Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy
Cross
Numbers 21:4-0; Philippians 2: 6-11;
John 3: 13-17
I imagine when I am carrying ‘my cross’ I don’t like it, or don’t want it, or want to get rid of it and I would be irritated, angry, irritable etc. Jesus said that I should take up my cross daily and follow Him. He is not saying that it is something that is ugly or something that is horrible. He is not implying that I should avoid whatever looms as a cross in my life.
At the time of Jesus, the Romans were in control of all of Palestine and the people were permitted to exercise a limited amount of self-rule. The Sanhedrin was the ‘ruling body’ in Jerusalem; it could be compared to and a combination of Congress and a ‘Supreme Court’ but only covering Religious concerns. The Sanhedrin passed laws and people were arrested and put in prison for breaking them. The only restriction that Rome dictated was that the Sanhedrin was not allowed to carry out the death penalty, this was reserved to Rome alone.
In the Gospel, Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin came to Jesus at night. Now it was the Sanhedrin that later had Jesus arrested because of blasphemy, saying that He claimed to be ‘God’. The penalty in Jewish law for this blasphemy was death. They wanted Jesus killed and since they were not allowed to do this they sent Him to Pilate with a ‘new charge’ that of treason, which was punishable by death according to Roman law.
When Nicodemus came to Jesus they talked about a happening from the book of Numbers where the Jewish people after escaping from Egypt, experienced many hardships and complained to God. At one point God send a plague of serpents to afflict them. Many who were bitten died. When the people repented, Moses made a bronze serpent, put it on a staff and held it so that everyone who had been bitten who looked at this bronze serpent was healed.
The gospel says that just as Moses lifted up the staff with the bronze serpent, so must Jesus be lifted up on the cross so that if people looked to Jesus, they will receive spiritual healing resulting in eternal life for all those who believe.
And Jesus explains, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
Jesus is giving a new meaning to our crosses, not something horrible but they definitely are ‘instruments’, ‘events’, ‘people’, ‘circumstances’ that bring me and each person closer to Jesus. Jesus transformed the meaning of suffering. When one reflects on the cross as being the ‘worst, most painful’ form of the death penalty in the Roman world, why would people wear this symbol around their necks and as ornaments? This symbolizes to the Christian that they can look at the cross and see hope. People can look at the cross and see love, a love that is far beyond any love that we show to each other.
It still is true that people spend a great deal of time and money to protect themselves from pain and suffering and sickness. But pain and suffering is part of the human scene and Jesus told us to pick up these ‘crosses’ and continue to live His life. Jesus said that it is through ‘losing one’s life’ that one finds what life is. Parents know the cost of loving their children: sleepless nights, discipline, and visits to emergency rooms, letting the child experience a mistake and suffer the consequences with the parents very close to provide comfort. Jesus said that we can accept or reject our crosses, but it is in putting our arms around them that we come to a knowledge of our Loving Lord.
Fr. Tony Kadavil in his commentary on
today’s gospel says: “My
friends, if the cross tells us anything, it tells us that God’s
ways are often so different from ours, and the world He created and
died for is one unlike any we can imagine. We, in a sense,
continually ‘create’ for ourselves a world marked by pettiness
and selfishness, a propensity for ‘getting even ’and a reluctance
to truly forgive. The cross teaches us that the world God
envisions for us is a
world in which we love,
and love and love some more. That’s
who God is and who God calls each of us to be. And so we embrace
the paradox that is the
cross. And we pray this day that each of us may be open to new
possibilities, new understandings, and new ways of seeing the world
around us. There’s a
beautiful new world out there. Jesus died to make that possible.
The cross is a sign to us of that profound
reality, a sign of the power of love. May that love
infuse every single thing we do as we continue on this incredible
journey we call life.”
So I reflect on:- How does the symbol of the cross reflect my faith life? What
does the cross mean to me as I go through my struggles and my
accomplishments?
- I complain to God…is it because I feel ‘persecuted’ or
because I feel ‘abandoned’?
- Make a list of my present crosses…what do they teach me?
- When I look at Jesus on the cross, how does it speak to me of
God’s love?
- Do I share how my crosses and the sufferings and distress
they bring, have drawn me closer to God? Am I afraid to share my
faith journey?
- Why is John 3:16 so important?
- How does God love me in my joys? My successes? My crosses?
Sacred Space 2014 adds:
“The
Cross reveals the vast breadth and width of God’s love. It
reverses all human values. Once a symbol of shame, it becomes the
symbol of glory. The love revealed is not exclusive, for just a few.
It embraces the whole world.
Lord,
divine love doesn’t count the cost; it gives liberally. True loves
offer everything to their beloveds. The cross is the icon of great
faith, hope, and love. As I gaze on it, may I be lifted up into all
that is true, good, and beautiful.”
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