The titulus over the cross, “King of the Jews,” gives us just a bit more information: those crowds were proclaiming Jesus the messiah. Crucifixion— an ugly, slow, highly visible form of public execution—was Pilate’s way of disabusing the crowds of that idea. Had Pilate had a problem with only Jesus himself, he could have neutralized Jesus easily, by any of the many means that the prefect had at his disposal. The crucifixion points—and points us—in another direction: away from Jesus himself, toward those watching him die. Pilate did not have a problem with Jesus. Pilate had a problem with the crowds who followed him. - Paula Fredricksen