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Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Numbers 21:4–9; Philippians 2:6–11; John 3:13–17
Everybody seems to know something about God.
God is like this.
God is like that.
People speak easily.
People argue quickly.
But few are silent before the mystery.
For Christians, God is not first an idea to be explained.
God is revealed in Jesus Christ.
And when we look at Jesus, we are surprised.
Saint Paul says:
Though He was in the form of God,
He emptied Himself,
taking the form of a servant.
This is not how the world thinks.
The world teaches us to rise.
To climb.
To win.
To be first.
To move from weakness to power.
From nobody to somebody.
From servant to master.
But Jesus moves in the opposite direction.
He is in the form of God,
yet He comes down.
He becomes man.
He serves.
He obeys.
He gives His life.
He accepts the cross.
Why?
Because God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.
This is the mystery we celebrate today.
The cross tells us what God is like.
God does not save us from far away.
He comes close.
He enters our pain.
He carries our sin.
He takes upon Himself the poison that is destroying us.
There is nothing beautiful about the cross by itself.
It was cruel.
It was shameful.
It was the death of a slave.
And yet, through the love of Christ, the cross became the tree of life.
What looked like defeat became salvation.
What looked like weakness became power.
What looked like shame became glory.
This is why Christians look at the cross and find hope.
Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the desert.
Those who looked at it were healed.
Jesus says that the Son of Man must also be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.
So today, look at Him.
Look at the crucified Lord.
Look at the love that does not threaten,
does not force,
does not crush.
Look at the love that gives everything.
Let Him draw you.
Let Him heal the poison in your heart:
pride,
greed,
fear,
anger,
despair.
Look at Him,
draw near to Him,
and live.
Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Matthew
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition,
copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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