Sunday before the Evevation of the holy cross
by Dr Philip Kariatlis
Sub-Dean and Associate Professor of Theology at St Andrew's Theological College
Sub-Dean and Associate Professor of Theology at St Andrew's Theological College
“… May I not boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” - Galatians 6:14
The assigned Gospel reading (John 3:13-17) for the Sunday before the Exaltation of the Holy Cross does not only reveal Christ’s ineffable and supreme love for humanity—more specifically, his sacrificial love on the Cross—but also the radical renewal and rebirth that the Cross ushered into the world, liberating us from the fall of our ancestors—and the reality of death that this brought with it—and gifting us, instead, with God’s eternal kingdom.
More concretely, Jn 3:13-17 brings us into a conversation that Jesus was having with Nicodemus, that great teacher of Judaism. And in wanting to help Nicodemus appreciate the supreme and redemptive power of the Cross, Christ made use of an Old Testament story. At the same time, Christ’s use of this Old Testament event would have also helped in preparing Christ’s disciples for the imminent events of his Passion and sacrifice on the Cross.
Essentially, the Gospel reading records Christ telling Nicodemus that, in the same way that Moses used a bronze serpent in the wilderness, and with this, when it was raised, the Israelites would not be affected from the onslaught of poisonous snakes that were appearing and biting them, so too, Christ says, would the Son of man need to be raised up—that is crucified—to save the human race. Most certainly this Old Testament event is to be seen as a type for the power of the Cross.
Indeed, here Christ foretells that his death on the Cross would not be the end of the story, but rather the fulfilment of his mission. And, we know, this is precisely what our Lord said, hanging upon the Cross, «τετέλεσται» (Jn 19:30), namely, “it is accomplished” and not as it is usually translated in the English as “it is finished.”
The Gospel reading continues by telling us that the Cross and the Passion are an expression of God's infinite love for the world, a love that dictates the voluntary sacrifice of this very Son of God: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:216). We can see that Christ’s death on the Cross was not the result of humanity’s common fate, as it happens with us, but was, rather, a voluntary one, motivated solely out of Christ’s supreme love to save the humanity, and the world more broadly. And precisely because Christ is the Theanthropos, He was able to trample death by his death, and in this way transform death into life.
The precious Cross is Christ’s greatest gift of his own self to us, so as to save us, namely, to bestow upon the human race the gift of eternal life. In a troparion which the Church sings not only on Holy Thursday evening, but on a number of Sundays throughout the year, we hear: “Lord, Your Cross is life and resurrection for us Your people; and trusting in it we extol You, our God, who was crucified. Have mercy on us.” So ineffably great was God’s love for us, that He gave his Son to radically bring the gift of life in all its fullness, bestowing upon all people—those before the Cross and those after—freedom from the bonds of death which our life away from Christ had brought about.
In this way, what is emphasised is the fact that those who follow Christ will not perish but be gifted with eternal life. However—and this is an important point—what is equally underscored is the need for us to have faith. Namely, a most basic condition to be able to receive the gift of life brought about by Christ’s love on the cross, is our faith, our trust and dedication to the Cross of Christ. This, however, means that we too need to be ready to live a life which is centred on the Cross; and this essentially means being ready to offer ourselves out of love to our neighbour; sacrificing our will for the sake of our neighbour; being compassionate, looking to the needs of those around us as opposed to our own.
Accordingly, day by day, we need to learn to submit our existence to the life-giving power of the Cross, namely, striving to live an ‘other’ centred life. And this requires boldness and great courage. If someone upsets us, for example, the Cross invites us not to seek out revenge; if someone takes something that belongs to us, being able to say freely: “it doesn’t matter”. And this, not because we are a victim, but rather because of our voluntary resolve to life which transcends all logic!
And yet, those things that we are willing to forego out of love for our neighbour, God will give back to us many times over.
Those things that we are willing to give away—acts of charity and love—are those things that will eternally remain our own.
In following Christ—which means taking up our cross, denying ourselves for the sake of the other—this Sunday’s Gospel tells us that we will not perish, but on the contrary gain the eternal love of God. For this reason, we mustn’t be afraid! The one who believes, will not be judged: “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (Jn 3:17). If we live a Christ centred life—which means a life centred on the other and not ourselves—then the message of our final judgement ought to be one of hope, indeed ‘hope-bearing’. Very often, however, Christ’s final judgement is thought of in terms of divine justice, a type of court where we will be punished for our sins.
If Christ’s entire life here on earth was nothing less than a divine expression of supreme love, then surely the final judgement will not be anything different.
Let us therefore be constantly mindful of the Cross as the expression par excellence of God’s supreme love for humanity (his φιλανθρωπία). In this way, as we sing in the Exapostilarion of the feast day, may we remember that the Cross is “the guardian of the whole world…. the height of the Church's beauty…. what strengthens [us]… the believers' firm support…. the glory of Angels and the defeat of the demons.”
The assigned Gospel reading (John 3:13-17) for the Sunday before the Exaltation of the Holy Cross does not only reveal Christ’s ineffable and supreme love for humanity—more specifically, his sacrificial love on the Cross—but also the radical renewal and rebirth that the Cross ushered into the world, liberating us from the fall of our ancestors—and the reality of death that this brought with it—and gifting us, instead, with God’s eternal kingdom.
More concretely, Jn 3:13-17 brings us into a conversation that Jesus was having with Nicodemus, that great teacher of Judaism. And in wanting to help Nicodemus appreciate the supreme and redemptive power of the Cross, Christ made use of an Old Testament story. At the same time, Christ’s use of this Old Testament event would have also helped in preparing Christ’s disciples for the imminent events of his Passion and sacrifice on the Cross.
Essentially, the Gospel reading records Christ telling Nicodemus that, in the same way that Moses used a bronze serpent in the wilderness, and with this, when it was raised, the Israelites would not be affected from the onslaught of poisonous snakes that were appearing and biting them, so too, Christ says, would the Son of man need to be raised up—that is crucified—to save the human race. Most certainly this Old Testament event is to be seen as a type for the power of the Cross.
Indeed, here Christ foretells that his death on the Cross would not be the end of the story, but rather the fulfilment of his mission. And, we know, this is precisely what our Lord said, hanging upon the Cross, «τετέλεσται» (Jn 19:30), namely, “it is accomplished” and not as it is usually translated in the English as “it is finished.”
The Gospel reading continues by telling us that the Cross and the Passion are an expression of God's infinite love for the world, a love that dictates the voluntary sacrifice of this very Son of God: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:216). We can see that Christ’s death on the Cross was not the result of humanity’s common fate, as it happens with us, but was, rather, a voluntary one, motivated solely out of Christ’s supreme love to save the humanity, and the world more broadly. And precisely because Christ is the Theanthropos, He was able to trample death by his death, and in this way transform death into life.
The precious Cross is Christ’s greatest gift of his own self to us, so as to save us, namely, to bestow upon the human race the gift of eternal life. In a troparion which the Church sings not only on Holy Thursday evening, but on a number of Sundays throughout the year, we hear: “Lord, Your Cross is life and resurrection for us Your people; and trusting in it we extol You, our God, who was crucified. Have mercy on us.” So ineffably great was God’s love for us, that He gave his Son to radically bring the gift of life in all its fullness, bestowing upon all people—those before the Cross and those after—freedom from the bonds of death which our life away from Christ had brought about.
In this way, what is emphasised is the fact that those who follow Christ will not perish but be gifted with eternal life. However—and this is an important point—what is equally underscored is the need for us to have faith. Namely, a most basic condition to be able to receive the gift of life brought about by Christ’s love on the cross, is our faith, our trust and dedication to the Cross of Christ. This, however, means that we too need to be ready to live a life which is centred on the Cross; and this essentially means being ready to offer ourselves out of love to our neighbour; sacrificing our will for the sake of our neighbour; being compassionate, looking to the needs of those around us as opposed to our own.
Accordingly, day by day, we need to learn to submit our existence to the life-giving power of the Cross, namely, striving to live an ‘other’ centred life. And this requires boldness and great courage. If someone upsets us, for example, the Cross invites us not to seek out revenge; if someone takes something that belongs to us, being able to say freely: “it doesn’t matter”. And this, not because we are a victim, but rather because of our voluntary resolve to life which transcends all logic!
And yet, those things that we are willing to forego out of love for our neighbour, God will give back to us many times over.
Those things that we are willing to give away—acts of charity and love—are those things that will eternally remain our own.
In following Christ—which means taking up our cross, denying ourselves for the sake of the other—this Sunday’s Gospel tells us that we will not perish, but on the contrary gain the eternal love of God. For this reason, we mustn’t be afraid! The one who believes, will not be judged: “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (Jn 3:17). If we live a Christ centred life—which means a life centred on the other and not ourselves—then the message of our final judgement ought to be one of hope, indeed ‘hope-bearing’. Very often, however, Christ’s final judgement is thought of in terms of divine justice, a type of court where we will be punished for our sins.
If Christ’s entire life here on earth was nothing less than a divine expression of supreme love, then surely the final judgement will not be anything different.
Let us therefore be constantly mindful of the Cross as the expression par excellence of God’s supreme love for humanity (his φιλανθρωπία). In this way, as we sing in the Exapostilarion of the feast day, may we remember that the Cross is “the guardian of the whole world…. the height of the Church's beauty…. what strengthens [us]… the believers' firm support…. the glory of Angels and the defeat of the demons.”