It is so hard to get rid of false images, they seem to be burned into our brains.
What did Jesus look like? There is a fixed image in our minds. Even though we understand it is probably wrong, movie directors continue to use actors who resemble this false image.
The crucifixion is another image that has become distorted. It is almost always portrayed as a hill with three crosses silhouetted against the skyline, with the middle cross being the taller one.
Even the cross is a false image. It is usually portrayed like the letter T with the cross bar dropped slightly down the vertical beam. We see pilgrims struggling up the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem lugging their small wooden crosses.
“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging Him on a tree.” (Acts 5:30).
The Romans had used “crosses” but Jesus was made to carry the cross beam. He was nailed to this cross beam which was then fastened to a tree as this artist impression illustrates.
I would not be surprised if it were the fig tree that he had cursed a few days earlier.
For several centuries after the crucifixion, the “cross” of Jesus had disappeared. It was rumored that the Jews had stolen and hidden it from relic hunters. However Emperor Constantine’s mother, St Helena, went to Jerusalem to find the true cross of Jesus, so the story goes. She interviewed the locals and they showed her where the Jews had hidden the three “crosses” (now in the shape that we know today) in like-new condition. Through a miracle it was determined which of the three was the real cross of Jesus. To this day September 14 is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. You can read the story on the Good Catholic website here. So since the locals had created those three “crosses” in the 4th century BC they have become firmly entrenched as part of the crucifixion story.
As we saw in the previous post the enemy has used his best deception skill by giving people a narrative of the actual events that are almost true, and inspired interpretations that are very lofty, and if that is all you have been taught, would make you feel convinced and so sure you are right that you would consider any rendition as heresy.
When the Antichrist takes over we will see more of this kind of deception.