Christ our Remedy: Discovering Love at the Foot of the Cross.

 

Sisters and Brothers in Christ, today the Church lift high the Holy Cross through which we are saved. The feast began in Jerusalem in the 4^th century. After St. Helena’s discovery of what is believed to be the True Cross on which Jesus was crucified, Emperor Constantine bult the basilica over the place of Calvary and the Tomb of Jesus. On 13 September 335, St Macarius of Jerusalem dedicated that Church in the presence of the gathered bishop’s; and the next day the “Cross was raised for the faithful to venerate.” Later, the memory of the Cross’s return to Jerusalem under Emperor Heraclius after the Persian sack in 614 deepened the feast’s meaning. The feast of the exaltation of the Holy Cross dates back to this period.

The sign that heals (1^st Reading: Numbers 21:4-9).

The experience of the Israelites in the desert was a time of purification, a renewal in their ancestral covenant with God, and a preparation for the promised land. The Scripture tells us that this journey lasted 40 years, a long period of trials that exposed both their human weakness and their struggles of faith. In today’s first reading, we hear about one of those moments of failure: the people fell into the “sin of murmuring” against God and Moses. Impatience grew in their hearts, and they complained bitterly: “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!”

Before considering the punishment that follows and the remedy God provides, it is important to pause here and reflect on the nature of their sin.  What lies beneath their complaint? It is more than simple hunger or thirst. It is the loss of trust in God’s providence, the refusal to remember what He had already done for them, and the temptation to believe that slavery in Egypt was better that freedom in the desert. In their grumbling we recognize ourselves: how often do we, too, grow impatient in life’s desert experiences, forgetting the past blessings, the gifts God has already given us? Sometime we turn our dissatisfaction into rebelling against God.  

Facing the Consequences of Sin and God’s Remedy

Immediately after their complaint, the text tells us that the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and many were bitten and died. At first glance this punishment may seem harsh, but it reveals a deeper truth: sin has consequences. When we turn away from God, we open ourselves to forces that wound and destroy. This story reminds us of the ancient serpent that deceived Adam and Eve, leading them into sin against God (Genesis 3:1-15). Yet, the story does not end with divine judgment. The people, recognizing their fault, cry out for mercy. And here comes the surprising remedy, God instructs Moses to fashion a bronze serpent and lift it high on a pole, so that whoever looks at it will be healed.

But why a serpent? The image of serpent here immediately recalls to mind the ancient serpent of Genesis (Genesis 3:1) that deceived Adam and Eve and let humanity into disobedience and death. The same creature that symbolized curse, ruin, and death now becomes the instrument of healing. This paradox points to a mystery God does not always remove the sign of our falls; instead, He transform it. The very symbol of defeat becomes the channel of salvation. This reveal also divine justice.

This is why Jesus, speaking of his own Passion, refers back to this event: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”  (Jn 3:14). Just as the Israelites were invited to look upon the serpent and live, so we are called to lift our eyes to the Crucified Jesus. On the Cross, Christ Jesus takes upon himself the poison of sin, transforms it into the medicine of mercy, and offers us healing to all who believe in Him.  

As St Paul would later preach: “We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block for the Jews and foolishness for the Gentiles, but to those who are called, Christ is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God.”  (1 Cor 1: 23-24). What appears as a scandal and folly becomes for believers the very source of eternal life.

In the Gospel, Jesus tells Nicodemus that no one has gone up to God except the One who came down. The Cross is the hinge between that descent and ascent: “so must the Son of Man be lifted up…that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” Eternal life is God’s own life shard with us now. Believing, then, is not having a mere opinion about Jesus. It is growing daily in the trusting gaze that we learned in the desert.

Venerable Fulton J. Sheen loved to say, “Every other person who ever came into this world came into it to live. Jesus came into it to die.” And again, he says: “Unless there is a Good Friday in our lives, there will never be an Easter Sunday.” He was not glorifying suffering; he was rather telling us that love pays the full price and then gives even more.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who suffered under the nazi regime put it this way: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die.” Not always a physical death, but the daily death of the old self that resists love. This is costly grace. That is discipleship.”

As we celebrate this feast, we may wish to practice the following acts of faith: find a Crucifix at home or in a nearby Church. Kneel before it and contemplate this Love. Name before the Lord what “bites” you: a particular sin, especially habitual ones, a resentment, a fear, a heavy burden, etc. Pray simple: “Jesus, lifted up for me, I look to you. Heal me.”

To exalt the Cross is to lift up those who are bowed down, the lowly, humiliated, neglected, trampled upon. In Christ Jesus God is at work to turn poison of sins into medicine, curses into blessings, and loss into a new beginning. Happy Feast to all of us!!