I heard the true story of a woman who was looking at crosses in a jewelry store.  As the jeweler showed her various ones, she commented, “I like these, but do you have any that don’t have this little man on them?”

That is what people want today: A cross without Jesus.  A cross without any offense.  But how many people know what the cross really means?  If we could be transported back in time and see the cross in its original context, we would realize that it was a bloody and vile symbol.  It was the worst picture imaginable to see someone hanging on a cross.

Although crucifixion didn’t originate with the Romans, certainly they crucified more people than any other kingdom in history.  Thousands of people were put to death on Roman crosses.  The Romans chose crucifixion because it was meant to be a slow, torturous, and painful way to die.  To die by crucifixion was essentially to die by suffocation.  As the one condemned to die hung from the spikes thrust through his feet and hands, he would not be able to get air into his lungs.  A small footrest at the base of the cross would enable the crucified to push himself up, get a gulp of air, and then sink back down again.  Crucifixion was not designed to bring about a quick death; it was designed to humiliate a person.

Of course, Jesus knew from the very beginning that He had come to this earth to die for the sins of humanity.  He also knew that He would make this sacrifice on a Roman cross.  If there had been any other way, do you think that God would have sent His Son to suffer like this?  If there had been any other way we could have been forgiven, then God surely would have found it.  If living a good moral life would get us to heaven, then Jesus would have never died on the cross for us.  But He did die, because there was and is no other way.  He had to pay the price for our sin.