The Cross in Christian History

The cross holds a central place in Christian history as both a symbol and a historical reality. It was on a Roman cross that Jesus of Nazareth was executed around the year AD 30 during the governorship of Pontius Pilate. Crucifixion, used widely by the Romans, was a public and humiliating punishment intended to deter rebellion. Victims were often left exposed, suffering a slow death by exhaustion and asphyxiation. In this brutal context, the death of Jesus on the cross marked a pivotal event in the early Christian movement, remembered and recorded in all four Gospels as a fulfillment of Scripture and the culmination of His earthly mission.