Are You Really Free? Bound by Evil, Freed by the Cross

By Alba-Maria Grembi

Photo by Volker Thimm

Could Christ have avoided the Cross and chosen a less painful death?

Of course, God can do whatever He wills. He is God.

And yet, in His love, He chose not to avoid it.

He chose to take upon Himself what we would rather not face.

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Imagine a quiet road in a rural area.

There is a strict speed limit. It exists for a reason: children are often nearby. But you do not like being told what to do. The limit feels unnecessary, restrictive—almost unjust.

You trust yourself more than the rule.

So you press the pedal.

Not recklessly, just enough to feel free.

And then, in a moment you did not anticipate, a child runs across the road.

You cannot stop in time.

Photo by Alari Tammsalu

In that instant, everything changes.

The freedom you claimed collapses into consequence.

The law you dismissed now stands over you.

You are no longer choosing—you are bound by what you have done.

The irony is difficult to ignore:

In exercising what felt like freedom, you have lost it.

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This is how evil works.

It does not begin as something forced upon you.

It begins as something you choose.

A small step.

A quiet dismissal of what is right.

A preference for your own judgment above all else.

And only later does it reveal its full weight.

Photo by Alex Fu

We often imagine evil as something external—something that happens to us.

But more often, it begins within us.

And once it takes root, it does not simply disappear.

It carries consequences that extend beyond what we intended, beyond what we can undo.

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So why the Cross?

Why did Christ not choose another way?

On the Cross, Christ takes upon Himself the full weight of the evil we bring into the world. Not in theory, but in reality—through suffering, rejection, and death.

But He does something more.

He does not return evil for evil.

He does not resist through power.

He does not escape.

He endures it—without becoming it.

Photo by Enzo Natale Ferrari

This is not only about what was done for us.

It is also about what was shown to us.

Because the Cross reveals something we would rather avoid:

No matter how great the evil that falls upon you, you are not justified in becoming it.

—

This is what it means to “take up your cross.”

Not to seek suffering.

Not to accept injustice passively.

But to refuse to let evil define your response—even when it costs you everything.

Photo by Shanai Edelberg

We often think freedom means doing what we want.

But the more we follow that path without truth, the more we become bound by its consequences.

Real freedom is something else.

It is the ability to stand in the face of evil—and not yield to it.

Stay here for a moment.