From the Pastor's Study
A few years ago I was visiting Notre Dame Basilica in Old Montreal. It is a truly
beautiful building and it takes some time to walk through it. It is also a tourist destination, a
must-see for those who visit the city. As I was enjoying the peace and beauty of the building a
group of tourists entered the building and began viewing some of the objects displayed through
the building.
Near the entranceway is a nearly life-size statue of Jesus on the cross, a crucifix. It is
particularly life-like, and the artist was able to bring to life Jesus’ agony as he hung on the cross.
Little is left to the imagination as to what Roman crucifixions were like.
A tourist, most likely someone with no association with Christianity, stopped for a
moment to view that terrible depiction of Jesus’ suffering, and he uttered only one sentence:
“How revolting.” It made me look at the crucifix in a new way. It was truly revolting, a
depiction of human depravity and cruelty.
While Protestant Christians tend to display the Easter cross (an empty cross, reminding us
of Jesus’ resurrection), Roman Catholics usually display a crucifix, a reminder of Jesus’
suffering and death. Yet, as Protestants, we heartily agree that the death of Jesus was what has
changed everything. He suffered and died a horrible death in order that he might earn for us the
possibility of being saved. We have grown accustomed to the idea of Jesus’ death on the cross,
and a picture of it may barely move us, but the tourist was right: it is revolting. What Jesus
endured for our sakes was ugly and horrible. It was wrong in every way we can think of.
It should not pass us by that the central symbol of Christianity is a cross, a torture device.
Hinduism has a very different symbol, the Hindi letters which form the sound, “Om,” a
sacred sound, according to them, that allows one to empty one’s mind to pray.
Buddhism has a symbol that looks a little like a ship’s wheel, a circle with spokes,
representing that bad deeds must be undone by good deeds in the circles of reincarnation.
Islam is represented by a crescent moon and star, a symbol associated with the Ottoman
empire. There is no religious meaning to this symbol, but there is the idea that Islam will
again form a dominion as was experienced in the time of the Ottoman empire.
And, of course, Judaism is represented by the Star of David, David being the greatest
king of the Israelite nation. There is the hope among Jews that God will re-establish the
reign of David through another king.
Of all of these symbols, the ugliest and most grotesque is that of Christianity, the cross.
We can understand how someone who is unfamiliar with what the cross means might find it
revolting. It is an unpleasant image, and, unlike the images of other major world religions, it
does not seem all that positive. Yet, when we begin to understand what the symbol of the cross
