Last year, while preparing a sermon for the Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday, I came across an explanation for why the cross is not a common symbol in early Christian art. But unfortunately, when I wanted to refer to it later, I couldn’t find the reference. The online Encyclopedia Britannica states that Emperor Constantine banned crucifixion in the early fourth century in honor of the cross. But realistic portrayals of Jesus’ crucifixion do not begin until the early fifth century.[1] The explanation that I had come across said that crucifixion was such a cruel and horrible punishment that it needed to pass out of living memory before the sign of Jesus’ suffering could become part of the devotional life of believers.
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