Mark 15:26

‘And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.'

This superscription, written in black letters on a board smeared with white gypsum, named the criminal and what he was accused of, and would have been carried in front of Him on the way to the cross, and in accordance with Roman custom was now displayed for all to see. It said that here was the Jew's King Messiah and that He was now suffering for it.

But Mark intends the statement to stand in all its glory. As Pilate had unconsciously prophetically declared, this was the Messiah, the Deliverer, Who would deliver in a way that no one had expected, through suffering. It was because of this that He was condemned by man and died.

Pilate probably intended his bald statement as revenge against those who had forced his hand, and when requested refused to change it (John 19:21). He had known that they would not like it. But after all this is what they had said about Him, so let it stand. The fact that the superscription was placed above Him suggests that the cross was as traditionally understood rather than a T.