I live in one of the largest cities in the country, attend one of the largest universities in the country, and am involved in the one of the largest student groups at Ohio State. I think it is fair to say that I have run into my fair share of people over the last three years. I have crossed paths with people from all walks of life from places all over the country and the world. And in meeting all these people, I have noticed that I have one very weird quality about myself—if someone has on a necklace or a tattoo, I have an undying curiosity to know what it is. I think nowadays it is more so to see if it is a cross or (more for tattoos) has some sort of religious meaning to it. I think my curiosity deals more with how curious I am about their religious/spiritual beliefs and whatnot, but I am curious nonetheless.
I myself do not wear a cross necklace or have a cross tattoo (but with some extra cash and a good idea, that could change one day), and I don’t have a problem with anyone that does. What I really hope is true is that the person wearing that cross knows what he or she is wearing. Yes—the cross is the most identifiable symbol with Christianity, far above the “Jesus fish”, the Chi Rho, INRI, etc. Why is it so popular? Duh—Jesus died on a cross. But what people (myself included for quite a long time) ignored what a cross fundamentally meant at the time.
Crucifixion was not something “invented” just for Jesus. Pontius Pilate didn’t just look at Him and say “You know—I’ve had this idea for a while…” when Jesus was sentenced to death. Even apart from any Christian reference, the cross was a long-time tool of the Roman Empire to torture and execute the vilest of criminals. Convicts were stripped naked and beaten—sometimes so harshly that they died before the crucifixion could even take place. Then, some were forced to carry their crossbeam to the place where they were to die. They then either had their hands and feet nailed or bound to the cross, and left there until they died. Their death was a slow one. The convicts were left there for hours, even days, until they eventually died from blood loss, infection, of dehydration, while having to suffer the humiliation of suffering and being insulted in front of a crowd.
This is no execution—execution sounds too quick. Execution by firing squad, lethal injection, hanging, etc. is either instantaneous or can take only a few minutes. Crucifixion was no execution, it was a lynching. Just think back to the way African-Americans were lynched in our history; they were mocked, humiliated, and tortured to death. If you have ever seen the pictures of a lynching (and I have, thanks to History 152) the images of tortured, burnt, and dismembered bodies are burned in your mind. But, here is the funny thing—I don’t think that I’ve seen one person wear a little golden noose pendant on their necklace or have a noose on display in their yard to remember the lives of those lynched. I even think that having a noose on display is considered a hate crime. But essentially a cross and a noose are the same thing—a symbol of a torturous death where one is mocked and brutalized into an agonizing death.
I don’t want to say that wearing a cross or having one inked on your arm or erected on your front lawn is somehow sacrilegious because death on a cross was such a horrid sight to see, but what is heartbreaking is that people forget about what they are wearing and why they are wearing it. It really grinds my gears when people wear a cross because they want to identify themselves as a “Christian” instead of wearing it to identify with the death that Christ suffered for them. It is more than a symbol of a religion, but it is the symbol of the torture Christ suffered for us while we were still sinners in rebellion against Him, and not only that but “for the joy set before Him (he) endured the cross, scorning its shame.” (Hebrews 12:2). He was spit on as He carried His cross and mocked as He writhed in the pain that we—that I—deserve to suffer. But in His resurrection He spit on death and mocked its weakness, passionately exclaiming that death itself had no grasp on Him and those found in Him. Jesus invited me to nail my laundry list of sin through His body onto that cross, ensuring my victory over sin and death. That’s what I want to remember when I look upon a cross.
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