Numbers 21:4b-9
Psalm 78:1bc-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38
Philippians 2:6-11
John 3:13-17
Every September 14, the Church celebrates a feast called the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. In it, we take a close look at the mystery of why God the Father allowed His Son to submit to such a horrible form of punishment as a means to "save" us from our sins. Couldn't He have found a better way? And why is it such a powerful and even a good thing for us to accept the "crosses" that come our way?
To prepare us for insights into the mystery, the first reading goes back to the Israelites' flight for freedom across the desert. They had hardly begun when they rebelled against Moses and against God. In punishment, God sent poisonous servants whose bites killed many. When they repented of their sin, God had Moses make a bronze serpent and lift it on a pole. All who gazed on the serpent were healed. It was a sign of something astounding that was to come later.
Jesus, in the Gospel, refers to this incident when He's talking with Nicodemus. "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."
What follows is the most quoted verse in John's Gospel: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son . . . ." The cross on which Jesus was "lifted up" redeemed us from punishment we all inherited through Adam and Eve's sin in the garden. In this way, Jesus has transformed the meaning of the cross from one of the worst forms of humiliation ever devised by humans, to a glorious sign of victory over death.
Just as Jesus suffered and died on a cross, so does He ask that everyone who follows Him will share in His experience with sufferings and "crosses" of our own. All we have to do is to humbly accept those trials which are so inevitable ~ those which no medicine or counseling can cure ~ terminal illness, abandonment, loneliness, to mention a few.
It is never too late for us to accept our crosses in love and faith. In so doing, we will find healing and forgiveness, often a sense of joy, and a new ability to love ourselves and others.
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You,
Because by Your Holy Cross
You have redeemed the world.
Father Ed Bakker
Anglican Catholic Church
Mission of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne
Bendigo, Australia
