The Cross We Can Wear Because of the Cross He Bore

Do you like wearing jewelry? I’m not big on jewelry – all I regularly wear are my wedding ring and a wristwatch. (My smartphone can give me the time, but old habits die hard.) However, I know for many folks, jewelry is essential to their wardrobe.

 

People wear all kinds of jewelry, for many different reasons: To accessorize or accent an outfit. As a show of affluence. (Professional athletes and their ‘bling’ immediately come to mind.) For sentimental reasons, such as wearing mom’s prize locket or dad’s old cufflinks. Or for symbolism. These could include a heart necklace, a bracelet received as a gift, a friendship ring, or even a cross.

Speaking of crosses, someone choosing to wear one, whether on a necklace, a bracelet, a ring or on a lapel is usually making a significant statement. It’s often a declaration of faith, but not always. I’ve seen celebrities wearing ornate, obviously expensive crosses whose demeanor and lifestyles hardly reflect genuine spiritual devotion. I’ve even occasionally seen famous individuals wearing an upside-down cross, which is a different kind of statement.

 

But have you ever seriously considered what wearing a cross communicates? For a moment, let’s jump into a mental time machine and journey 2,000 years into the past. The cross had been used as a form of execution by the Persians, Carthaginians and Romans, among others. It’s highly unlikely anyone in those days would have considered wearing anything resembling a cross, a commonly recognized instrument of death. Some of them had seen firsthand someone nailed to a cross, suffering a slow, agonizing death. The last thing they’d want was to display a reminder of that.

 

Okay, back to 2024. Instead of a cross, envision this: Someone wearing a necklace with the symbol of an electric chair hanging from it. Or earrings in the shape of a hangman’s noose. Or a brooch depicting a French guillotine.

 

That would be unthinkably gruesome, right? At least to any sane person. And yet, every day countless thousands, even millions of people intentionally and proudly wear crosses without a moment’s hesitation. What’s the difference?

 

It’s not some minor detail. It’s all the difference in the world. Because while electric chairs, nooses and guillotines all are devices intended to end lives, the cross – Jesus’ cross – stands for the end of death and the beginnings of real life. Consider what the Bible tells us:

 

“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14). 

 

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:2-3).

 

“When you were dead in your sins…God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins…He took it all away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:13-15).

 

For some, however, the cross is nothing more than a meaningless symbol, an object of fantasy and fable. The Scriptures speak to this as well: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).

 

As we’ve already noted, to wear any symbol representing an electric chair, a hangman’s noose or a guillotine would be reprehensible. But not the cross, despite the horrific, excruciating death Jesus Christ suffered on it. Because instead of utter defeat, it stands for the ultimate triumph over sin and death, along with the promise of forgiveness and eternal life.

 

Today we often see people wearing a crucifix that shows Jesus still on the cross. But the good news is that Jesus Christ is no longer on the cross, no longer in the grave. As the faithful have declared for centuries, “He is risen! He is risen indeed!”

 

And because of that we can declare, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).