The historical account of the crucifixion of our Lord agrees Avith all the above details of the mode of execution. He Avas condemned (falsely) for sedition and tumult. He Avas scourged, and com- pelled, until He Avas relieved, to carry His cross. His legs Avere not broken, it is true, because it Avas found that He was dead already ( Jn lO^^- ^s). The brigands Avho Avere crucified Avith Him Avere sub- jected to crucifragium, but one of the soldiers pierced His side Avith a spear to make sure that He Avas really dead, and there floAved out 'blood and Avater.'
To the Romans the cross had no religious signi-
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ficance as it had in the East ; they merely regarded it as the material instrument of a most degrading punishment. The Hebrew Scriptures, on the other hand, contain what may be regarded as suggestions of the crucitixion, as in the case of tlie uplifted brazen serpent in the wilderness (Xu 21^''*), the piercing of hands and feet in Ps 22i'*, also in the suppressed passage, referred to by Justin Martyr, formerly contained in Ps 96^° (LXX version, some codices).
As the instrument of Christ's execution came to be regarded in the early Church as the means of human redemption, it became the symbol of the Passion, and later still it was used as a sign of protection and defence. Some of the earlier forms of the crucifix represented the Lord as reigning from the tree, the triumphant Saviour-King, with no signs of agony. There is, however, no monu- ment of the cross or crucifix remaining which belongs to the 1st century.
The ceremony of making the sign of the cross is of great antiquity, and is referred to by Clement of Alexandria (Strom, vi. 11 [Pair. Grceca, ix. 305]) and by TertuUian in the 3rd cent, [ch Cor. Mil. iii. ), who felt it necessary to defend the Christians against the charge of the heathen that tiiey too were guilty of idolatrj' in the worsiiip of the cross. The superstitious use of the sjmibol to ward off evil may be traced to the middle of the 2nd cent., whilst "the adoration and the exaltation of the cross came in later.
3. The doctrine of the cross in the early Church. — The doctrine of the cross, or the death of Christ, and the doctrine of the resurrection formed tlie essential teaching in apostolic Christianity. At Pentecost, and in the earliest contact of Chris- tianity with Judaism, the fact of the resurrec- tion, or rather the Christ of the resurrection, came to the front. But it was always the Crucified One who had been raised from the dead. The crucifixion was an event which was familiar to all, but the distinctive message was that God had put His seal and approval on the sacrifice of Christ. On each occasion in the Acts on which St. Peter preached the doctrine of the resurrection, he charged the Jews with having crucified Jesus (Ac 2^ 4^" 5^" 10^^). In his First Epistle he spoke of Jesus as havinff borne our sins in His own body on the tree (1 P 2-^).
St. Paul in his address in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia proclaimed the fact of the re- surrection and laid the responsibility of the cruci- fixion of our Lord upon the Jews (Ac 13-^"^). It was in his Epistles, however, that he laid down specifically the doctrine of the cross. In his First Epistle to the Corinthians he refers to the cross as the central feature of his ministry, and states that he had determined to know nothing among them save Jesus Christ and Him crucified (2^). It is a double reconciliation which is thereby effected, be- tween God and man, Jew and Greek. The enmity is slain through the cross, and access is gained in one Spirit unto the Father (Eph 2'8-i8). It was the sole means whereby reconciliation and peace between God and man were possible (Col I-*'). The cross was a stumbling-block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks, but it was God's wisdom, not discernible by the natural man and only truly appreciated by those who are spiritual (1 Co 1). In Gal. the curse of the cross is brought forward (3'^). This curse was borne by Jesus Christ on behalf of all men, both Jews and Greeks, for it rests upon those who have not kept the whole law, as well as upon those who have ignored it al- together. Neither Jews nor Gentiles can be justi- fied by the works of the law ; both alike are under the curse and are to be justified by faith alone. The curse is transferred to Christ as the sacrificial
victim, and the ' bond written in ordinances ' is nailed to His cross, and taken out of the way (Col 2''*). This idea is very prominent in the symbol- ism of the scapegoat, the transfer of the curse being represented in the light of the victim bear- ing the iniquities of the people into the wilderness (Lv 16'^- )• The shame, ignominy, and disgrace which Avere associated with the cross formed the cul- mination in the humiliation of Him who 'was in the form of God and counted it not a prize to be equal with God,' and it was the ground of the glorious exaltation with which God invested Him, and for which He received the name which is above every name, and should receive the homage of all things in heaven and earth and under the earth (Ph 2^"^^), 'He was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth through the power of God ' (2 Co 13'*).