The Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Sept.

14, 2014
(Numbers 21:4b-9; Philippians 2:6-11; John 3:13-17)

This feast is one of the rare ones to interrupt the normal flow of
the Sundays in Ordinary Time. Because it focuses on the cross of
Christ, it is rightly celebrated on a Sunday inasmuch as every liturgy
celebrates the Paschal Mystery, which is the death, resurrection and
ascension of Jesus to the Father. That mystery begins with the Cross.
All that having been said, the first reading is about snakes. The
theology of divine retribution for the peoples sins arises throughout
the Exodus journey. Here, because the people complain about the
food, the Lord punishes them with saraph serpents. The Hebrew
word seraph is often translated as fiery, because of the fiery sting
their bite imparted. The root meaning of the word means to burn.
Here, however, those who were bitten died. Parents, whose children
complain about their food, should pull up this story the next time they
complain about their food.
The Lord tells Moses to mount a serpent on a pole. Whoever had
been bitten, upon looking at the serpent mounted on the pole, would
live. This led to many abuses of their ritual value over the centuries.
Finally, in II Kings 18:4, King Hezekiah eliminated these poles from
Judah altogether, which by then were regarded as idols. This whole
episode embarrassed the rabbis enough when it came to interpreting
this passage that they suggested the healing actually came about
because they looked to the sky where the Lord was to be found, rather
than to allow some magical healing power to be attributed to a bronze
serpent on a pole.
The story made a lasting enough impression on John that he
included a reference to the incident in the Gospel for this feast. Johns
Gospel emphasizes the idea of being lifted up, rather than the serpent,
anticipating Christ (the Son of Man) being lifted up on the cross. In his
dialogue with Nicodemus Jesus is more concerned with the faith of
those who look upon the one who is lifted up, which is what gives
them eternal life.
In Johns Gospel, the verb to be lifted up can be used in
multiple senses. Clearly, in John, when Jesus is said to be lifted up
does not refer only to the crucifixion. It also at times refers to his
being lifted up to the Father in both the resurrection and ascension,
which completes his journey from the Father and back to the Father,
through the cross, resurrection and ascension.
This is the same idea as the Philippian hymn in the second reading
in which, after the death of Jesus, God greatly exalted him, using a
variation of the same Greek verb meaning to lift up. In the
Philippians reading Paul has apparently employed an ancient Christian
hymn developed within the first 20 years after the death and
resurrection of Christ. It has all the basic elements of the developing
Christian faith. He came from God, but came as a man into the world
without his divinity, i.e. he emptied himself. His obedience to Gods
will ultimately brought him to death on the cross, but God exalted (or
lifted him) giving him a name above all others, deserving the respect
of all creation and leading every tongue to confess him as Lord. That
is about as neat a summary of the Christ event as can be found or at
least early Christian reflection about it.
The exaltation of the cross is far more about the one who was on
the cross than it is or ever could be about a piece of wood. It was the
chosen Roman method of execution. In todays world he would have
been given some drugs. Either method ends in the death of another
human being. Either way a person dies at the hands of other people.
Life belongs to God. Only God should take life.


Fr. Lawrence Hummer