We all know what a cross is, what THE Cross is, and yet its very familiarity can obscure the profound meaning because we have never actually seen a cross in its original use: as a terrible instrument of torturous execution used by a cruel and barbaric “government” to control people and maintain power. People – many people – died horribly and publicly throughout the Roman Empire on crosses so that others would get the message to “stay in line” and not go against the system. Nothing to “exalt” there.
