WHAT CHANGED THE CROSS?
“And sitting down they watched Him there” (Matthew 27:36 KJV). “Na noho ana ratou ki te tiaki i a ia i reira” (Matiu 27:36).
One of the most common symbols we see today is the cross. On almost every church spire one can be seen. People wear them as ornaments around their necks or dangling from their ears, and they are commonplace on many tombstones. But do we really understand the significance of the cross? Until a certain point in history the cross was nothing more than a terrible instrument of human torture and indescribable suffering. Crucifixion was a common means of execution, especially among the Romans, and thousands of people died this way. It was a cruel and horrible death. But there came a time when the significance of the cross changed, and instead of being an emblem of suffering, torture and death, it came to be seen as one of hope and virtue. What caused such a radical change? The reason for such a change is seen in our verse above. Let’s take time to think about it. There are three words in this short verse we need to carefully consider. 1. “THEY”: Who were “they” – these people who were prepared to sit down and watch the hideous death throes of a fellow human being? None of them understood the tremendous significance of the scene they were watching. They
knew nothing of the truth of “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). The military are the first to be referred to – the soldiers who were responsible for carrying out the executions that day. There had been three of them, but the Prisoner on the centre cross was so entirely different from every other prisoner they had handled. These soldiers had previously surrounded Him in the governor’s residence to mock Him, during which they had twisted a branch of the long-thorned briar into a grotesque crown and cruelly pushed it down on His head. But these hardened soldiers would never forget His words, as with careless blows they drove the jagged spikes through His hands and feet – “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing!” Nevertheless they had completed their gruesome task and now they were sitting down to guard the scene and see the end result. The religious people were also there – the scribes and Pharisees, the hypocrites, leaders of the Jewish nation. (Most likely the unbelievers were standing alongside them). They too had done their work. For some time they had clamoured for
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