"So must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." - John 13: 14-15
We Christians are used to the sight of the cross in our churches. We wear them around our necks. They hang from charm bracelets. Not surprisingly, the cross can easily become lost in the background - part of the architecture or just another piece of jewelry. We lose focus, so much so that we tend to take the cross for granted. But there is irony in this feast. We are praising and "exalting" a vicious instrument of execution.
The Romans inherited the cross from the Persians, used it extensively and became "masters of the craft." It was such a terrible form of execution that Roman citizens were not put to death on a cross. Crucifixion was used only on slaves and those who committed treason or brutal crimes. The victims were stripped naked, nailed to the wood and their clothing given as a bonus to the soldiers. A placard announcing only the person's name and crime was carried by the criminal to the point of execution and then nailed over the head. Death was agonizingly slow, usually resulting from hunger, thirst or asphixiation.
St. Paul speaks often of the cross in his letters. He frequently reminds us that there is no work we can do that earns us redemption. Rather, through the cross, God has done the work of reaching out and uniting all people. He preached that God had nailed our sins and their resulting guilt to the cross. When Jesus died on the cross so did our guilt. The very instrument that put Jesus to death that was also the means of our new life. What we could not do, God did. Paul would conclude that we certainly have reason to exalt because the power of sin and death is conquered through the cross. God enters human life and offers humans new life.
The gospel invites us to reflect on the choices Jesus made and how God responded to them. Jesus not only accomplished a great work on our behalf, but now we are encouraged to act similarly - to act as he did for the good of others.
Paul was writing to a fractured Christian community, and he encouraged the Philippians to put aside what is ambitious, selfish and prideful. Little has changed in our communities. Forgiveness and service to one another go a long way towards healing the wounds in our church and world. The world that God entered was not a perfect place and no human work could make it so. But Christ has lived our life and has shown us how to be faithful to our calling as Christians in the world. His Spirit was let loose through his death and resurrection.
So let us glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and renew our faith in Saint Paul’s insistence that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. Let the Exaltation of the Cross become a proclamation of our faith in God’s power to transform even our worst sufferings and make them instruments — like his cross — opening us to grace and bringing us to eternal life and eternal glory.
