FYI, I attended a choral performance in a catholic church and the central crucifixion idol was gilded (appeared to be gold). I thought it curious considering the reputation of the Catholic Church as being very wealthy while ministering to the poor, and then there was the idol's gilded character evoked the golden calf awaiting Moses in the 10 Commandments....

We always hear about the cross and the sign of the cross. Go to the Greek and find it is a torture stake. Why not? It works just the same and is easier to make. If you were Catholic how would you make the sign of the torture stake?

@DenoPenno Here's the link to images of a torture stake.
[google.com]

Being just an upright, the sign would be a motion from the neck to the belly followed by Seig Heil.

I stumbled across the bible comic covers by an artist called Billy Butcher and thought that image was appropriate for the article.

Here’s some more samples of his work here:
[boredpanda.com]

Maybe I should post a couple more on agnostic.com…

And yes, the fig tree story is open to many interpretations according to my quick search. It does seem rather petulant and childish.

I wasn’t aware of the Roman barrel and nails trick, however it doesn’t have the same visual impact, does it?

@Zealandia Ah, but the mind is so capable of visual imagination...