No doubt, wood can survive.
But if no one really saw Jesus after the resurrection for a few days, who would have thought to go get the pieces.
While his execution was a big deal to us, was it really big enough for people to chop up the cross for relics?
I am not trying to sound like I am making fun of it, but the common sense aspects of it befuddle me.
It's a very human reaction to take keepsakes of a loved one who has died. It's certainly humanly reasonable that Christ's disciples and hidden followers might have sought slivers of the cross. He wasn't just a loved one to them - He was God almighty and His Cross was covered with the blood of the literal Son of God.
Many modern people do not believe this; be that as it may - Christ's followers certainly did.
Some of them had drunk his blood on the Thursday evening. Also: they were steeped in the Mosaic tradition of the passover, the blood of the lamb on the lintel, etc.
As for opportunity - hmm, here's a thought that just came to me.
Longinus is the name traditionally given to the Roman Centurion who said of the dead Christ 'this was a/the Son of God'.
He may have been the man who pierced Christ with a spear. He may have presided over the crucifixion party; he may even have hammered the nails in himself - we just don't know.
We do know one thing for sure. He spoke of the dead Christ with awed respect.
It seems likely that Longinus himself - a centurion - was in direct custody of the Cross after the crucifixion. Maybe he himself took slivers from the cross - or even spirited away the entire thing for safe keeping.
Hope this was helpful. I have to go home now, so God bless and good night.
I wonder if they used the same cross over and over again? I’m guessing they “would” - seeing as wood of that size might be a rarity in that area? Perhaps it was months or years later that they thought to take some pieces bit by bit?
Of course then one probably couldn’t be assured that it was THE cross.
“...big deal to us, was it really big enough for people to chop up for relics...?”
Yes it was a very big deal to have something tangible after the resurrection. It was a major event. People of those times didn’t have our picture taking abilities to preserve the event so they used real objects/ relics.