Today we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. In the first reading we hear about the Israelites grumbling in the desert about the lack of good food…they had tired of eating the food that God himself provided for them. As punishment, God allowed the seraph serpents to bite the people. When they realized their sinfulness, they asked Moses to intercede for them. God instructed Moses to create a bronze serpent and elevate it on a pole; those who were bitten could look upon the serpent and be saved. In the Gospel reading we hear Jesus telling Nicodemus that He, too, will be lifted up so that “everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
The “lifting up” that Jesus is referring to is His crucifixion, a method of execution that the Romans had “perfected” to be the most gruesome imaginable. It was a method so horrible, so agonizing, so dehumanizing and humiliating that the writers of the day refused to describe it; and it was not until about the 5th century that Christians began to use the cross as a symbol of their faith.
Given the above, why do we exalt the cross? Because it is by, and through, the cross that God’s great love for us was demonstrated. Jesus willingly gave up His position at the Father’s right hand to become human, and He willingly endured the most horrible death imaginable out of love for you and me. “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” That has personal implications for all of us. It is not enough to simply accept this; it must be life-altering. The kind of love Jesus has for us cries out to be returned, not out of fear or obligation, but out of love. That is the challenge we all face. We return God’s great love by sharing it with others.