The biblical authors neither invented nor changed history. It is claimed that there is a contradiction between the Gospels over what was written on the Cross. Here’s what the Gospels say:
Matthew 27:37 And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”
Mark 15:26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”
Luke 23:38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
John 19:19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”
How can we believe that the Gospels are reliable when they have differences here?
Well, it’s simple really. The biblical authors don’t always give every detail. They don’t remove things to alter history or deceive the audience, but, as John wrote:
Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. (John 21:25)
The Sermon on the Mount can be read in about 20 minutes from the book of Matthew (Chapters 5-7), but it’s likely that when Jesus actually delivered the sermon that it lasted longer than that. Matthew didn’t change Christ’s words, nor did he make anything up. He simply abbreviated for the sake of the reader.
We do the same thing today. It wouldn’t be inaccurate for me to say, “The man with the bad haircut said, ‘I’ll build a wall.’” This may not be all that the man said, but there’s no need to recite everything that the double-combovered businessman said during the debate.
Anyhow, the original inscription could have read, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” For Mark to quote it as, “The King of the Jews” is no scandal, because the inscription did indeed say that.
The problem is that people think the Gospel writers expanded history, when in reality, they actually shrunk it. The life of the Messiah in 28 chapters or less is going to have to abbreviate. Do we know everything that Jesus did? Of course not; John said so plainly. Is it possible that He cleansed the temple more than once? Of course. We know that He cleansed it at the beginning of His ministry (Gospel of John) and at the end of his ministry (Synoptic Gospels). Yet, there are folks who see John reporting Christ’s temple work at the beginning of His ministry and say that He contradicts the other Gospels.
Most alleged contradictions are easy like that. Don’t turn a blind eye to this kind of thing, but don’t get all freaked out over it either.
-Paul