We Exalt the Cross

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross

~~~ Numbers 21: 4b-9 ~~~ Psalm 78 ~~~ Phil 2: 6-11 ~~~ John 3: 13-17 ~~~

 

Here we are in Ordinary Time with a very special feast...

that of the Exultation of the Cross.

Why would the church want to exalt the cross one might ask?

Per the dictionary exalt means to glorify, praise, honor.

 

Without the cross upon which Jesus was crucified

we would not have salvation.

Jesus humbled himself to not only become human,

but he allowed himself to be put to death on the cross.

Death by crucifixion was reserved for hardened criminals.

It was common place in the time of Jesus.

 

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.

 

Jesus was raised upon the cross for all to look upon.

Just as Moses raised his staff adorned with the serpent.

The serpent upon the staff healed those bitten and poisoned.

 

Jesus hanging on the cross is the picture of our salvation.

The act of hanging on the cross in itself did not save us;

it was the person who hung on the cross.

 

Jesus conformed to the will of the Father and that included being nailed to the cross.

The cross is the symbol of salvation because Jesus died on a cross.

 

Exalting the cross moves it from a device reserved for criminals and sinners to one of mercy, love, hope, and salvation. If Saint Helena did indeed find the true cross; it is not surprising that it would have had some miraculous powers.

 

The flesh and blood of the body of Christ were pressed into the wood of the cross.

The nails pierced his flesh forcing bits of his skin into the wood.

The blood streamed forth from his wounds soaking into the boards near his head,

each hand, and his feet.

 

 

The whole cross pressed with the sacred body of Jesus.

Today's gospel contains the most often quoted verse from scripture...

that God so loved the world.

 

Today we exalt the cross itself...

we raise it with joy as remember how Jesus loved us even by death...

death upon the Cross.

 

Every time your eyes are raised to look at the cross remember he died for you.

It was personal.