Devo 3 – Examining the Cross

A man condemned to crucifixion during the times of Roman rule was first whipped and scourged bloody. He would then be forced to carry his instrument of death somewhere to be hung up – with nails through his hands and feet fastened to the wood. He was naked and hung up 9 to 12 feet above the ground. The way the man would die is through a combination of constrained blood circulation, organ failure, and asphyxiation as the body strained under its own weight over hours or days. Crucifixion was most frequently used to punish political or religious agitators, pirates, slaves, or those who had no civil rights.

Although crucifixion was execution for crimes, sure, there was one major thing that the cross was being used to communicate – that no matter what, government had the final authority, and whoever opposed this authority (the elite class and religious structures) would be discarded. Rome would prove its power over you and your little revolt, ideas, or philosophy. They would shut you up by making an absolute mockery of you on that cross. You would soon be defenseless. You would die.

Crosses are a type of signpost. Signs are meant to communicate the way to something, something to stay away from, or tell people of an event. Some similar crosses have been used mark the level of flood waters – showing the people that when a flood reaches that mark on that cross beam, their land would reap a harvest because of irrigating and new fertilization. In the world of Rome, the cross was meant to illustrate that you didn’t measure up. Near Jerusalem, they would set you on top a dusty place called Golgotha near a major route into town as a signpost for all. Shameful you would die a lonely death.

What happens when the ultimate authority is put on trial once and for all? What happens when God himself is sentenced to death for claiming his rightful throne? Jesus said he was king, but wasn’t accepted. He then submitted himself under the authority of man to be tried and punished, but came out clean on the other side. Jesus, when he died on the cross, didn’t take his sin to the grave, because he didn’t have any, but took our sin to the grave. The result was a way out for us. He proved his authority over death when Rome handed him over to death, proving who he was when he came back to life on that third day. 

As man humiliated Jesus on the cross of death, he was a signpost for the way to Eternal Life in a physical and spiritual sense. Rome and the religious elite meant the crucifixion of Christ for evil, but God used the cross for good to prove that he could defeat it and is Lord of it. People all over the world now hold the cross up as a symbol of God defeating the final enemy – death.

Jesus showed us the model. We wouldn’t know that submission is the way to abundant life if it weren’t for God doing it first. The world will tell you that power, fame, and money will save you from death. As Christ followers, when we choose to take the sacrifice fly, the humblest places, and the “out” in this world like Jesus did, we win and help others get to God too. When we sacrifice our lives and take up our crosses, we put our faith in God that everything will be okay.