Today we celebrate the feast of the exaltation or the triumph of the
Cross. The word 'exaltation' literally means a lifting up. In John's
gospel Jesus says: "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all
people to myself." (Communion song for today)
As the Gospel indicates, Jesus' 'lifting up' finds a reminiscence in an
experience of the Israelites during their 40 years' wandering in the
desert. They had been - as was often their wont - grumbling against God
and against their leader, Moses. When they had complained formerly about
not having enough food, God had provided them daily with manna. But now
they were fed up with manna: "We are sick of this tasteless food."
Their ungratefulness brought on God's displeasure and they found
themselves being attacked by a plague of poisonous snakes. After several
people had died, they came to Moses begging forgiveness and asking him
to save them from further death. Moses knew that God was a "soft touch";
he can never remain cross for very long. In fact, he is never cross. The
sufferings which he allows to come into our lives always have a positive
side to them. So Moses was told by God to make a bronze serpent and set
it up on a standard. If anyone was bitten, they just had to look at the
bronze serpent and live.
The 'lifting up' of Jesus
Jesus, too, though in a very different way was also 'lifted up' and his
'lifting up' has two meanings.
There is first his lifting up on the cross. The cross is at the very
centre of our Christian faith. It is something which non-Christians
often find difficult to understand. Superficially, it points to the
utter failure of Jesus' mission. Crucifixion was one of the most
barbaric and painful forms of execution. It was also one of the most
shameful. The convicted person hung stark naked in a public place, the
object of all kinds of abuse and mockery. It was the ultimate stripping
of all decency and human dignity.
Immediately after Jesus' disciples, led by Peter, recognised that Jesus
was the Messiah, he went on to tell them that he was going to be
rejected by the religious and civic leaders, that he would be made to
suffer, be crucified and then rise on the third day. This revelation
clearly came as a terrible shock to the disciples. This was not at all
part of the expected scenario for the Messiah. It would take the
disciples some time, in fact not until after the resurrection, before
they began to see the meaning in the cross of Jesus.
Glory, not failure
It was, they realised, not a terrible mistake, not a failure but a
dramatic and extreme manifestation of God's love for us. "God loved the
world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him may not be lost but may have eternal life. For God sent his Son
into the world not to condemn the world, but so that, through him, the
world might be saved." The crucifixion was a terrible thing, it was a
horrible thing, it was utterly evil. What changes it for us is the
reason why Jesus accepted to go through this terrible ordeal.
The emptying
And this is what Paul is talking about in the beautiful hymn he quotes
in his letter to the Philippians which is our Second Reading for today.
The state of Jesus was divine. "In the beginning was the Word and the
Word was with God and the Word was God" Yet Jesus "did not cling to his
equality with God". He did not insist on his status.
Instead, "he emptied himself" and took on the condition of a slave.
God's Son became like a slave, the lowest person in society of those
times, a person who could be bought and sold in a public market, who had
no rights, no status.
But there was more to come. Sharing our human nature, like us in
everything but sin, he went to an even lower level, "accepting death"
and not any death, but death on a cross, though totally innocent, dying
as a convicted criminal.
He gave up everything, life and good name and all human dignity. And all
to show us how much God loves us, how much he himself loves us.
No wonder that believers in other religions find it either totally
incomprehensible or outrageously shocking and blasphemous that God
should go through such an experience. Our faith, says St Paul, is
offensive to the Jews [and, incidentally, also to many Muslims] and
nonsense to the Gentiles.
The purest test of love
But it was at this rock bottom level when Jesus gave the uttermost proof
of God's love for us that "God raised him high and gave him the name
which is above all other names" so that the whole of creation "should
bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue should acclaim
Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father".
This is where one lifting up - on the cross - leads to another lifting
up - in glory. And that is what we are celebrating today. And, apart
from this Eucharist, how can we celebrate it? We are not meant simply to
remember this or just admire it from a distance. We are called to be
part of it.
After Jesus had told his disciples what was going to happen to him --
rejection, suffering, death on a cross and resurrection -- he went on
immediately to challenge them, saying that anyone who wished to be his
disciple would have to take up their own cross and follow after him.
We too must be driven by the same love for people that God and Jesus
have. We too must be ready to empty ourselves as much as we can, putting
aside concerns about position, status, material wealth, and even good
reputation in order to be at the service of our brothers and sisters in
their need.
A moving example
Mother Teresa was a wonderful example of someone who emptied herself and
gave her whole life to taking care of the most pitiful, the most
miserable, the most uncared for people. She used to say, "You must love
until it hurts." Most of us want to love without being hurt. How many of
those who gave money, even millions, to Mother Teresa experienced even a
small diminution of their lifestyle?
There is a story told that soon after she took over the house beside a
Hindu temple in Calcutta where she cared for the destitute and dying,
some people complained, accusing her of using the place to make converts
to Catholicism. They wanted her evicted and appealed to the police.
When a senior police inspector went to the house to see the situation he
was both overwhelmed and appalled. Overwhelmed by the loving care that
was being given to the most wretched of people and appalled by the
terrible stench of disease and death. He went back to the critics and
said he would evict Mother Teresa if they would be willing to take over
the work. No more criticisms were heard. They were not prepared to empty
themselves as she was.
If we want to join Jesus in being lifted up, we too have to do some self
-emptying. We need to get more actively involved somehow in the
sufferings of our world and our society. Giving not just money or gifts
but something of ourselves, a "hands on" approach. Loving till it hurts,
not just physically but perhaps financially and socially, where we run
the risk of rejection or ridicule.
We can only do this if we can see the glory of the cross and learn to
identify with the love that is behind it and some day to share in the
exaltation of our Lord.
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