Jesus and his cross.. (priest, crucifixion, blood, Jerusalem, bible)

[Bouncing Ball]

Many religious people probably have a cross with jesus on it hanging somewhere in the house. I know some of my relatives have.

My question: isn't it very cruel to have just the thing that humilinated Jesus and where he died from hanging in your house?

It appears to me as the opposite of respect somehow..

[c0da]

Many religious people

Many Christians*

My question: isn't it very cruel to have just the thing that humilinated Jesus and where he died from hanging in your house?

I'm not a Christian, but I'll try to answer it from a Christian perspective. Jesus died for peoples sins on the cross, he was on there for everybody elses sake, so in that respect, he wasn't being humiliated, he was doing the world a service. So by having an image of him on the cross, Christians are showing their thanks and gratitute to what Jesus did for them.

[CaptainXeroid]

The only thing I can add to c0da's excellent response is that even among Christians, the cross is displayed differently. Some Christians use a crucifix, a symbol of Jesus on the cross, to remind them of his sacrifice, while others think a cross without Jesus nailed to it reminds them that he rose from the dead.

I don't wear a cross because I'm just not a big jewelry guy. My only adornment is my wedding band, but I do have respect for others who wear religious symbols because it says to me that faith is important to them.

[EnhancedSpirit]

Originally Posted by Bouncing Ball

Many religious people probably have a cross with jesus on it hanging somewhere in the house. I know some of my relatives have.

My question: isn't it very cruel to have just the thing that humilinated Jesus and where he died from hanging in your house?

It appears to me as the opposite of respect somehow..

The first time I saw a crucifix, it was a huge lifesized statue, and I was 7. I was horrified. I had always been told of sweet little baby Jesus, and here he was all bloody, nailed to the cross with thorns in his head.

I can certainly understand why other religions would view this as barbaric, especially since most cultures treat their dead with great respect . . . .

I always felt that using a crucifix would be like using crime scene photos of a person killed by a drunk driver, as a poster for MADD. How would you feel if your child had been killed by a drunk driver, would you want the crime photos to be the poster for some great cause? How do you think Mary would really feel if she saw all these crucifixes hanging around with her dead son atop the pole?

It's one thing to carry a cross as a symbol, but to display the actual dead body of Christ is just wrong to me. It's like they have him on display like a trophy killing. And there is that think about graven images.

[Jerrell]

Originally Posted by Bouncing Ball

Many religious people probably have a cross with jesus on it hanging somewhere in the house. I know some of my relatives have.

My question: isn't it very cruel to have just the thing that humilinated Jesus and where he died from hanging in your house?

It appears to me as the opposite of respect somehow..

That is not Jesus on those pictures. Many times you see some white man with blue eyes, sometimes a black man, other times he has low flowing hair, or maybe he looks like a muslim. None of these are true. Nobody knows what Jesus looked like and he certainly was not white(as popularized by the west). Jesus was Hebrew, he looked hebrew, and hebrew men did not wear long hair.

Now By the Law Pictures of Jesus dying are not to be erected. But Christians glory in what God has done, as long as they dont worship the picture or give reference to it they are doing no harm.

Jesus dying on the cross wasn't an humiliation. Did you know he rose from the dead finally paying the penalty for our sins. That was grand, and only by dying could he achieve this.

[michel]

Originally Posted by Bouncing Ball

Many religious people probably have a cross with jesus on it hanging somewhere in the house. I know some of my relatives have.

My question: isn't it very cruel to have just the thing that humilinated Jesus and where he died from hanging in your house?

It appears to me as the opposite of respect somehow..

To me a crucifix is a permanent reminder of what Jesus did for us; I do have a crucifix that I rarely wear (for the same reason as capt.X). I even got our local priest to bless it for me.

[Jerrell]

Keep in mind Jesus did not die upon a cross. Jesus died upon a tree:

1Pe 2:24 - Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree...

Ac 5:30 - The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

Ga 3:13 - Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree

2Ti 2:15 - " Study to shew thyself approved unto God..."

The Cross was the Horizontal beam which Jesus carried(then the Jewish Man), not the whole thing as many pictures show.

Yet in a sense you are not wrong by saying he died upon a cross, but for scripture to be revealed it is accurately a tree.

[SunMessenger]

Originally Posted by Bouncing Ball

Many religious people probably have a cross with jesus on it hanging somewhere in the house. I know some of my relatives have.

My question: isn't it very cruel to have just the thing that humilinated Jesus and where he died from hanging in your house?

It appears to me as the opposite of respect somehow..

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." - Matthew 16:24

[michel]

Wikipedia has this interesting little read:-
Archeological evidence for ancient crucifixion

Despite the fact that the ancient Jewish historian Josephus, as well as other sources, refer to the crucifixion of thousands of people by the Romans,

there is only a single archeological discovery of a crucified body dating back to the Roman Empire around the time of Jesus (discovered, incidentally, in Jerusalem)

. It is not surprising that there is only one such discovery, because a crucified body was usually left to decay on the cross and therefore would not be preserved. The only reason these archeological remains were preserved was because family members gave this particular crucified criminal a customary burial.
The remains were found accidentally in an ossuary with the crucified man’s name on it, “Yehohanan, the son of Hagakol.” The ossuary contained a heel with a nail driven through its side, indicating that the heels may have been driven through the sides of the tree (one on the left side, one on the right side, and not with both feet together in front). The nail had olive wood on it indicating that he was crucified on a cross made of olivewood or on an olive tree. Since olive trees are not very tall, this would suggest that victims were crucified at eye level. His legs were found broken.

[theMINI]

Personally, I carry a necklace of Jesus on the Cross to remember all he has done for me.