I'm going to start out today with a praise. I was looking at the stats for this blog, and I found something amazing. Someone in Germany has viewed my blog. Allow me to repeat... GERMANY! That's so cool! The thought that my writing could possibly be reaching people all over the globe with the Truth of the Gospel is such an encouragement. I would also like to say a couple things to everyone that views this, not just my friend (and hopefully, friends!) from other countries: thank you. I appreciate any of you that read this, and it encourages me to continue writing. I also would like you to comment! I am open to both positive and negative comments. If you do happen to be from a country outside of the United States, please leave a comment with where you are from: I'd love to see where you are at!
Now, on to business...
Today, I would like to discuss the cross. The cross has been a symbol for Christianity for quite a time (all the way back to before the 3rd Century!), and was even banned for a while due to its pagan ancestry. But what exactly does it mean, and what has the cross become?
The cross was a weapon of death for the Roman Empire (Ever seen Gladiator? It's there.). Dictionary.com gives the definition for cross as: a structure consisting essentially of an upright and a transverse piece, upon which persons were formerly put to death. The actual act of death on a cross was known as crucifixion, defined as: to put to death by nailing or binding the hands and feet to a cross.
Nailing hands and feet to an upright structure? How awful does that sound?! It gets worse. After being nailed to a cross and lifted upright, one would hang from the cross, being held up only by the nails that were ripping through their skin. Gravity would be weighing down on you, pulling you toward the ground. Yet, you are being held by those nails. If you thought this would be quick, you are mistaken.
People were left to die on the cross, which could take hours or even days. Just imagine- hanging from this cross in the sweltering heat of a July or bitter cold of a January in Israel for a few days until you finally died. This was what happened to the worst criminals under the Roman Empire's rule.
The cause of death varied, depending on your experience. Asphyxiation (suffocation), blood loss, shock, sepsis infection, and dehydration were the typical choices of death. If this buffet of options was taking too long, Rome wasn't against breaking your legs so that fat embolism and shock could take you to the darkness. Talk about morbid...
The process of crucifixion was meant to be so awful, embarrassing, and atrocious that it would encourage others not to commit the crime. This is where the word 'excruciating' came from: literally, it means "out of crucifying." Crucifixion was the ultimate form of capital punishment in that time, and perhaps the most gruesome and effective in history. And this is how this weapon of death is depicted now:
Does that not amaze you? One of the most brutal instruments of death ever concieved is being made with flowers and diamonds! It seems contradictory, don't you think?
Now, hear me out: I am not here to diss or judge people with cross jewelery; the picture at the top is the cross I wear everyday. My point is this: we need to remember the cross for what it was, not what it is.
"25 Now it was nine in the morning when they crucified Him.... 33 When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon... 37 But Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed His last." -Mark 15: 25, 33, 37
Jesus Christ was crucified on a cross in the exact way that I described earlier. He died on the cross so that we would be free from our sins and now are free to glorify God and His Son. Jesus went through that awful experience out of love for us, for me, for you. Are you taking notice of what He did on that cross for you, or are you dismissing the cross as a symbol of religion?
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