9-year old Maishie looked up from his book when he heard a strange noise outside. His parents went to the window to see what was causing the commotion. They couldn't see anything, but they heard a lot of shouting coming from the direction of the next block of the small Polish village in which they lived. By this time, Maishie was curious enough to join his parents at the window. Suddenly they saw one of their neighbors running toward them. Maishie's father opened the door. "Run! Run for your lives!" their friend shouted as he ran past their door. Around the bend in the street, came a mob of people shouting and waving sticks & pitchforks & knives. They were chasing a few of the Jewish villagers and breaking in the doors and dragging the Jews out of their homes. It was too late to run!
Maishie's father slammed the door shut and told his wife & Maishie to get up into the loft, but there wasn't time, because their door was being smashed & before Maishie knew it, his father was being dragged out into the street and beaten. To his horror, Maishie watched as the life was kicked out of his father and he died a few feet in front of him. He was so shocked at this sudden unprovoked attack that he didn't realize what was happening to his mother until he heard her scream behind him.
Three men were tearing her clothes and holding her down as they raped her one after the other. Maishie backed into a corner by the doorway, frightened, with the screams of the mob & their victims outside and the screams of his mother inside. When the men were finished, they dragged his mother outside with the others and proceeded to club her to death alongside her husband. Maishie fell to his knees by his parents' bodies and wept. A shadow fell across him. He looked up in time to see the local bishop standing there looking down at him. The bishop was holding a long staff topped with a golden cross. The bishop walked on followed by others holding crosses in their hands and shouting that the Christkillers deserved this treatment. It was Maishie's first contact with the "Christians" in his town. He would remember it all his life, and every time he saw a cross, the vision would return of the Bishop with the cross in his hand, standing over his parents' bodies, approving of what had been done. He grew up & spent the next 85 years of his life hating the cross & what it stood for. This 20th century story is true, but it doesn't end there.
"We preach Christ crucified, a stumblingblock to Jews and foolishness to non-Jews." I Cor. 1:23
In the natural senses, the cross (Christ crucified) is a stumblingblock to the Jewish People. Unfortunately, many so-called "Christians" have joined forces with the enemy (the devil) and have put their own stumblingblocks in front of the Jewish People, like the religious villagers in Poland killing people in the name of Christ. Then came the Holocaust in which millions more died. Today, outside Auschwitz, which was a death camp in the days of Hitler, stands hundreds of crosses over a mass grave. Most of the victims were Jews, but some were non-Jews (gypsies, mental patients, retarded people -anyone whom Hitler did not consider acceptable). Because some of the victims were not Jews, some of the local people put up a few crosses over the gravesite. The Jewish families objected. They met with the Church representatives & came to an agreement. One cross and one Star of David would be erected over the site & that would be the end of it. However, many of the local people objected to the Star of David & began to erect hundreds of crosses over the site. The more the Jewish people objected, the more crosses were erected. Once again, the cross has become a stumblingblock to the Jews and an offense--NOT IN THE BIBLICAL SENSE, BUT OUT OF AN ANTI-SEMITIC ATTITUDE. This is NOT what G-d desires!
NOWHERE IN THE BIBLE DO WE FIND THAT WE ARE TO VENERATE A CROSS! We are not to worship anything other than G-d Himself! The L-rd did not forget Maishie, but counted him as one of His own & continually brought loving witnesses into his life. They told him of the one who died for him and took care of his sin problem, which separated all men from G-d. They told him about the L-rd who wanted a personal relationship with him. For years, Maishie would not receive the message because, as always, he had that mental picture of his murdered parents under the cross. He felt as if he would betray them, if he joined the ranks of the people who killed them. Finally, after years of the wooing and lovingkindness of the Holy Spirit of G-d, Maishie gave his life to the L-rd and invited Him to take over his life. He was in his mid-nineties by then, when he finally realized the people who killed his parents were not Christians at all. The cross was a huge obstacle to overcome for Maishie, as it is for most Jews around the world. Unfortunately, Maishie's youthful experience is not rare. The world is not getting better; more Jews were killed in the 20th century just for being Jews, than in any other period of history.
The cross as a symbol of Christianity did not come into existence until the time of Constantine several hundred years after the Church was born. The cross is an instrument of execution, which we do not feel is an appropriate symbol for believers to wear. Would you wear a tiny electric chair around your neck? The L-rd says to love your neighbor. Does the erection of crosses match our L-rd's commandment of Love? The Scriptures tell us that the cross is a stumbling block for Jews. That in itself should be reason enough not to decorate a building with crosses. We are told not to cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the Church of God. 1 Cor. 10:32
Just because a symbol is widely-used does not make it right. We do not want to put too much emphasis on a symbol when it will interfere with sharing the good news of redemption. We do not want to erect walls; we want to build bridges! The apostle Paul says ".I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." I Cor. 10:33 & 11:1 The cross does not bring comfort to the heart of a Jew as it does to the heart of a Christian who understands what it symbolizes.
If you feel the need for a symbol, the fish would be more appropriate, since it was used by the early believers to identify one another. In Greek, the word "fish" forms an acronym about Jesus (Y'shua), the Father, the Holy Spirit (The Ruach HaKodesh). Y'shua also called men to be fishers of men, so the fish makes an appropriate symbol.
The most ancient symbol ever found that was used of the early believers was the fish, the Star of David and the menorah (lampstand) all connected together.
"Cursed be anyone who hangs on a tree." Deut. 21:22-23 "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." Gal. 3:13 "They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen." Acts 10:39-40 "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins & live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed" I Pet. 2:24
Is it a cross or a tree? The Bible uses both expressions, but I would like to challenge you to think of what is least offensive when you are speaking to Jewish People. Remember Maishie and so many others who have had similar experiences. We do not worship the cross, because that would be idolatry. We worship the ONE who hung on it in order to accomplish our salvation.
In the beginning, Adam & Eve, in their sinful condition, were expelled from the Garden, so they would not have access to the Tree of Life. The Holy One came & died on a tree of death to bear our sins & provide access back to the Tree of Life. In Revelation 22, we are shown that Tree - a living tree that provides life and healing for the nations. Praise the Lord Who sits on the Throne from which flows the water of life from which the Tree of Life springs! Praise Him, our Creator, our Redeemer, our Father, Who gives us life everlasting! Praise Him for opportunities to introduce others to His Lovingkindness!
Lura Maiman, Congregation Yeruel, Israel