Hebrews 12:2; “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
The passage in 2nd Nephi supposedly took place between BC 559-545. So 500+ yrs before Jesus was even born these guys are talking about saints enduring crosses.
The vocabulary in their statement gives it away. It tells us they have to clue as to what they’re saying or what enduring the shame of a cross even means. If they did such statements wouldn’t cross their thought process.
Only those who hate the cross and what Jesus did on Calvary say things like this. They demean, malign, toss aside, change and even trample upon the word of God and the precious gift He gave to us.
When I was LDS I was always taught that we were to steer clear of the cross as it held no promise for us and stood as a symbol of idolatry for the ‘whores of Babylon’. While I followed the vast majority of all teachings I was given, the cross was the one thing I didn’t understand.
I often wondered what power it held that prompted constant warnings to stay away and moving to Germany where crosses dotted the skyline like the steeples in Utah only fueled my curiosity. It’s obvious to everyone that’s saved what power it holds and while we as Christians don’t worship it, we certainly don’t use it in phrases lightly.
I enjoyed Ed Decker’s newsletter a few months ago when he highlighted many of the references about the cross in the Bible. Like Ed, I’m convinced they malign and misuse it because it symbolizes our sin. If we don’t admit that we’re sinners, the cross means nothing.