Our 63rd Word is Cross

Definition of a cross is an instrument used by men to take life in the cruelest possible way and used by God to give life in the most amazing way.

“As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.” (Matthew 27:32)

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Exhibited in the Palatine Antiquarium Museum in Rome is a piece of graffiti discovered by archaeologists in 1857, which dates back to AD200. It shows a man with the head of a donkey, hanging on a cross. To his left another man raises an arm in adoration. The caption reads, “Alexamenos worships his God.”

Many scholars consider this drawing the oldest surviving depiction of Christ’s death. Clearly, it’s a mockery of Christianity’s central tenet: that ultimate hope and salvation are found in the man who was brutally executed on a Roman cross.

Twenty-seven times in the New Testament we see references to the cross. The word ought to give us goose bumps.

In the time of Jesus, crosses were used to intimidate, torture, and execute. A cross was composed of an upright stake in the ground, to which a crossbeam was attached, so that the two pieces together resembled the letter T. A person charged with a capital crime would have his arms tied or nailed to the crossbeam, then be lifted up and fastened to the vertical stake.

Crucifixion was a ghastly way to die. Victims were often, as happened with Jesus, flogged first. They hung naked in front of jeering crowds. Breathing was next to impossible. While the sun beat down on them, flies buzzed about them. Death for some could take days.

The Roman orator Cicero summarized death on the cross this way: “To bind a Roman citizen is a crime, to flog him is an abomination, to crucify him, is What? There is no fitting word that can possibly describe so horrible a deed.”

Every great story has a moment where the hero runs out of bullets, strength, and options. There’s no way out and no way forward. All is lost or so it seems.

In the great story of God, this moment comes when Jesus, bruised and bloodied almost beyond recognition, hangs limply on a Roman cross.

But then, like a lion, Jesus uses His last bit of energy to cry, “It is finished!” It’s a roar, not a whimper, signifying that Jesus has done everything necessary to reverse the great curse that came over the world after the rebellion in Eden. In Christ’s unthinkable death, sinners find unimaginable life. The worst Friday ever becomes oddly, the day we revere as Good Friday.

Paul, obviously realizing how crazy all this sounds, wrote, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” Then he added, “To us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)

There are some who say it’s wrong to turn a terrible instrument of death into a pretty piece of jewelry. But in a way, isn’t that what Jesus really did? He took the ugliest that humanity had to offer and transformed it into something priceless.

I say wear that cross with joy and tell others what it really means!

Questions to Ponder

1. Some point to the cross of Christ and say that, as symbols go, it’s offensive and barbaric. What do you say in response to that?
2. Do you think it’s wrong for people to turn the cross into jewelry?