Origins Of The Christian Cross

Being crucified, or put up to die on perpendicular wooden planks, was the harshest sentence in Roman days. This form of death was very painful, and the process went on for a very long time.

A person who was put to death on a cross was usually afoul of the law for a capital crime or committing a serious offense, and it was the ultimate sentence a person could receive. It is then important to remember the impression that a cross would convey - an impression of ultimate pain and suffering on earth.

Even in today's terms, crucifixion still stands out as unusually cruel. There are many current news reports of people being tortured or subject to severe interrogation techniques, but few of these reports equate to the pain and suffering one would experience on the cross.

Naked, suffering wounds from beatings, nailed to a stick with arms and legs mutilated, exposed to elements and creatures, and hanging for hours or even days until your life slowly escaped you is an image that haunts the imagination in any age or culture. Such punishment is or should be reserved for a demon in flesh, a person who has defiled and mutilated humanity without remorse. In other words, a person who has forfeited their right to be a part of the human family.

In contrast, punishing an innocent person, someone who helped and guided people, someone who showed love to everyone, would be the ultimate injustice carried out, and a seeming triumph of evil. The victory of the cross is easy to miss.

Yet it is not just the victory over evil that Christians celebrate on the cross, but the great gift of a loving father, our father. He who desired to show his love for us, to forgive us for all our transgressions, sacrificed his blameless son so that one day we could all know of his love and draw closer to him.

The cross was also a reminder for all Romans, a very severe warning, to not make the same mistakes or they also would face the same sentence. Putting the cross on view in public was a deterrent against future crime or at least it was supposed to be. Instead, it ended up being quite a motivator for all those affiliated with the church to take up their own crosses and share the message of this wrong committed against God's only son.

What Christians must recall is that wearing a crucifix does not make one sanctified or protect that person from harm. The purpose of the crucifix is to serve as an individual reminder. It is a reminder of God's love for humankind and his greatest sacrifice. It also reminds us of the sin within us that, if not checked, could go on a rampage and slay all things pure in its path.

For Christians, the cross is reminder of the value of life and the boundless reaches of love.