Do you really think Jesus likes all those crosses?

Question

If he returned to our world, do you think he would enjoy seeing all the crosses on churches and on necklaces? He can't have good memories about it after all...

Answer 1

You would think that he would have quite a phobia about them.

Answer 2

Further research on the Scriptures will shows us, that Christ did not die on the traditionally shaped cross is also indicated by the testimony of the catacombs.
Thus Dean Burgon, in his Letters from Rome, wrote: “I question whether a cross occurs on any Christian monument of the first four centuries.” Mons Perret, who spent fourteen years doing research in the catacombs of Rome, counted in all a total of 11,000 inscriptions among the millions of tombs. According to him, “not until the latter years of the fourth century does the sign of the cross appear.” Among the signs that do appear are the dove, a symbol of the holy spirit; the lyre, a symbol of joy; the anchor, a symbol of hope and the fish. Why the fish? Because the letters of the word “fish” in Greek are the same as the first letters of “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.”4

Also, that Christ did not die on the traditionally shaped cross is also indicated by the Bible itself. It repeatedly tells of his dying on a tree, the Greek word being xylon. (See Luke 23:31; Acts 5:30;10:39.) Xylon simply means “timber,” and “by implication a stick, club or tree or other wooden article or substance.”5 That is why the Gospel writers all use xylon to refer to the staves or clubs that the mob carried when they came to take Jesus. (See Matthew 26:47, 55; Mark 14:43, 48; Luke 22:52.) By saying that Christ died on a xylon these indicated that Christ died on a timber, a piece of wood.

Thus the apostle Paul states that Christ became a curse to those under the law by being fastened to a xylon, since “Accursed is every man hanged upon a stake [xylon].” Paul was there quoting from the law of Moses, which required that the bodies of executed criminals be fastened to a tree or stake as a warning and which meant that they were cursed by God.—Gal. 3:13; Deut. 21:22, 23, NW.

A like example is found relative to one of the decrees of Cyrus, which warned that anyone refusing to obey, “a timber will be pulled out of his house and he will be impaled upon it.” In the Greek Septuagint Version the term for timber here is xylon. Again, not a cross but a simple straight beam.—Ezra 6:11, NW.

Answer 3

Jesus probably would not recognize the crosses as "crucifixes". Unless his was a unique cross, most crucifixions of that time were apparently carried out on more "T-shaped" structures, not crosses. The word translated as "cross" from the New Testament is the Greek word stauros, which denotes, primarily, ‘an upright pale or stake’

Answer 4

It is not to remember the cross but to remind us what he did for us. Would it bother you if you lost your right leg to save the world from a nuclear bomb attack for people to have a leg charm around their neck to show you appreciation or to remind people what you did for them? It would have been a sacrifice for you to do that. Just as it was a sacrifice for him to do that. I don't think that it would bother him. But we have to remember the 2nd commandment though, not to make any idol in the form of anything on heaven or earth. It is just a reminder for what he did for you and everyone else.

Answer 5

No, but it's a perfect Christian symbol. The original Christian symbol was the fish until Constantine led his troops to battle with the cross as his symbol. The Crusaders were also proud to go to battle against heretics under the symbol of the cross. What better symbol for a religion of "peace."

Onward Christian soldiers... praise the lord and kill the heretics!

Answer 6

LOL! I've been browsing for awhile but this one caught my eye. In a way I can see your point. Maybe a flask with a divider in it with half clear liquid and the other half red, to remind him of the water to wine gig he pulled off at the wedding would be better.

The cross is to remind us of the sins that we carry as well.

Answer 7

What were the historical origins of Christendom’s cross?

“Various objects, dating from periods long anterior to the Christian era, have been found, marked with crosses of different designs, in almost every part of the old world. India, Syria, Persia and Egypt have all yielded numberless examples . . . The use of the cross as a religious symbol in pre-Christian times and among non-Christian peoples may probably be regarded as almost universal, and in very many cases it was connected with some form of nature worship.”—Encyclopædia Britannica (1946), Vol. 6, p. 753.

“The shape of the [two-beamed cross] had its origin in ancient Chaldea, and was used as the symbol of the god Tammuz (being in the shape of the mystic Tau, the initial of his name) in that country and in adjacent lands, including Egypt. By the middle of the 3rd cent. A.D. the churches had either departed from, or had travestied, certain doctrines of the Christian faith. In order to increase the prestige of the apostate ecclesiastical system pagans were received into the churches apart from regeneration by faith, and were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols. Hence the Tau or T, in its most frequent form, with the cross-piece lowered, was adopted to stand for the cross of Christ.”—An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (London, 1962), W. E. Vine, p. 256.

“It is strange, yet unquestionably a fact, that in ages long before the birth of Christ, and since then in lands untouched by the teaching of the Church, the Cross has been used as a sacred symbol. . . . The Greek Bacchus, the Tyrian Tammuz, the Chaldean Bel, and the Norse Odin, were all symbolised to their votaries by a cruciform device.”—The Cross in Ritual, Architecture, and Art (London, 1900), G. S. Tyack, p. 1.

“The cross in the form of the ‘Crux Ansata’ . . . was carried in the hands of the Egyptian priests and Pontiff kings as the symbol of their authority as priests of the Sun god and was called ‘the Sign of Life.’”—The Worship of the Dead (London, 1904), Colonel J. Garnier, p. 226.

“Various figures of crosses are found everywhere on Egyptian monuments and tombs, and are considered by many authorities as symbolical either of the phallus, a representation of the male sex organ. Or of coition. . . . In Egyptian tombs the crux ansata, cross with a circle or handle on top: is found side by side with the phallus.”—A Short History of Sex-Worship (London, 1940), H. Cutner, pp. 16, 17; see also The Non-Christian Cross, p. 183.

“These crosses were used as symbols of the Babylonian sun-god, and are first seen on a coin of Julius Cæsar, 100-44 B.C., and then on a coin struck by Cæsar’s heir (Augustus), 20 B.C. On the coins of Constantine is the most frequent symbol. But the same symbol is used without the surrounding circle, and with the four equal arms vertical and horizontal; and this was the symbol specially venerated as the ‘Solar Wheel’. It should be stated that Constantine was a sun-god worshipper, and would not enter the "Church" till some quarter of a century after the legend of his having seen such a cross in the heavens.”—The Companion Bible, Appendix No. 162; see also The Non-Christian Cross, pp. 133-141.

Is veneration of the cross a Scriptural practice?

1 Cor. 10:14: “My beloved ones, flee from idolatry.” (An idol is an image or symbol that is an object of intense devotion, veneration, or worship.)

Ex. 20:4, 5, JB: “You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them.” (Notice that God commanded that his people not even make an image before which people would bow down.)

Of interest is this comment in the New Catholic Encyclopedia: “The representation of Christ’s redemptive death on Golgotha does not occur in the symbolic art of the first Christian centuries. The early Christians, influenced by the Old Testament prohibition of graven images, were reluctant to depict even the instrument of the Lord’s Passion.”—(1967), Vol. IV, p. 486.

Concerning first-century Christians, History of the Christian Church says: “There was no use of the crucifix and no material representation of the cross.”—(New York, 1897), J. F. Hurst, Vol. I, p. 366.

Does it really make any difference if a person cherishes a cross, as long as he does not worship it?

How would you feel if one of your dearest friends was executed on the basis of false charges? Would you make a replica of the instrument of execution? Would you cherish it, or would you rather shun it?

How, then, must Jehovah view the use of the cross, which, as we have seen, was anciently used as a symbol in phallic worship?

Answer 8

Zack--Romans used a straight timber as their torture stake and Christ suffocated to death as a result of his arms over his head and both hands nailed through to the timber--this was Roman torture--what a horrible death that he submitted to with love like his Heavenly Father loves the world!

The Crucifix is idolatry.

Answer 9

I think Christians who wear and display crosses do so as a reminder of the sacrifice Christ made for all mankind. To that end, I think Christ would probably appreciate the thoughts and reflections others often have about his death. If no one remembered his death, then it would be meaningless and a waste. Some people choose not to use crosses, but honestly, I think you should use whatever helps you get closer to Christ spiritually.

Answer 10

He'd probably be upset that people think that they only need to wear crosses and mumble in churches instead of actually doing what he taught.

Answer 11

This is where all the Fundamentalists get to spew out their faith and admiration for this symbol.

I think he'd have more issues with those who don't follow his teachings, rather than the wood he died on.

Not a bad question though.