The cross in perspective: “When you lift up the Son of Man…” The cross was almost never used as a religious symbol by early Christians. It was then being used for crucifixion and torture.
Early Christians were safer using more subtle signs, such as the fish, whose letters in Greek spelled out “Jesus Christ God’s Son Savior”; the anchor as a sign of hope in Christ; and various forms of christograms—like “Chi Rho.”
Nevertheless, the Church fathers spoke very strongly of the value of the cross, and this sign became more public after Roman Emperor Constantine. His conversion to Christianity in the fourth century put an end to crucifixion in the Roman Empire.
Why, in our cruel times when individuals are tortured and masses of people are exterminated, do we pay tribute to a man who, millennia ago, was crucified? The answer is twofold. First, Jesus Christ is God. Secondly, time, too, is a cross. For us, time is horizontal—that is to say, our watches tick away one second after another, today follows yesterday, this month comes before next month, this year is sandwiched between last year and next year, and so on. For God, though, time is vertical—that is, all time is simultaneously present together at every instant. As Jesus says in today’s gospel, I AM. That means that not only is Jesus’ crucifixion present to him today, but our role in it is also present.