TOPICS:

The Spiritual Realm

Questions by Jesus

Spiritual Teachers of the past

General Questions about Spiritual Growth

Question: Dear Jesus, Was the cross you carried the whole cross or the crossbar only, as scholars stated on television. It seems that no one could possibly carry the entire cross as it would be extremely heavy.

Answer from Jesus:

The scholars are correct. I did indeed carry only the crossbar. In many cases, a crucifixion was performed by attaching the crossbar to a tree, and therefore the person obviously could not carry the entire cross. In cases where a tree was not available, there would often be a vertical beam that was permanently anchored in the ground on the location that was used for execution.

It was never my intention that the cross should become a symbol for my mission or for Christianity. After Christian church leaders made the crucifixion, and not my resurrection, the main event of my life and mission, artists began depicting me as carrying the entire cross so that the symbolism would be complete. Obviously, as scholars have now pointed out, this was historically inaccurate.

You are quite correct that carrying the entire cross would be impossible for most people, especially after they had been whipped or tortured in other ways. This is one additional way in which the latest movie The Passion of the Christ is inaccurate. Nobody could have received 40 lashes and then carried the entire cross for such a distance.

Back to topic main page.

Back to Answers main page.

Back to top

Copyright © 2004 by Kim Michaels