The cross was also the place where Jesus would refound the world. Instead of being arranged around an axis of power enforced by violence, at the cross Jesus rearranged the world around an axis of love expressed in forgiveness. Jesus would not torture and kill his enemies; he would be tortured and killed … and forgive his enemies. Jesus subverted the cross. The Roman Empire used the cross to communicate how ruthlessly it would eliminate its enemies. Jesus used the cross to communicate that there was no one to be eliminated. Forgiveness, not elimination, is the message of the Christian cross.
