It does not matter if one piece of wood was used to crucify the Lord Jesus or two, the payment was made in full on the cross not after with his bodily resurrection.
You are still left with the text that you have not touched that Jesus states the penitent thief will be with him today in paradise, scripture eventually will expose false man made traditions.
As for your diversion tactic of cross/stake it makes little difference to the passage regarding the thief being with Jesus on that day in paradise.
. Crux is a Latin word it refers to a tree in its original context not a cross that was a later development Gospel writers I agree would not likely use the ummm Latin word.
Lets look at a few points why the majority of Christianity and historians accept a cross not a stake.
Point One Stauros
As for stauros only referring to a stake that is not correct it can refer to a stake but more precisely a pointed stake but it can also refer to the shape of a cross
You can reference the work from Strong's lexicon if you have bible software it is Strong's number 4716
Mr Gordon has been a fan of quoting Strong's as authoritative in the distant past. An abridged online version may be found in the link below
Point Two No early attestation of a stake but numerous of a cross
Do we have any first or second century Christians like Polycarp who were the direct students of the Apostles or any of their own students ever refer to a stake as a method of crucifying Jesus. The early church fathers all used cross not stake so no clear early attestation of a stake.
Point Three Common depictions
We have Roman graffiti depicting the Crucifixion of Christians using crosses not stakes but stakes were also used in fact the Romans would pin people up on almost anything in a hurry.
Point Four The actual Crucifixion
Crucifixion was not through the hands the nail would not support the weight of the body it would easily tear through the thin muscles between the metacarpal bones of the hand and not provide any form of reliable fixation. When the victim was crucified a nail was driven through the wrist between the radius and ulna with the carpal bones and their ligaments providing a firm anchor to hold the weight of the body. So is there a contradiction in the Bible when it states nails were driven through the hands? Well no because the hand in that time was considered from the distal forearm to the fingers.
But if the Romans opted for the less common stake method the arms would be crossed over the victims head a single nail with a broad flat head driven through both wrists at the point of cross over. They would usually not drive two nails through this small space so not to accidentally fracture a bone and provide a passage of the arm tearing free from the fixed nail.The depiction of the crucifixion in the Bible clearly states plural hands and plural nails. Not what you would expect regarding a crucifixion of arms crossed over on a stake usually a single nail driven at the crossover point of the wrists.
John 20:25 (NIV) 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
So more than one nail was used leaning toward the more common cross formation of crucifixion rather than a stake.
Point Five Burden of the Cross a minor point of consideration.
Jesus suffered a severe beating at the hands or the Romans his scourging prior to his execution there are many accounts of the condemned dying during this first process. Jesus received such a beating and it was customary for the condemned man to carry his own cross but the wieght of the entire cross would be well over 120kg difficult for a fit man to carry so usually only the crossbar that weighed around 40 to 50 Kg was placed along the back of the neck and a procession from his place of beating to his place of crucifixion flanked by Roman guards. One of the soldiers carried a sign that contained the condemned persons name and crime which would be affixed on top of the cross. Point Six early documentation in the Greek scriptures
Recent discoveries of papyri contain some of the earliest Greek manuscripts that we have of the Bible. Papyri are usually coded by number so we have P15, P50 etc. What is interesting several of the earliest papyri we have of the Greek scriptures namely P45 P75 and one other papyri which escapes my memory at the moment contain a very unusual abbreviation of the word stauros, the scribes of these papyri have shortened the word and made a depiction of a cross shape. This is in some of the earliest Greek papyri manuscripts that we possess.
So could Jesus have been crucified on a stake? sure
does the weight of evidence suggest a stake? No, the weight of evidence favours a cross.
Matthew 20:19 The Third Prediction of the Passion…
18 “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn Him to death 19 and will deliver Him to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. And on the third day He will be raised to life
