“…for the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame.”
— Hebrews 12:2
In the days of Jesus, no symbol was more feared than the cross. It was not a heroic death or an honorable one—it was torture. Rome reserved crucifixion for slaves, criminals of the lowest status, and those society deemed unworthy of dignity. If a free man was ever condemned to die this way, he was first stripped of honor, beaten, and treated as a slave, so that Rome could justify such a degrading execution.
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