The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is key.
It’s not difficult for us to get away from memory-triggers for the cross because the very symbol of Christianity, at least in the mainstream Christian-world, is a cross. Whether we like it or not, that’s the symbol that we have. And instead of being a bit nervous about that—which I think in our Reformed tradition we are—we should take it as an invitation to consider the cross of Christ, to consider his passive obedience, and to consider the fact that he was crucified…
Specifically, that in the Providence of God in the history of the world, that there was this technology developed for torture and humiliation inherited from Carthaginians but employed to great effect by their great rivals, the Romans. This way of hanging people by nailing them to bits of wood stuck into the ground—death through asphyxiation—is such a startling thing for God the Father to choose for his Son to go through, just on a purely human level. Worth dwelling on.
