RBWords

     I generally keep my distance from snakes but I have to come a bit closer today to understand the image in the Gospel of John in the context of celebrating the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.  Even though the origin of the feast concerns the "finding of the true cross" in Jerusalem back in the 4th century AD, the celebration now is not about an object but about what happened on it and how it has become the symbol of Christianity!  The author of the Gospel of John places the image of Moses "lifting up" the serpent on a pole in the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus.  This vivid image - perhaps familiar to us in a health care context - refers to the giving of life to those who have been otherwise fatally wounded.  In the Gospel of John, the words "lifted up" refer to Jesus' "exaltation" on the cross, the moment of salvation.  These words, which appear three times in the gospel, are John's way of expressing the three predictions of the passion that appear in the other three gospels.

 

     The "exaltation of the cross" is about what Jesus did out of love for all humankind.  He was "lifted up" for us.  Thus a method of criminal execution is transformed into a life-giving symbol.  Each time we make "the Sign of the Cross" we are expressing the baptismal salvation to which Jesus refers earlier in his dialogue with Nicodemus!  "Unless one be born again of water and the spirit....."  We use that gesture so much that it becomes habitual and almost a "talisman," but I think we might just take a moment to be more "intentional" about the "Sign of the Cross" on this feast day and realize all that it means - nothing less than eternal life!  AMEN