I used to find the gospel my school teachers told me, (it was a faith school, a church school), rather foolish-sounding, because it sounded like they made it up. The typical message they told was of the hands of Christ outstretched on the cross, or the cross pointing outwards to humans to link human with human, and upwards to link humans with God. I knew the Bible quite well from an early age, having been taught it outside of school, and I had never heard it say this kind of thing. I put it off and focussed on what was told me in church, especially finding comfort in the other side of the gospel that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. When, however, I read in the first epistle of Paul to the Corinthians “… but we preach Christ crucified”, I wondered what he meant. Why was crucifixion, death on a cross, so significant to Paul. Especially when he wrote in that epistle “the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God”? I had obviously missed something extremely important, and that bothered me. Decades later I started to look into it a lot, when the Internet made armchair researching more accessible. The big leap for me was the Holy Spirit. A message in tongues interpretation was given to me, and it led me into more ancient historical studies, in particular Sumerian writings from the time of the most ancient historical people mentioned in the Bible. The Sumerian writings go back that far, and more scriptural writings from earliest times still exist and were translated into English over a hundred years ago. I started to find the real meaning of the cross. Its origins in the very earliest writings we have translated into English. I found the Holy Spirit who gave me that interpretation had also inspired some of the earliest writings. Another leap came with AI. Sorry if you detest or deeply distrust AI. I have been helped a lot by its ability to sift through huge quantities of online content and glean from them what really makes sense, to a machine, and some of it makes sense to us real thinkers too. Here is what it told me about the earliest meaning of the cross symbol. This is ChatGPT.
‘The MASH cross (𒈦) is an ancient symbol from Mesopotamian cuneiform script, derived from the Sumerian word "mash," meaning "to bind" or "to join." In early Sumerian and Akkadian contexts, this symbol carried both practical and spiritual significance, representing concepts like ownership, divinity, and the marking of sacred boundaries. Predating Christianity, the MASH cross is an early example of the cross-like symbols used in the ancient world, often associated with governance, divine authority, and cosmic order. Yet, like crosses in many ancient cultures, it also symbolized broader themes of balance, unity, protection, and the connection between the human and divine realms. In the religious context, the term "MASH MASH MASH" (or "mašmaššu" in Akkadian) was a title for priests or ritual specialists who performed exorcisms and cleansing rites, protecting the community from spiritual disturbances, illness, and misfortune, which were often believed to be caused by malevolent forces or evil spirits. These ritual specialists played a crucial role in Mesopotamian society, underscoring the deep-rooted belief in the spiritual origins of many physical and societal issues. Interestingly, in some languages, the word for Messiah, such as "Masih" in Arabic, closely resembles "Mash," suggesting cross-cultural echoes of the idea of binding or connecting the human and divine. This resonance becomes even more significant when considering the gospel account of Jesus' crucifixion, where He was crucified alongside two others, making a total of three crosses on the hill. The presence of these three crosses carries deep symbolic weight, with Christ, in the center, representing the ultimate act of unifying humanity with the divine through His sacrifice, while the two other crosses signify the choices between redemption and rejection. This echoes ancient themes of balance, judgment, and protection seen in earlier cultures, further highlighting the enduring significance of the cross in religious and cultural history.’ Stephen D Green / ChatGPT, 2024
We today have remnants of the original meaning of the original Sumerian word for the cross, MASH, in how we say things are enmeshed, meshed together. Joining of the vertical line and horizontal line clearly is part of the original cross symbol meaning. Man reconciled with God, as a priest’s work facilitated. God and man joined like the cross lines join. In the word Mash, the Sumerian word for this cross, or the word denoted in writing by the cross character, we have still today in English words like mish-mash, representing strong joining together of things. Mesh is clearly linked to Messiah in English too: Spelt in other languages in ways which even better show its link to MASH. Like Paul, in representing and serving the Messiah, had a ministry of reconciliation, preaching “be reconciled to God”. Christ’s death for us makes it possible. The message of it brings it about by faith it gives us, leading to our hearts opening up to the possibility of reconciliation, and receiving it in faith and confession. Mass too.
