The meaning of the Cross for 1st Century Romans

The meaning of the Cross for 1st Century Romans

A reflection in a series by Chuck H.

What did the cross mean for Roman citizens of the first century?  When they saw a crucifix or a crucifixion what was on their mind?  It meant a gruesome one way journey to humiliation, suffering, excruciating pain, and death. 

Anyone who faced a Roman cross never came back alive.  There was only one outcome to this trip and the road was paved with brutality, and unbelievable agony.  For them the cross was a cruel instrument of death, it was not an artistic statue or a piece of jewellery.  Today there are electric chairs, a gas chamber, a hangman’s noose, a firing squad.  In that day there was the Roman cross.

I have a close friend who is a medical pathologist.  He performs many autopsies each year.  He knows what happens to bodies as they die. In 1986 he wrote an article in a major medical journal that summarized his quest to understand what happens during a crucifixion and therefore what would have happened to Jesus.  Some of you may have heard these details before, for others this may be new.  Its not a pleasant read.  It will turn your head and heart inside out.  It’s something that many cannot read or entertain. But it’s true.

The process of crucifixion began with stripping the person completely naked and tying the person to a wooden post with their arms above their head.  Our pictures of Jesus during his beating and on the cross have him wearing a loin cloth.  It’s done out of our sense of modesty. However there was no loin cloth at all. This was done to completely humiliate the person.

Soldiers would beat the back of the victim with a scourge laced with thorns or jagged bits of bone.  The effect was to shred the muscles of the shoulders, back and sides down to the bones.  Some victims died from this flogging alone.  Jesus lost an enormous amount of blood but somehow survived. 

After the beating the victim was to carry the horizontal beam of the cross to the site of the crucifixion on top of the shoulders which had just been shredded.  Jesus crumbled under the weight and pain.  A stranger carried it for him.  Then a spike 5 to 7 inches long was driven into the both wrists and the feet as the body was attached to the cross.  Our pictures show the nail holes in the palm of the hand, but the nail was actually put into the wrist so that the bones would hold the body in suspension.

The cross was lifted and dropped into a small hole with a thud and the full weight of the body was now hanging by these three nails.  There was no anaesthesia, only searing pain.  This did not kill the victim however.  Usually the victim died from suffocation.  Unable to lift the body,  the person was strangled as they struggled for a breath of air.  If the soldiers were in a hurry to finish the job they would break the legs of the victim to make it more difficult to push up and catch a breath.  Death came quickly then and only death released the victim from the excruciating pain and agony. How remarkable that Jesus was able to say a few words from the cross.  How remarkable the content of those words. 

“My God why have you forsaken me?”

“Father forgive.”

“I am thirsty.” 

“Here is your son, here is your mother.”

“Today you will be in paradise.”

“It is finished.” 

“Father into your hands I commend my spirit.”

The cross the woman in the jewellery store sells is not just a cultural symbol.  It does not have a cute little man on it.  The cross is a symbol of the depth of human cruelty and torture.  When a man or a woman, a boy or a girl in the Roman Empire thought of the cross, they thought of only one thing, a gruesome one way journey to humiliation, excruciating pain, and death.

The next time you see a cross somewhere, stop, ponder, remind yourself of what it represents.  And then offer your heart to Jesus who, “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:2

Day 16 – What do you give thanks for today?

Day 16 – What do you give thanks for today?

Very Simply today – what do you give thanks for today?

Small everyday things and great big things

From the food on our table to the great big plan God has for the world

From the small little flowers to the incredible discoveries we give thanks

Day 15 – What am I really happy about at the moment?

Day 15 – What am I really happy about at the moment?

Todays question might seem straight forward but it is important – In the times we’re living in – currently in lockdown and there could be a lot that we’re unhappy about it’s really important to look at the things big or small that we’re happy about.

maybe its the sunrise, maybe its supportive friends, maybe its family or security of a roof over our heads

Taking time to remember those things that make us happy … right now is a good place to start. Yes there may be lots of things about our circumstances that cause us to complain but starting from a positive place or allowing our thoughts to go to that positive place is really important to give us perspective for our circumstances.

We of course cannot be happy 100% of the time – not at all – and we go through different seasons and it’s important to acknowledge that. In the quiet place today – what am I happy about

happy/ˈhapi/ adjective

  1. 1.feeling or showing pleasure or contentment.

Day 14 – What do you have plenty of?

This is simply looking at what you do have? Last week we asked the question what do you lack?

but today its simply what do you have plenty of?

maybe its time, maybe its resources

Other questions flow from this … but today simply – what do you plenty of?

Defined as

plenty/ˈplɛnti/pronoun

  1. a large or sufficient amount or quantity; more than enough.
Day 13 – When was the last time I really listened to God / his Word?

Day 13 – When was the last time I really listened to God / his Word?

This question, like the others are personal. For some reading this they may say today! – Great!

For others they may ask what do you mean – I heard the Bible read on sunday – Good

I suppose when I ask this question – I’m thinking about taking time to hear God’s voice, to sit with him / with a passage of scripture and to rest with it for a while. Time to pause and reflect upon it.

Thinking about it’s implications for today and what he might be saying.

This takes time and energy – it takes effort

but it is time well spent

I recently came across an article on the subject here – https://www.thenivbible.com/blog/practice-listening-to-god/

This question is part of a series of questions for Lent – others are available here – www.cupcork.ie/lent