You’re right. The sacrifice and martyrdom is a huge part of being a Christian (which is likely why the cross is used). I’m not sure how I had forgotten that a huge theme among Christians is self sacrifice and Jesus dying for our sins.
But what makes Jesus special, at least from my perspective, wasn’t that he was martyred since others in the Bible were as well. It was the claim he was the son of god offering to save us from damnation, which is validated by the resurrection. Idk I think I just find the cross kind of macabre as a symbol of religion (and as a tool of punishment in general of course). Back when I was a Christian decades ago, I was also anti-cross lol