Exaltation
(Triumph) of the Cross [Jn 3:13-17]
14.09.2025
God’s Boundless Love Revealed through the Cross of Christ
1.
Theme in brief
Our victory or triumph over evil
forces and death
2.
Focus Statement
The Holy Cross of Christ is a powerful symbol of
God’s boundless love for sinners and of his victory (triumph) over sin, forces
of evil and death.
3. Explanation of
the text
In today’s gospel text Jesus explains to Nicodemus about
his “being lifted up” at his death, resurrection
and exaltation (ascension) by an analogy. He compares it with Moses’ lifting up
of the bronze serpent on a pole in the desert (3:14-15). When the people of
Israel were bitten by poisonous serpents in the wilderness because of their
rebellion and sin, God instructed him: “Make a fiery (or poisonous)
serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten shall look at it and
live”
(Numbers 21:8). It was not the image of that snake set on a pole that saved
them from death, but their faith in God and repentance of sins. The image of snake
was only a visible reminder of a saving God who invited them to have
faith in him and repent for their sins. The healing experience of Israelites
was like a victory over the poison of snakes. It points to Jesus’ victory
on
the cross by which he has destroyed the poison of sin and defeated death. Now whoever looks at the uplifted (i.e. crucified and exalted) Christ in
faith is healed from the poison of sin.
After speaking about the healing power of
the cross, Jesus tells Nicodemus about the saving
and life-giving
power of the cross. Cross of Christ is the ultimate
proof of God’s intense, pure, selfless and universal love for a world
broken and damaged due to sin or evil. In the most often and widely quoted
verse in today’s gospel, he tells Nicodemus, “God so loved
the world
that he gave his
only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him may not perish but
may have eternal
life (3:16).” Yes, God loved the world deprived of his
genuine love to the extent of giving his only Son as a supreme gift, and
giving him up as a sacrificial offering
on the cross. [Note: Biblical experts say
that the word “gave” has both the meanings of giving a gift and giving up somebody].
God “so” loved humans implies
that he loved them so intensely
and precisely in this manner
(i.e. up to the point of dying a disgraceful death on the cross). This verse
points out clearly that the basic nature of love is self-giving.
No doubt, Jesus’ sacrificial death
on the cross was an act of total self-giving and life-giving love.
The purpose of this seemingly ‘irrational’ love is (1) to share his divine or eternal life with humans (3:16), (2) so that they may be saved by sharing his divine life (3:17). Here we
come to know that God’s intention is not to allow
anybody to perish eternally but have
divine life through his Son (3:16), and not to condemn anybody but save all
those who believe in his Son (3:17). Though God’s love is a universal gift, in order to be effective, the receivers
must fulfil a condition: they must believe in his Son (3:15,16). ‘To believe’ in John’s gospel does
not mean intellectual assent given to the truths of faith, but a decision to entrust
oneself to Christ or to put one’s trust in him or to be personally attached to him by faith.
To sum up, we can say that (1) saving people by sharing his eternal
life is fully God’s initiative; (2) the motive behind
such an action is his pure love; (3) that his love is so intense and (4) that his love is universal (because
it is given to everyone). The word “world” in this context means all the people
of the world. God’s
heart is so large and generous that by giving his Son as a gift to the world,
he embraces the whole of humanity – Jews and Gentiles,
nationals and foreigners, saints and sinners, good and bad, just and unjust people. He gives
fully without holding anything back, to the extent of letting his Son die a criminal’s
death on the
cross.
4.
Application to life
Today we honour the
Holy Cross on which Christ laid down his life to save the world. By venerating
the Holy Cross we venerate and adore the One who died on the cross to save us
from sin and death. We praise and thank God for the three greatest merits
that Christ has obtained for us by his sacrificial death on the cross: (1) salvation
and a healing
remedy for our sins; (2) freedom from the power or bondage of devil or evil forces and eternal death;
and (3) a share in God’s divine or eternal life. Jesus did not die any kind of
death but death on a cross – a capital punishment given by the Roman
government to convicted criminals in those days. In Jesus’ time a cross was considered as an
object of shame and worst punishment for criminals. But now it has become for
us the most powerful symbol or sign of God’s boundless love; of salvation and
a healing
touch from the poison of evil; of compassion of a God who did not
want to condemn the world; of forgiveness of sins merited by Christ by his
death on the cross; of victory over sin and death; and of hope that anyone who believes in
Christ will not be condemned but saved. Today’s feast invites us to fix our gaze on the
crucified and exalted image of Christ with the eyes of faith and listen to an
agonizing voice from his tortured body crying out with outstretched arms: “What more
could I have done for you?” How do we respond to this cry?
Among these various
implications of the cross, today’s feast emphasizes more on the aspect of
Jesus’ victory or triumph through his cross, because of its
historical background. This feast has its historical origin in the victory obtained
by Roman Emperor Constantine over his enemy when he fought with the sign of the
cross inscribed on his banner and on the shields of his soldiers. He ordered
this because he had seen a cross in his dream under which it was written: “You will
obtain victory by the power of this sign.” Hence, on this feast day
the Church presents the cross as the most sublime symbol of Jesus’ victory or triumph
over sin and eternal
death – a state of permanent separation or
alienation
from God’s love and life. Whenever
we use the Holy Cross on our bodies or see it placed in churches and homes we
are reminded of Christ’s triumph over sin and death through his agonizing death
on the cross. The cross in itself, either made
of wood or metal has no magical power to save us; it is Christ who died on it
has the power to save us. We should think that this is the cross that
symbolizes for us triumph or victory in various ways – of love over sin, evil, hatred and
revenge; of non-violence over violence and oppression; of the lowly and
the powerless
over exploitation; of a loving communion and reconciliation over division and
conflict; and of hope over emptiness and despair. We hope that we shall
never be separated from God’s life and love even after our physical death. That
is our victory over death,
Faith in the healing power of Christ flowing from his
cross is like a wonderful remedy for the poison of sin. The poison of sin and its
consequences continue to bite us like snakes of the desert during the
journey of Israelites. We need to become more and more conscious of how this poison spreads all over our family, society, the Church
and the world. The fewer children we have in our families today, the more selfish and greedy they become, since they
don’t have other brothers and sisters to share what they have.
The more time we save due to modern electronic gadgets and motor vehicles, the
less time we have for people or for human relationships. Our society’s
‘worship’ of secular values such as power, status, success and achievement at the cost of
others poisons genuine love. Secularization is a poison or virus that comes from outside and infects us from
within killing all the age-old personal, family and community values. Exaggerated
individualism leads to disinterest in building up communities and fraternity.
Christ’s cross invites us everyday to win a victory over sin, selfishness and
other evil forces mentioned here through self-sacrifice and renunciation. Do we accept this invitation?
Though Christ has defeated the devil – who
personifies all the evil in the world -- completely by his resurrection, our
victory over the devil is not yet complete. Our fight against him and
his forces will go on till our death. But in this struggle we are not alone. The
Risen Lord’s power is always at our disposal to win a victory over the devil.
If we fight it alone, we may lose the battle; but with Christ’s strength we can
win. The triumph of the cross symbolizes our triumph over forces of evil with
the power of Christ. As long as a strong faith in the power of the Risen Lord
who has defeated the Satan is lacking, Christians belonging to certain ethnic
groups will still remain under the constant fear and grip of evil
spirits, witches and sorcerers. In such cases, superstitions imbibed from one’s
culture will continue to predominate over faith and science. We need
to strengthen the faith of Christian disciples to believe that neither the evil
spirits nor witches/sorcerers can do any harm to those who firmly believe in
the power of the Risen Lord. Only a strong faith can triumph over the
fear-complex generated by witchcraft and magical spells.
The cross speaks to us about a God who loves us so
intensely that he does not mind permitting his Son to suffer a painful, humiliating and
disgraceful
death on a cross. The cross teaches us the meaning of suffering in life, which
normally we try to avoid. Sometimes we may have to walk the way of the cross
such as experiences of a serious illness, an accident, a sudden death of a
loved one, depression, rejection, etc. When this
thing happens to us this feast invites us to exalt our
crosses by finding meaning in our suffering, and not reject them by complaining
against God and everybody or everything else, as Israelites did in the desert. It
is up to us either to embrace them by accepting sufferings and by
making sacrifices or self-denial for our own and the world’s
salvation, or to refuse them. By refusing them, we not only refuse God’s
love but also condemn
ourselves (3:18)! The cross gives us the hope that those who take God’s grace
as the only ultimate ‘medicine’ for suffering can experience a healing touch
and liberation.
5.
Response to God's Word
What does the cross of
Christ which we use and display so often mean to us? Is it only a decoration
and a custom, or symbolizes something very personal and meaningful to us? Do we
experience a struggle going on within us against the forces of sin and evil?
How does the message of the cross help us win a victory or triumph over these
forces? How does the poison or virus of
secularization, individualism and apathy towards community building adversely
affect us? When misfortune and suffering comes, do we embrace the cross or
refuse it?
6. A prayer
We adore you, O Christ,
and we praise you, because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world. We
thank you for the healing, saving, life-giving power of your Holy Cross. Grant
that we may win a victory over sin and evil forces with this power. Save us
from the ‘poison’ of sin and eternal death. Amen.
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