Today we highlight the cross as a symbol of glory and honor. We put it atop our churches, and on gold chains around our necks. But in those days it was a symbol of death and gore, suffering and shame, and wasn’t even spoken of in respectable company.
The Phoenicians invented crucifixion…inspired by seeing rats nailed to a wall. It made death slow and painful, and very public, and was reserved for the lowest of criminals.
No pictures you ever see depicting Jesus on the cross will do it justice…it was simply too gory. Isaiah said He was so brutalized you couldn’t recognize Him as a man…more like hanging meat, flayed, bloody, and thoroughly brutalized.
“And to be raised” is a symbolic of “the victory of the cross.”
The misery of the cross and the brutality of the cross are not God’s final word. For this same Jesus that suffered, died, and was buried, is the One who rose again, conquering death, and is today seated at the right hand of God the Father!
Thank you for reading.
God Bless and have a great day!
