Sunday the 14th of September 2025 - The Exaltation of The Holy Cross

Numbers 21:4b-9/ Ps 78(77)/ Philippians 2:6-11/ John 3:13-17

The cross is the universal image of our Christian faith. It might seem strange that an instrument of torture and death could hold such reverence for us. The cross is the way by which God, in the human person of Jesus, took on sin and death and won back our redemption lost by the sin of humanity personified by Adam and Eve. It is the image of pain, suffering, and death, but it is also the path to the resurrection. To those outside the understanding of Christianity the cross is a grotesque image. It was used to execute common criminals and decaying corpses hanging on wooden crosses could be seen outside of the walls of cities under Roman rule. It was a sign to those who defied Roman rule and authority. In his passion and death Jesus made the cross a thing to be exulted because it was the route to his resurrection. Without his death Jesus could not rise and lead the way into heaven. The cross was the way that Jesus ultimately emptied himself completely and submitted to human death. Since then artists and craftspeople have sought to turn the cross into a thing of beauty to be displayed, carried in procession, or worn as jewellery.

The cross is no longer seen as an instrument of torture and death but as the route to salvation. When we look at the cross today, when we contemplate what it stands for, even when it holds a crumpled image of our dead Saviour, it reminds us of how far humanity has fallen and how much Jesus had to do to make reparation for that fall. In the readings last Sunday we were reminded of how hard it is to be a follower of Christ, we will need to follow him to the cross. When we must endure suffering in this life we can look to the cross for comfort, placing all our suffering on that cross with Jesus, joining him in his suffering and offering it to God just as Jesus did. It can be challenging to understand why there is so much suffering in the world, but it can help us to endure it if we join it with the suffering Jesus suffered on the cross. We are all mortal and will have to face death one day. Rather than seeking to avoid pain and death or pretend it will not happen, instead of abandoning Jesus on the cross, we can seek to join him in his suffering so that we can follow him through death into eternal life with him. The exultation of the cross gives us an appreciation of the significance the cross gives us as a symbol of the reality of the sacrificial love Jesus shows for us and the meaning of the cross in our daily Christian lives.

In the Gospel Jesus is talking with Nicodemus, a Pharisee, who visited him in secret presumably because he was fearful of what his colleagues might think of him associating with this radical teacher. Jesus suggested to Nicodemus that the one who has descended from heaven must be lifted up as the serpent in the Old Testament first reading described. Jesus connected his passion and death to the image of the fiery serpent lifted up in the dessert to heal those bitten by snakes, to his being lifted up on the cross. The lifting up that Jesus is referring to is his crucifixion when he was lifted up on the cross, not the end that it suggests but means of salvation for those who believe. Jesus emphasises that he comes not to condemn the world but to save it. The cross offers healing and eternal life to us who have been bitten by the snakes inhabiting the world today seeking to spread their venom of evil.

The cross gives us a contradiction between triumph and sacrifice. The death of Jesus on the cross is not a defeat, but a triumph in which suffering and death lead to salvation, demonstrating the ultimate love God has for us his creation and the promise it holds for us for a new and everlasting life free of suffering and death. God demonstrated the depth of the love he has for the world by sending his son to suffer and die for us. God’s love is not conditional, we do not earn it by works or merit, it is given freely to anyone who chooses to receive it.

This day of exultation of the Cross reminds us to honour and venerate the cross to give thanks for the love God showed for us through the price Jesus paid for our salvation. The cross gives us strength in our own suffering reminding us of our hope in the risen Lord and the eternal glory that we can share with him. When we bless ourselves with the sign of the cross we call to mind that we honour the Holy Trinity using it as a sign that God protects us from evil. The cross reminds us that we are all sinners who are forgiven and that we should, in our turn, forgive others as well as ask for continued forgiveness when we offend God and others.

The cross is the sign of our hope in the risen Lord because it is the image of how Jesus won our salvation. The instrument of torture and death has become the sign of salvation and new life.

God Bless Brendan.