Crucifixion

Paul’s letter to the Philippians includes a hymn about Christ:

Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. (2:6-8)

The final phrase, even death on a cross, would have caused the original readers to take a deep breath. For them, the cross was an instrument of unspeakable brutality.

Crucifixion was Rome’s way of terrorizing the peoples it had subjugated. It was meant to send a clear message: Oppose the might of Rome and this is what you will suffer.

Crucifixion as a means of execution had been used in the east by the Assyrians, Scythians, Phoenicians and Persians. Alexander the Great is reported to have crucified 2000 citizens of Tyre after that city fell to him in 322 B.C.

The Romans adopted this practice primarily in the provinces of its empire. Roman citizens were subject to crucifixion only if guilty of treason. The Romans reserved it for slaves who were guilty of robbery or rebellion. Such was the case in the slave uprising of 71 B.C. When the uprising was quelled, the Romans crucified six thousand followers of Spartacus along the Appian as part of a Roman victory celebration.

Nero also employed crucifixion in his persecution of the Christians in the aftermath of the fire that destroyed much of Rome. Tradition says St. Peter was executed in this persecution.

One source recounts that during the siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD, some 500 Jews seeking to flee the city were crucified each day.

“Crucifixion was not a simple execution, but a slow torture. The victim’s vital organs were not directly damaged, so death could last many hours or even days. Furthermore, it was customary to combine the basic punishment of crucifixion with other types of humiliation and torment... It was always a public act. The victims were left totally naked, dying in agony on the cross, in a visible place: a well travelled crossroads… The spectacle of those men writhing in pain, moaning and cursing, was unforgettable.” (Jesus, An Historical Approximation, Jose A. Pagola)

It is no wonder then that the disciples of Jesus turned to Isaiah (52:14):

“Many people were aghast at him – he was so inhumanely disfigured that he no longer looked like a man.” (New Jerusalem Bible)

“So now many nations recoil at the sight of him, and kings curl their lips in disgust. His form, disfigured lost all human likeness; his appearance so changed he no longer looked like a man.” (Revised English Bible)

Nor is it any wonder that it was only in the fifth century, some decades after crucifixion had been outlawed, that Christians began to picture Jesus on a cross.

How did such a vile object become an object of veneration? The answer, I think, is found in the words of the Gospel according to John, “Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.” (14:1)
The power of the cross for Christians is not its brutality but the profound depth of love on the part of Jesus to which it testifies.