Today is Good
Friday, when the Christian community commemorates the crucifixion of Christ, an
event that took place two millennia in the past. The concept of Christ
sacrifice on the cross as a culmination of a redemptive process has been
discussed by me in past articles and also by many scholars and theologians.
The crucifixion
of Jesus is a historical fact which has been hardly mentioned outside the
Gospels, especially by the then contemporary Jewish historian Flavius Josephus who wrote a twenty volume
composition of the happenings of the time “Antiquity
of the Jews”.
What is
important for any one seeking to grasp the significance of the redemptive
process and the role of the crucifixion is to step outside the physical event
and look for deeper meaning.
One of the
earliest cruciform symbols used by Christians was the Chi Rho, as you can see in the image attached to this article. It
is formed by superimposing the first two letters of the word "Christ"
in Greek (Χριστός, Χ = chi and ρ = rho).
Although not technically a cross, the Chi Rho invokes the crucifixion of Jesus
as well as symbolizing his status as the Christ. The earliest evidence of the
Chi Rho symbol is Constantine 's use of it on
the labarum, the imperial standard, in the early 4th century CE.
Whoever thought
of this symbol understood the relation between Yeshua which was the Hebrew name
of Jesus the person and his spiritual status as the ‘Christos’. In his book “Inner Christianity – A Guide to
Esoteric Tradition” Richard Smoley writes that symbol X can be seen as two
intersecting lines signifying the representation space and the other as time,
both of these dimensions being perceived in a linear form. This is exactly what
we see in the theory of Einstein as the inseparable nature of Space-time. If
space is represented on one line, the intersecting line represents time with
infinite number of points through which space progresses at different points of
its existence. The intersecting point is the present moment in space time in
which our consciousness operates giving meaning to our existence in a given
form as humans. The vertical line through the intersection indicates the path
of progress of the soul or our consciousness which can be both above or below
our current level of consciousness in this manifestation. The purpose of
current existence is to rise to the very top which represents Divine
consciousness as symbolized by closed loop of the vertical line in a semi
circle.
The closed loop
is the Ouroboros. The Ouroboros in early mythical symbolism
and in Jungian archetypes often represents the idea of primordial unity related
to something existing in or persisting from the beginning with such force or
qualities it cannot be extinguished. This is very much the same as the
pre-existent Logos or Christ consciousness which was made flesh or given a form
through Yeshua.
A more
appropriate form on the top of the vertical line would be the Egyptian symbol
of the Ankh as shown below. This figures
in the Coptic cross which is one of the earliest Christian
Communities in
Christendom.

The pagan
Egyptian ankh was a symbol of eternal life. Specifically, it was the eternal
life granted by the gods. In images the ankh is commonly held by a god,
sometimes offering it to the nose and mouth of the deceased to grant the breath
of life. Other images have streams of ankhs poured over pharaohs. Thus, it is
not an unlikely symbol of resurrection for early Egyptian Christians.
Summarizing, the
crucifixion and resurrection are integral part of every soul and Christ’s
redemptive act, in death and resurrection, is in establishing a powerful
symbolism of how each one of us has to be crucified in our current existence to
this space-time domain yet through our spiritually empowered life, through
prayer and love of all creation, ascend to the eternal which is our true
nature.
Love to you all.