known and often memorized psalms among Christians. It is about the “living Shepherd” or the “Great Shepherd.” As you read the psalm word for word in your Bible, follow along here and consider the titles being expressed:
- The Lord is my shepherd (Jehovah Rohi)
- I shall not want (I shall lack nothing) (Jehovah Jireh)
- He maketh me to lie down in green pastures (Jehovah Jireh)
- (I shall lack no provision)
- He leadeth me beside the still waters (Jehovah Shalom)
- (I shall not lack peace)
- He restoreth my soul (Jehovah Rapha)
- (I shall not lack restoration)
- He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness (Jehovah T’sidkenu)
- (I shall not lack guidance)
- Yea, thou I walk in the valley of the shadow
- of death, I will not fear no evil (Jehovah Shammah)
- They rod and thy staff, they comfort me
- (I shall not lack courage)
- Thou preparest a table before me in the
- Presence of mine enemies (Jehovah Nissi)
- (I shall not lack protection, preservation, honor)
Throughout the Bible we see the depiction of shepherds tending to their sheep. Moses was sent to shepherd his father-in-law’s sheep and David was also a shepherd boy in his young years. Jesus refers to Himself as “the Good Shepherd.” And thus, we as believers are His sheep.
Sheep are defenseless animals, they are by nature prone to get lost and are in need of constant care. A shepherd cannot drive sheep like cattle, they have to be led. And remarkably, unlike cattle, the sheep are known to the shepherd by name (John 10:1-5). Each Sunday the church is filled with His sheep who are no longer lost but need to be led nonetheless. By His grace, we are gratefully led by the Holy Spirit who infills us.
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:27-30)
But Jesus did not come just to minister to healthy, strong sheep. He came to minister to the broken sheep. In Ezekiel 34 the Lord chastises Israel’s shepherds (priests) who did not care for His flock. “Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them.” (Ezekiel 34:4)
When you look around the church today and beyond, there are young lambs that you wonder if will ever walk, there are sheep with crippled and bleeding hind legs because they were pulled from a lion’s mouth, some are naked or shorn because a shepherd fleeced them for deceitful purposes, some are bruised and in pain due to divorce, others are dirty and muddy from wandering away, some are diseased from drinking dirty water. Do you see them?
“Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13:20-21)
Sources: Dusty Kemp, Rev. David Wilkerson, Dr. Chuck Missler