What does the Cross of Jesus Christ Mean?
What has the gory events of circa A.D. 29 in Palestine to do with us today?
The cross, as we commonly know it today, was a work of Roman carpentry made of two sturdy planks of wood crossing each other such that the shorter of both pieces intersected the longer of the pieces about a quarter way up the longer piece, and at half of the shorter piece. The longer piece was usually buried into the ground; thus, the shorter piece was suspended.
This wooden cross was no fanciful piece of furniture or work of Roman craftsmanship to be admired. Rather, it was the cruellest instrument of death that the Romans designed to execute the vilest of criminals—thieves, rebels, traitors, etc. Also, the Romans ordered the criminal to carry the cross on which he would be executed to the execution ground while whipping him if he moved too slowly or dropped the cross. Such horrible and humiliating treatment was usually reserved for the vilest criminals in the eye of the Roman State. By now, it should be clear that the cross we are describing was a very heavy item.
The metamorphosis of Roman execution instrument
The instrument of Roman execution had metamorphosed from a one-piece wooden log to which criminals were tied and burnt or shot through with an arrow, to an X-shaped execution item made of two intersecting pieces of wood to which the criminal was tied astride and left to suffer for some time, before being shot through with an arrow or burned. However, before A.D. 29, the X-shaped execution item had given way to the cross upon which a criminal was tied and raised above the ground, suspended, and hanging by both hands tied to the smaller wooden piece; both feet being nailed sideways to the longer piece.
The punishment on the cross
During these executions, the criminal was kept hanging for as long as possible, sometimes for days! However, if they wanted to expedite the criminal's death and put him out of his misery, they broke his bones or pierced him through with a spear or an arrow.
Roman execution was designed to deter armed robbery, treasonable acts, rebellion, and sedition against the Emperor. It was also intended specifically for non-citizens of Rome.
Such was the state of the Roman justice system when Jesus Christ was accused by the Jewish rulers of His day of blasphemy against God. To make their accusation align with Roman Law, they also accused Him of claiming to be a king, which implied equality with the Roman Emperor, a treasonable offence deserving of the most horrible death—the cross!
The Back Story
Before pressing further, let's take a breather and look at the back story, which dates as far back as the events that occurred shortly after the creation of man by God. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, it was an act of rebellion; a sin with devastating and reverberating consequences—it brought death to all of humanity, not just physically but also spiritually.
Many believe God left man to his devices because of his rebellion, but that is not the case! God had a plan for redeeming man back to His original intent, which is for man to live in His presence forever and share His glory. Hence when God cursed the serpent who had been a tool in the hands of Satan to deceive man, He declared:
"And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel." (Genesis 3:15, NKJV)
The above statement was a declaration of perpetual war between good and evil, humans and satanic forces, and Christ and Satan! So, any male child born to those God expressed His love toward, or toward whom God showed favour, until the birth of Jesus, Satan would attack through his human proxies. Thus, Cain slew his brother Abel!
Enter Jesus Christ
Unbeknownst to Satan at the time, the Seed of the woman was not Abel, neither was it anyone else for that matter, other than Jesus Christ, whose birth had been foretold over the Centuries. And from the time Jesus was born, there were several attempts by Satan through his proxies to kill Him. Indeed, when Jesus was about two years old, there was a massacre of children aged two years and below in the village where the young child Jesus lived with His surrogate parents (for that is who they were). King Herod had ordered this massacre! But as instructed by God, Jesus' surrogate parents had spirited Him away from the village to a safe location, thus preserving His life from the massacre. (Matthew 2:1-18)
Judgment against Jesus
Attempts at Jesus' life continued throughout adulthood when He began to preach and teach the word of God. But He escaped them all because it was not yet the appointed time for Him to die (Luke 4:24-30; John 8:59; 10:30-39). The appointed time came, circa A.D. 29, when Jesus was betrayed by one of His disciples, tried by the Sanhedrin (the Jewish religious and judicial body), and condemned to death. Being unauthorised to carry out the death sentence, they went to the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, to obtain the necessary authorisation. But when Pontius Pilate was, at first, unwilling to sanction the death penalty upon a person he believed was not guilty of such punishment (based on the evidence before him under Roman Law), the Sanhedrin used intimidation and blackmail to have their way. Indeed, Pilate considered that Jesus' conviction by the Sanhedrin was because they envied Him (Matthew 27:18; Mark 15:10), yet he was compelled to concede to their demands because the Jewish leaders accused him of showing benevolence to an enemy of the Roman Emperor. They also got the crowd that was present to demand Jesus' crucifixion. Not to draw the ire of the Emperor, Pilate gave in and authorised Jesus' crucifixion; thus, the procedure for Jesus' horrible punishment was set in motion.
The humiliation and crucifixion
Previously, before being brought to Pontius Pilate, Jesus had suffered abuse, been spat on, and slapped as He stood before the Sanhedrin. After Pilate had authorised His crucifixion, there was humiliation and mocking—Jesus was made fun of when the Roman soldiers placed a crown of thorns on His head and rammed it down, piercing His head. He was stripped naked before being draped with purple (a sign of royalty) and a reed placed in His hand, sarcastically signifying 'His kingship', while they mocked and shouted, "Hail, the king of the Jews."
Then came the beating—forty strokes of the Roman whip. The Roman whip itself was a strip of leather, with metal spikes worked into the leather. The Romans first poured water on the body of the criminal so that when he was whipped, the leather whip would stick to his body, and then it had to be dragged. The metal spikes would come out from the leather when the whip was pulled, tearing the criminal's flesh! In Jesus' case, striking and pulling the whip was done forty times, each time tearing His skin! At the end of the beating, Jesus' body was a bloody mess and a mass of torn flesh; no wonder Isaiah prophesied,
He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. (Isaiah 53:2, NKJV)
When the Roman soldiers were done, they placed the cross on Jesus and led Him out to the execution ground—whipping Him along the way. Indeed, it is recorded in the gospels that, being too weak to carry the cross, the Roman soldiers got someone to carry the cross for Him (Matthew 27:32; Luke 23:26).
At the execution ground, two criminals were executed alongside Jesus. But while the criminals were tied to their crosses and suspended, Jesus was nailed, hands and feet, before being suspended on His cross and left to die. At about the ninth hour (between 2 and 3 p.m.), Jesus gave up the ghost. By the time the Roman soldiers broke the bones of the other two criminals to expedite their death because of the Jewish feast of Passover, which was at hand, Jesus was already dead. But to make sure He was dead, the Roman soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and blood and water gushed forth (John 19:34).
All these things done to Jesus were a fulfilment of Bible prophecies.
For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; (Psalm 22:16, NKJV)
He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken. (Psalms 34:20, NKJV)
"And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced.” (Zechariah 12:10, NKJV)
But why the gory details?
These gory details must be told because Centuries before, prophecies were declared about the kind of death the Messiah would experience. Thus, whoever would go through such horrific punishment and death had to be the Messiah—a man appointed by God from the foundation of the world to redeem all of mankind who had been sold to Satan through Adam and Eve's rebellion against God. God had a Kinsman-Redeemer in the person of Jesus Christ, to redeem fallen man from the bondage and captivity of Satan, whose head Jesus had now bruised through the cross! And all these were accomplished when Jesus died such gruesome death on the cross! Also, the horrific punishment reveals the severity of God's judgment on sin and those who partake of sin—sinners.
What the cross of Jesus means
In dying on the cross, Jesus paid the penalty for the sins of all human beings. Some may wonder why and how one man's death on a cross could pay the price for the sins of all men. Certainly, it was one man's offence (Adam) that sold all of humanity into slavery to sin!
Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:18-19, NKJV)
Therefore, the cross of Jesus means the following for all human beings:
1. It symbolises man's freedom when they believe and accept the message it conveys—that sin has been remitted, and forgiveness is available to all (Luke 24:46-47).
2. It is the route to eternal salvation for as many people as believe that Jesus' death was the payment for their sins.
3. Along with its gory memories, Jesus' cross has become the basis for our release from sin's stranglehold whenever we repent of and repudiate our sins.
4. It symbolises Jesus' triumph over Satan and his hierarchy of fallen angels.
5. It signifies the victory of all those who have come to Jesus for salvation over Satan and his wiles.
6. It is the good news of God's love, mercy, and forgiveness to all human beings who, hitherto, were God's enemies (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:11-19).
7. It is the evidence of God's trustworthiness and dependability, in that, as He had spoken in Generis 3:15, so had He brought it to pass.
There are more, but these seven would do.
It is now up to men and women everywhere to avail themselves of this wonderful provision of God's mercy and deliverance and come to God as repentant children into His waiting arms of forgiveness and love. It is, indeed, up to us to live victoriously over sin and Satan, as we appropriate Jesus' cross in our lives every day.