what do the initials at the top of a cross mean? and what are the initials?

Answer 1

IT PROVES THE JEWS DID NOT KILL JESUS!

In Matthew 27:2, Jesus had to be given over to the authorities, Rome, to be tried by the Governor of Rome, Pontius Pilate. 64 years before Jesus was born, the Jews had lost the land of Israel to Roman rule. The Jews had no power, no authority, to put anyone to death. Jesus was crucified. The Jewish way to give the death penalty was through stoning, as everyone knows. Crucifixion was a Roman form of execution, and they reserved it only for those who were seen as trying to overthrow the Roman government.

According to Matthew 27:37, the sign placed by the Romans over Jesus's head read, "Jesus Christ King of the Jews." The text of Matthew in 27:37 calls this sign, "the accusation." In other words, the crime for which Jesus was crucified was for being, or having the pretense to be, the king of the Jews, INSTEAD of the Roman emperor, and this is according to the Christian's own New Testament! (see also Matthew 27:27-29)

So why does the Christian New Testament make it appear that the Jews wanted Jesus dead? Simply because by the time that the New Testament stories about Jesus (the Gospels) were being written, from 60 C.E. onward, the Jews were in open rebellion against Rome. The Early Christians did not want to be identified with the Jews, and they did not want Rome to think that Christians worshipped a man who was crucified by the Romans. So they wrote their New Testament so as to absolve the Romans from the responsibility of putting Jesus to death. This went so far as to put words in the mouth of "the Jews," that said "the Jews" accepted responsibility for Jesus's death, and that the guilt for it would be on their childrens' heads forever! (Matthew 27:25).

Of course, this will not stop believing Christians from taking the New Testament at its word, and continuing to blame the Jews for Jesus's death.

BUT, how then can we Jews respond to such a question, "Did the Jews kill Jesus?"

The very question itself makes us respond with our own collection of questions:

Who are "the Jews" referred to in the question? Are they all Jews forever and ever? This would mean that if the people outside of the Huntsville, Texas, prison who cried FOR the death of Karla Faye Tucker (convicted of murdering her own kids i believe),were of Scottish origins, for example, then from now on all Scottish peoples, regardless of where they were at the time she was given the death penalty are guilty, forever, for her death?Remember that the people outside of the prison were not the ones, and could not have been the ones, who actually injected her with the fatal poisons. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of Jews in the world at the time of Jesus did not live in Israel, and would not have heard about any event taking place there for months after the event. News traveled so much slower then.

Lets pretend that "the Jews" back then really did kill Jesus (which they did not!). Since when are the children responsible, or culpable, for the sins of their parents? This very idea is UnBiblical! In Deuteronomy 24:16 it specifically states, "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin." Furthermore, in Ezekiel 18:20 it states, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." So the very idea that if Jews killed Jesus, which they did not, then the Jewish People forever is responsible for that sin is both UnBiblical and nonsense.

Answer 2

INRI is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDAEORVM, which translates to English as: "Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews". It appears in the New Testament of the Christian Bible in the Gospels of Matthew (27:37), Mark (15:26); Luke (23:38), and John (19:19).

Many crucifixes and other depictions of the crucifixion include a stylized plaque or parchment, called a titulus or title, bearing the letters INRI, occasionally carved directly into the cross, and usually just above the figure of Jesus.

In the Gospel of John (19:19–20) the inscription is explained:

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. (King James Version)

As Pilate was loath to crucify Jesus without justification, he used the standing Roman treaty with the Jews which allowed them limited self-government. When the Jewish priests complained that Jesus was interfering with that self-rule by claiming to be the Son of God, Pilate challenged him to deny that he was the "King of the Jews". Jesus did not deny the accusation. Pilate's reluctance to crucify Jesus, according to Christian texts, stands in contrast to his willingness to crucify countless thousands of other Jews during his rule.[citation needed]

Some believe that the justification for his crucifixion was his claim to an illegitimate title. However, John 19:21–22 KJV, alludes that Pilate rejected the charge that Jesus was crucified because he falsely claimed to be king and instead stated that Jesus was crucified because he was the King of the Jews. Thus, some Christians as early as the second century[1] report that Pilate was convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church regards Pilate as a saint (commemorated on June 25) based on a tradition of his conversion to Christianity and martyrdom, a beheading done by Albius under order from Tiberius Caesar.[2] Most historians outside the Ethiopian church have rejected this tradition as spurious.

Answer 3

JESUS OF NAZERETH KING OF THE JEWS

INRI is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDAEORVM, which translates to English as: "Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews". It appears in the New Testament of the Christian Bible in the Gospels of Matthew (27:37), Mark (15:26); Luke (23:38), and John (19:19).

In the Gospel of John (19:19–20) the inscription is explained:

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. (King James Version)

Answer 4

INRI = Iesus Nazoreum, Rex Iudoreum. Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Pilate's little revenge on the Sanhedrin for blackmailing him into ordering the crucifixion.

Answer 5

Most common that I know of is INRI. Meaning Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. I have also been told that more than one language is represented there, but I'm not sure about that.

Answer 6

INRI. Those are the initials. They symbolise King of the Jews. I believe it is in Latin or possibly Hebrew.

Answer 7

LOTR-Lord of the Rings
POTC-Pirates of the Caribbean