Few perhaps realise that the single most central theme of the Easter season is not the coloured eggs, or the bunnies, but the cross.
The cross is arguably the most recognised symbol of the Christian faith. In many Christian denominations, the cross is often worn both by religious leaders and ordinary believers alike; either as a form of identification, spiritual protection, or simply to fulfill their understanding of religious piety.
Though in many cases it is but a simple emblem, in some Christian circles the cross has been used in ways that seem to suggest it possesses extraordinary powers. Some great preachers have thus used the cross in exorcism or healing sessions.
In its original form, the cross was actually an instrument of punishment for serious crimes — treason, desertion in the face of the enemy, robbery, piracy, assassination, sedition, etc. Historical records indicate that crucifixion was familiar to the Greeks, the Romans, the Egyptians, Persians, and Babylonians. Alexander the Great is reported to have executed, on the cross, over 2,000 captives from Tyre after conquering their city. Later, the Jews suffered this form of punishment from the Syrians and Romans. The cross was, however, detested even by those who used it. The Romans, for example, so loathed the cross that they exempted their citizens from it.
They considered it so repugnant that they are reported to have said, “Let the very name of the cross be far away not only from the body of a Roman citizen, but even from his thoughts, his eyes, his ears.” It was therefore not just the ultimate punishment for the worst offence, but also a form of humiliation of the victim. But crucifixion continued in the Roman Empire until the days of Constantine, when it was abolished as an insult to Christianity.
Among the early Jews, the Law of God was understood to prohibit execution by the cross. According to the Scriptures, anyone hang on the cross was considered to be under the curse of God. It is believed that this was partly why the crucifixion of Jesus became such a stumbling block to the Jews. They could not see how one accursed of God could be their Messiah. For the Christians, however, though the cross owes its origin from outside of Christianity, no word in human language has become more universally known and associated with Christianity than the cross. It has become the exclusive symbol of Christianity. Why so? Primarily because of the theological significance of the cross.
Right from the Garden of Eden, God required that sin be either punished or atoned for. God had categorically warned Adam that on the day Adam sinned he would certainly die. However, when Adam sinned, he did not actually die. God atoned for Adam’s sin through the substitutionary death of an animal that God killed to cover Adam’s nakedness. Later God prescribed such atonement in various places and at various times in history. For example, Moses was instructed, “If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD’s commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible. He is to bring to the priest as a guilt offering a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value.’ In this way the priest made atonement for the wrong the person had committed.
But this temporary arrangement had to be replaced with a permanent solution, because the blood of an animal could not fully pay for the sin of man. Every time a person sinned they had to offer another animal for their sin — a truly bloody exercise! A permanent solution could only be achieved by a human dying for fellow human beings. God therefore chose Jesus — the perfect and sinless Son of God — to become that requisite lamb without blemish to atone for human sin. And by divine design, Jesus was subjected to death on the cross — the worst and most repugnant death — so He would in this way pay for the worst of sins.
Furthermore, by being hang on the cross, He became a curse in God’s sight that He may carry every human curse. Consequently, Jesus’ death on the cross became the most central theme of Christian theology. Thus Christianity rises and falls on the cross. Without the cross, Christianity is dead!
