Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
(Numbers 21:4b-9; Philippians 2:6-11; John 3:13-17)
Beholding jeweled crosses and hearing how perfect the cross
is as geometric design, we have difficulty contemplating its scandal for early
Christians. It is said that people
mocked the first followers of Jesus when they found out that he was nailed to a
cross. We might as easily chide a teenager
today for idolizing a rock star. In
Jesus’ day crucifixion was the basest of punishments the state imposed because
it entailed the most gruesome suffering.
We do not consider it an alternative form of execution today precisely because
it comprises “cruel and unusual punishment.”
Yet the cross is the instrument by which Christ won our salvation.
The gospel today curiously does not mention the cross. It merely states that those who believe in
Jesus “lifted up” will be saved. In the
Gospel of John Jesus is lifted up twice – first on the cross and then in the
resurrection. Either time when we look
on him with faith, we find ourselves in the magnetic field of salvation.
However, faith is more than paying lip service that Jesus
died on the cross and rose from the dead.
Faith indicates our willingness to make sacrifices for his sake. But the cross in its utter barbarity, as much
as the resurrection in its sheer magnificence, indicates that faith in Christ,
and not in the quality or quantity of our works, brings salvation. As when we were little children with nothing
to repay our relatives for the gifts they brought us at Christmas, we cannot
earn eternal life. We can only say,
“Thank you, thank you, thank you” for his death on the cross.
