Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Ages 9-12): Time To Become
- thebetterpart
- Sep 12
- 5 min read
John 3.13-17
This Sunday we celebrate the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. To exalt something means to lift it up high, to make it the first. It is the opposite of humbling, or making low. Interestingly, on this feast that lifts up the cross and makes it first, the Gospel reading does not mention the cross at all.
Jesus speaks to a man named Nicodemus. Nicodemus is a Pharisee, a person who studies scripture and knows the law of God by heart. He finds Jesus both interesting and confusing. For instance, why does Jesus say,
No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
Who does Jesus mean when he says, "the Son of Man"? Why does he not speak plainly? Intrigued, Nicodemus visits Jesus, under the cover of darkness.
While they speak together, Jesus says,
“And just 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.
As a Pharisee, Nicodemus knows this story about Moses. After God leads the people out of slavery in Egypt, Moses and the people of Israel wander for forty years in the wilderness. During this time, God forms them into God's chosen people. It takes a long time. Over and over the people complain and turn away from God. Over and over God leads them back. Here is the account that Jesus refers to:
The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.”
Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died.
The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.”
So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.
The people complain; they are not grateful for freedom. They do not trust God to provide food and water. (God already provides food, but they are sick of it.) They only turn their attention back to God when the serpents trouble them. Serpents are just snakes, part of creation, but to the people of Israel wandering in the wilderness, they seem almost evil, do they not? However, God transforms the serpent—the source of all their troubles, the symbol of evil—into something that brings life. The power that the serpents seem to have fades away, and the strength of God prevails.
Why does Jesus refer to this story now? What does he know?
Ever-present to all the people living in Jerusalem, is the threat of the cross. The Romans who came and took over the city and all of Israel patrol the streets. Anyone caught doing something wrong knows what waits in store for them. They see crucifixions on a regular basis. The cross is a terrible symbol of violence and death, of the triumph of darkness over light—the exaltation of evil.
And Jesus knows that one day he will be lifted up onto the cross. It will seem that the evil of the cross grows in strength as the combined weight of sin, violence, darkness, and death overpower him.
But Jesus also knows that God transforms the serpent on the pole into the source of life.
He also knows that "lifted up" has two meanings. It can mean lifted up on the cross and left to die, but it can also mean exalted—lifted up to new eternal life.
He also knows that God's strength prevails. The cross becomes not just a symbol but the source of Eternal Life.
And he also knows why this is so:
“For 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.
This is the good news. In Jesus' own words we hear God's love for us, and God's desire to bring us into eternal life. Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus brings us hope.
But we can also worry, because when Jesus says, "everyone who believes," we know that there are people who do not.
We might worry about friends who do not go to church.
We might worry about older brothers and sisters who no longer practice the faith.
We might worry about a parent who does not believe in God.
Does Jesus give us worry?
We have to remember the remainder of the story of the people of Israel. Once God saves the people from the serpents, do they follow God faithfully from there on end? Nope. Faithful, unfaithful; belief, unbelief; trust, doubt. God knows they need time. God allows the people of Israel to wander in the wilderness for forty years so that they have time to become the chosen people of God.
We also have to remember the remainder of the story of Nicodemus. He visits Jesus under the cover of darkness because he feels uncertain about him; he wants to hide his interest in the dark. But Nicodemus listens. When the chief priests and Pharisees want to arrest Jesus, he speaks up for him. Later, after Jesus dies but before he rises to new life, Nicodemus tenderly prepares Jesus' body for burial. Even though he may be afraid of the chief priests, he no longer hides his deeds in the dark. He needed time to become a believer.
God knows that belief takes time.
Faith takes time.
Trust takes time.
God, who takes a symbol of death and transforms it into a powerful sign and source of Life, gives people time. Why?
Because,
God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
God wants to save.
We can pray for people who do not believe—we can lift them up in prayer—but we need to leave the worrying to God. We trust in the exaltation of the cross. It is God's work to transform death into life, not ours.
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