The Cross Comes Alive

Here is an interesting rendition of the Aramaic Church of the East Cross I found on the Facebook page of Gery Gregory. This Cross includes symbology which shows that the message of Jesus spread from Israel through the Middle East and then to the Far East.

As you can see there are the first two letters (Yod and Heh) of "Adonai", (YHWH) and, at the same time Jesus (Yehoshua) with the 3 dots (for the Trinity) and one dot (for the One God). But here is something else to note, Western renditions of the cross are mostly stark representations of Christ's death for our sin. Though this is true and good, it overly concentrates on one aspect of the Atonement and dualistically separates the act of His death from His coming alive again by the power of God.

Eastern renditions of the Cross (including the Syro-Chaldean Church of North America), on the other hand, often utilize some sort of "fruit" on the Cross, variously stylized, and growing out (or budding) out of the ends. This displays Christ's sacrificial death on the cross, which was indeed for our sins, but it also shows that His resurrection from the dead (tihiyah min hamaytim) was truly a completion, bringing us the fruitfulness and life, and which makes all the difference in the world for us.