Gospel Commentary: Exaltation of the Cross

By Fr. Jack Peterson
Herald Columnist
(From the issue of  9/11/03)

There is a powerful scene from the movie The Two Towers, based upon the novel by J.R.R. Tolkein in which Théoden, the King of Rohan, having just discovered the death of his son, falls on his knees and weeps with a deep pain. He says to Gandalf that no parent should have to bury their child.

The scene stirs up in my heart the painful realities that usually surround the death of a loved one. Life in so many ways is such a wonderful gift. It brings to most of us joys beyond description. A holiday meal, a child’s first step, a first Holy Communion, the reception of a diploma, a hug from one’s grandmother — all make us think of the blessings that life brings. Death is so daunting because, at least for a period of time, it brings an end to these joys of life. It causes a separation from those we love. It seems so permanent. After it, there are no more second chances.

As Christians, we believe in the depths of our being that God desired to redeem mankind, restore us to a healthy relationship with Himself and grant us a share in the very life of the blessed trinity. Any such action on the part of the Almighty would necessarily have to deal head-on with sin and death, the great evils of the world. This is exactly what God chose to do at a single moment in history nearly 2000 years ago. "And 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."

God did not choose to run away from our suffering as human beings, nor from sin and death that are the causes of our most profound suffering. Rather, He chose to dive right into the heart of it all by sending His Son, born of a woman, born of our flesh, like us in all things but sin.

If Christ was going to destroy sin, He would somehow need to engage it in a battle that would destroy it at its very core, once and forever. He would, in a sense, have to become sin for us. St. Paul describes this quite clearly in his Second Letter to the Corinthians: "We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him" (2Cor 20b-21). If Christ was going to conquer death too, He would somehow have to play on death’s turf. So He "emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross." Christ indeed engaged sin and death in a mortal battle, a battle which had cosmic, eternal consequences. When He rose on Easter morning, He showed Himself to be the Victor, the Conqueror, the Redeemer and King of all Creation.

There is an irony here that adds to the beauty of God’s eternal plan: that which brought suffering and death became a means and a symbol of healing. This irony is remarkably foreshadowed in the Old Testament by the story surrounding the bronze serpent. As a consequence of the sin of unfaithfulness, the Hebrew people were dying from the bites of poisonous snakes. God’s merciful resolution to the problem was to have Moses mount a bronze serpent on a pole and hold it up for the people to view and be healed. So with Christ, the cross, which brought suffering and death to the worst of criminals, becomes a means and a symbol of redemption, healing and life.

Like Théoden, no parent ever wants to see their child die, especially if he or she is especially young. They do everything within their power to prevent it from happening. They would never will it to happen. So why did God the Father allow His innocent Son to die the painful death of a criminal when He has the power and the wisdom to resolve this great problem in some other way? John gives us the answer that should melt our hearts and bring us to our knees every time a human dares to utter it, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life." The Father’s love is the only reality that gives meaning to our world.

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