Yesterday we walked through the events that led up to Jesus carrying his cross to Golgotha, where he was to be crucified. Over the next week, we will walk through Jesus’ words on the Cross. Yet, I wanted to pause to consider the Cross of Jesus Christ. For many Christians, the significance of the Cross is that it is symbolic. That is partially correct. Jesus had said to his disciples, and others, “Whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:38). In this sense, Jesus was calling his disciples, and those who said they wanted to follow him, to be willing to go through whatever it takes, including suffering and death, to be His believing follower. What lay ahead for him in his journey was the Cross.
The Romans
didn’t invent the idea of a cross for crucifixion, but they perfected its use as
a death penalty for those whom they deemed to be a threat to Rome. The Romans hung their victims on a cross of
wooden materials, sometimes in the shape of a T, and sometimes in the shape of
an X. Either way, the cross was meant to
humiliate the victim and warn the populace not to defy Roman authority. The use of the cross and crucifixion as a death
penalty had been a part of the ancient world before Rome, but most historians
agree that Rome made an art out of it.
Given
that crucifixion was seen as an extremely shameful way to die, Rome tended not
to crucify its citizens. Instead, slaves, disgraced soldiers, Christians,
foreigners, and — in particular — political activists often lost their lives in
this way. The practice became especially
popular in the Roman-occupied Israel. In 4 B.C., the Roman general Varus crucified
2,000 Jews, and there were mass crucifixions during the first century A.D.,
according to the Roman-Jewish historian Josephus.
The Romans
began, as they did with Jesus, by whipping their victim with whips made of sharp
bone pieces, and metal pieces, opening up the back to the bone and excessive
bleeding. They wanted the victim to have
no energy to resist, and ultimately to succumb to pain that weakened them. They forced their victim to carry the patibulum,
the upper portion of the cross beam which was tied to their arms and hands to
the place of their execution. Then, the
victim would be tied or nailed to the patibulum. After that, the patibulum was
lifted and affixed to the upright post of the cross, and the feet would be tied
or nailed to it. While the victim
awaited death, soldiers would commonly divide up the victim's clothes among
themselves. But death didn't always come quickly; it took anywhere from three
hours to four days to die.
Jesus
was given a cross beam to carry to Golgotha.
His wrists were nailed to the cross beam, and then he was lifted upright
and nailed his feet to the upright post where he hung for six hours. He suffered beyond our imagination. To the Roman soldiers, and many of the Jewish
people, they looked upon him with derision – Jesus was a trouble-maker, a
nobody from Galilee, a so-called Rabbi, or Prophet, but no more than a commoner
who dared defy Rome and got justice he deserved.
No one
during that time wore a symbol of a cross around their neck. Yet, the Cross
became a powerful symbol for the early church.
The Apostle Paul writing to the churches in Corinth and Galatia said:
“For the
message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us
who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).
“May I
never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the
world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14).
A famous
piece of early-third-century Roman wall art, the “Alexamenos graffito,” depicts
two human figures, with the head of a donkey, arms stretched out in a T-shaped
cross, with the caption “Alexamenos worships his god.” The caricature
of “Alexam
Christianity
was outlawed at the time in the Roman Empire and criticized by some as a
religion for fools. But for Christians, the cross had deep meaning. They
understood Christ’s death on the cross as confirmation of Christ’s work as a
Paschal sacrifice which was “completed” by God’s raising him from the dead
three days later. This Resurrection was a sign of Christ’s “victory” over sin
and death. Early Christians, frequently
referred to Christ’s cross as a “victorious Cross.”
As Christians,
we are convinced that Jesus’ death on the cross meant that death and Sin were
conquered. The Apostle Peter said it
like this:
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins,
we might live for righteousness; by his wounds, you have been healed” (1 Peter
2:24).
One of
the many symbols for Christians around the world is to make the sign of the Cross
over themselves. Why do it? It is an ancient custom that began in the early
centuries as a way of greeting, as well as praying to God the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit. The words in the
Sign of the Cross prayer are…“In the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
While you pray this prayer, you
make a cross on your body starting with your right hand on your
forehead for the word “Father,” in the middle of your chest for the word “Son,”
on your left shoulder for the word “Holy,” and on your right shoulder for the
word “Spirit.” The motion is forehead, chest, left shoulder, and right
shoulder. You can end by saying “Amen” and placing your hands together in
the middle, like traditional “praying hands.”
I do it several times a day, for
it reminds me in a prayerful way that I belong to Jesus who loved me by dying
for my Sin on the cross.
Peace
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