The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Philippians 2:6-11
John 3:13-17
Why the cross? Why did Jesus have to die such a cruel death? The answer is: Because we have sinned. All of us. Since Adam and Eve. But what kind of God is this, who seems to feel so deeply offended by us insignificant little humans that he needs a bloody sacrifice to appease his wrath? Are we not thinking far too small of God? God is the eternal, immutable Creator of the universe. He is so exalted above his creatures that we cannot take away anything from him, no matter what we do. God cannot suffer harm.
It is not God who suffers from our sin. It is we ourselves who suffer from it. We harm ourselves. The most serious consequence of sin is that we lose communion with God. And outside of communion with God, there is no life and no future. All that remains is death.
‘God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. For he fashioned all things that they might have being.’ So we read in the Book of Wisdom.
God does not want our annihilation. He did not create us for that. He wants that we live. He wants to save us from death. But how will he do this?
Ignatius of Loyola described it in his meditation on the Incarnation: ‘The three Divine Persons are gazing on the whole face and circuit of the earth, and they see all the peoples in such great blindness, how they swear and blaspheme, how they wound and kill, and how they are dying and going down to hell. In their eternity, the three Divine Persons decide that the Second Person should become a human being in order to save the human race.’
God acts out of love, not revenge. The Son is not sacrificed by the Father in a wrathful, dictatorial act. No, all three Divine Persons, including the Son, peacefully decide together to send the Son down to Earth. Out of love for humanity.
‘God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.’ That is what we heard in today’s Gospel. And further:
‘For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.’
The descent from heaven, the incarnation of the Son, and finally the death of Jesus on the cross did indeed happen because of us and because of our sin. But not because we had done God any harm. And not because God is angry and wants to see a bloody human sacrifice. On the contrary.
What we call ‘God’s wrath’ is the state in which we humans live far from God in our sins. We bring this state upon ourselves through our own fault. God wants to free us from it through the cross of Christ. The cross of Christ is meant to take ‘God’s wrath’ away from us. It is an act of love, not of wrath.
It is important to emphasise that Jesus is not just any human being who was crucified as a substitute for us. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. His descent from heaven does not mean that he has lost his divine nature. No, he remains true God from true God. ‘Christ Jesus was in the form of God,’ we read in the Philippians hymn. But he ‘did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men’. The movement of the Son goes from heaven to earth. In obedience to the Father. This means nothing else than that the incarnate Son completely submits his human will to his divine will. The Son is therefore not sacrificed against his will. He was not forced to die. Jesus Christ voluntarily chooses the path that leads him to death on the cross.
The Philippian hymn says that Christ, ‘being found in human form, humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.’
The descent of the Son of God does not stop at a reasonably comfortable human existence, for example as a well-protected king’s son.
No, the Son descends all the way to the lowest depths. Death on the cross was a shameful, dishonourable death in ancient times. It was reserved for the worst criminals. The Son descends to the lowest depths of human existence. He dies the death of a criminal so that he can redeem truly everyone.
‘Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.’ We must not view Christ’s death on the cross independently of his resurrection and ascension. God’s descent into the depths alone does not save us. He picks us up from down there in the depths and takes us up with him when he ascends back to heaven. This is what Jesus means when he says: ‘No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.’
In him, in Christ, we have eternal life if we believe in him and if we firmly unite ourselves with him in the sacraments. Those who are baptised share in Christ’s death and resurrection. Our old, sinful man is crucified with Christ so that we may also rise to life with him.
In the formula of absolution during confession, it says: ‘God, the father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins.’ And also the words of institution of the Eucharist refer to Christ’s death on the cross: ‘This is my body, which will be given up for you. … This is the chalice of my blood, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.’
The cross is at the centre of the sacraments. It is the sign of God’s immense love for us human beings. Christ was crucified for us. To redeem us. Let us now receive the redeeming power of his cross in the Holy Eucharist.
