Lift High the Cross
This Sunday is September 14, and so the Church will celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Our Gospel reading (John 3:13-17), is taken from the encounter between Jesus and the Pharisee Nicodemus. One of the things Jesus says to Nicodemus is: “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. “
Jesus is referring to what we hear in our first reading (Numbers 21:4b-9), when the people, “their patience worn out by the journey,” complained against God and Moses, and God sent saraph serpents to punish them. The people repent and ask Moses to pray for them to God, and God tells Moses to fashion a serpent made out of bronze, mount it on a pole, and whoever would look upon the bronze serpent, even though they may have been bitten by a saraph serpent, would not die.
Jesus was lifted up on the Cross for our salvation, because “God so loved the world!”
What do we see when we look at Jesus on the Cross? Can we find healing, just as the Israelites could find healing by looking at the bronze serpent God told Moses to make?
Can we find healing from despair, knowing that Easter always follows Good Friday; that resurrection always follows crucifixion? Can we see on the Cross that God can bring good out of evil?
Can we find healing from shame and guilt, knowing that, in loving the world, God loves each and everyone of us? Can we take into our hearts that Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sins?
Can we find healing from pride and arrogance, knowing that none of us are deserving of the sacrifice Jesus made for us, and that we can only be humble before the Son of God on the Cross? As St. Paul writes in our second reading (Philippians 2:6-11), “Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave…he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Can we find healing from hate and prejudice, recognizing that just as Jesus died for us, He died for all? Can we recognize the humanity of those we consider “other,” in recognizing the crosses they bear, as we carry our own? Can we let ourselves be healed of violence, as Jesus did not return violence with more violence?
Can we let Jesus who died for us on the Cross and left the tomb empty on the third day, open our hearts so that He can heal us?
May we see God’s love for us when we look at the Cross. May we let God’s love heal us. May we let God’s love guide us to help bring healing to others.
I welcome any comments or questions. Thanks for your time.
In Christ Crucified,
Phil, CP
