Introduction
The primary event celebrated on this feast is the finding of the True Cross by Saint Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great. According to tradition, in the early 4th century, Saint Helena undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and, with the help of local Christians, discovered the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified.
The feast also celebrates the exaltation (or “raising high”) of the Holy Cross, signifying its importance in Christian worship and devotion. The cross, which was once a symbol of suffering and death, is now exalted as a symbol of Christ’s victory over sin and death and as a source of divine grace and redemption.
This feast has a different purpose than Good Friday. Good Friday is a day of solemn reflection on Christ’s crucifixion, while the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is a joyful celebration of the cross as a symbol of Christ’s triumph and redemption. This instrument of torture became the life-giving tree that reversed Adam’s original sin.
The date of the feast marks the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 335. When September 14 falls on a Sunday, the feast supersedes the celebration of the Sunday in Ordinary Time.
1st Reading – Numbers 21:4b-9
With their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses,
“Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,
where there is no food or water?
We are disgusted with this wretched food!”
In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,
which bit the people so that many of them died.
Then the people came to Moses and said,
“We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.
Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us.”
So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses,
“Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and if any who have been bitten look at it, they will live.”
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,
and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
In our first reading, the bronze serpent on a pole that Moses lifts over the people foreshadows the cross of Christ, the ultimate instrument of healing and salvation for humanity.
With their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses,
This event takes place during the latter part of the Israelites’ 40-year journey in the wilderness. The people are tired and disgruntled.
“Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!”
The Israelites accuse both God and Moses of bringing them out of Egypt simply to die in the desert.
They acknowledge that God brought them out of Egypt, where they were slaves. At first they say they have no food, then they reference their “wretched food,” which is probably the manna God miraculously sent from heaven to sustain them.
Their deliverance from slavery should have grounded them in trust in God, and their being miraculously supplied with manna should have filled them with wonder and gratitude.
In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died.
As a form of divine discipline, God humbles the Israelites by allowing their unfounded fears of death in the wilderness to become a reality.
Saraph serpents are venomous snakes. The term saraph is derived from the Hebrew word for “fiery,” a reference to the burning sensation caused by their bite.
The snakes had been there all along; God’s protection had shielded the people from harm until this moment.
Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us.”
The discipline has the intended effect: the people recognize their wrongdoing and confess their sin. They request that Moses intercede on their behalf and pray to God for the removal of the snakes.
Note the humility in their request to have Moses pray on their behalf. They had no qualms about complaining directly to God; now they seem to be conscious of their own unworthiness to be heard.
So Moses prayed for the people,
Moses yet again intercedes to God on behalf of the people.
and the LORD said to Moses, “Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover.”
God relents and instructs Moses on how to create a means of healing for anyone who is bitten.
It’s important to note that it isn’t the bronze serpent that cures them but the mercy of God. The serpent is simply a sign of the salvation which God offers all men.
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
Notice how God did not actually answer the prayer to have the serpents removed, nor did he restore their protection from being bitten. Instead, he provides a pathway to healing from the deadly effects of the snakebite. This served as a lasting reminder for the survivors of this event, lest they forget the lesson of humility and repentance.
In our gospel reading today, Jesus will allude to this event in the wilderness to explain the nature of his impending crucifixion. Just as those who looked at the bronze serpent were healed and spared from death, so will those who believe in him find eternal life through his sacrifice on the cross.
2nd Reading – Philippians 2:6-11
Brothers and sisters:
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
In our second reading, Paul is encouraging the Philippians to lead selfless lives, with Jesus as their model.
This passage has been called “The Christ Hymn” because of its distinctive qualities. Its rhythmic character and use of parallelism have led to the view that Paul is quoting a hymn that predates this letter.
The hymn, which was an early profession of faith, has a basic twofold structure: verses 6-8 describe Christ’s humiliation; verses 9-11, his exaltation.
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
The original Greek (morphēn Theou) makes it clear that “form of God” refers to Jesus’ divine nature. Morphēn signifies the essential nature, character, or intrinsic qualities of something rather than just its external appearance.
“If Christ were only a man, He would have been said to have been ‘in the image of God,’ not ‘in the form of God.’ We know that humanity was made in the image, not the form, of God.” [Novatian (ca. 235 AD), The Trinity 22,2]
did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity who existed from before the creation of the world, did not cling to his divine privileges.
Many see an allusion to the Genesis story here: Though in the form of God (Genesis 1:26-27), Jesus did not seek equality with God the way Adam and Eve did (see Genesis 3:5-6).
Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness;
Not only did Jesus relinquish his Godlike state, he “emptied himself” (kenosis). He did not empty himself of divinity, but of the glory and status that comes with that divinity.
The Second Person of the Trinity could have become human without setting his glory aside; in that case, his divine glory would have shone through his human nature the way it did at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1ff).
Instead, he chose to be like men in all things but sin (Hebrews 4:15, 2 Corinthians 5:21), including the vulnerability and powerlessness of the human condition. By doing so, he was able to bear our sorrows and be stricken, as Isaiah prophesied (Isaiah 53:4).
“What is more humble than the King of all creation entering into communion with our poor nature? The King of kings and Lord of lords clothes Himself with the form of our enslavement; the Judge of the universe comes to pay tribute to the princes of this world; the Lord of creation is born in a cave; He who encompasses the world cannot find room in the inn…; the pure and incorrupt one puts on the filthiness of our nature and experiences all our needs, experiences even death itself” (St. Gregory of Nyssa, Oratio I in beatitudinibus).
and found human in appearance, he humbled himself,
In taking the slave-like human condition, he also took on the vulnerability and powerlessness of that station in life.
becoming obedient to death,
For a slave, obedience is the determining factor, and the extent of Christ’s obedience is striking. Compliance with God’s will in a world that is alienated from God requires that one be open to the possibility of death.
even death on a cross.
In a sense, Christ’s crucifixion was inevitable. It was a common punishment for slaves, the nadir of human abasement. Such ignominy was an indication of the completeness with which he emptied himself of his divinity.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
The self-denying act of Christ is matched by the active response of God. His exaltation is as glorious as his humiliation was debasing.
Note that while Christ was the subject of his self-emptying, his superexaltation is attributed directly to God. His extreme humiliation is matched by his extreme glorification.
and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
Recall that in the Jewish culture, one’s name contains the essence of the individual. God has raised Jesus’ name, his essence, above every other.
Explicit mention of the new name is held back until the end of the hymn.
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend,
This hymn transfers to Christ the homage given to God alone (Isaiah 45:23).
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
According to ancient thought, these are the three levels of the universe. All of creation is brought under Christ’s lordship.
and every tongue confess
Another reference to Isaiah 45:23.
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
Finally, the new name of Christ: Kyrios (Lord), which came to be substituted for YHWH in Christian copies of the Septuagint Old Testament.
to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus’ new position on the heavenly throne constitutes no rivalry to the Father, to Yahweh himself. On the contrary, Jesus’ voluntary abasement and the homage paid to him by creation bring honor to the Father.
Gospel – John 3:13-17
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Today’s gospel reading comes from a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin. Nicodemus was interested in the teachings of Jesus, but came to him at night, which suggests that he wanted to keep his interaction with Jesus a secret.
Jesus said to Nicodemus: No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
Throughout the gospels, Jesus frequently refers to himself as the “Son of Man,” as he does here.
This title has a prophetic background in the Old Testament, particularly in the book of Daniel (Daniel 7:13-14). In that passage from Daniel, the “Son of Man” is a heavenly figure who receives authority and an everlasting kingdom from God. This figure became associated with the Jewish people’s expectations for what would happen at the end of time.
Here, Jesus is making a formal declaration of his divinity. No human being has been to heaven except God himself, who became man and came down from heaven. Jesus is that man, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son of Man that was foretold.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
This is clearly a reference to Numbers 21:8-9, today’s first reading.
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
The Greek verb used for “lifted up” (hypsoó) means “to be raised in exaltation.”
This foreshadows Jesus’ crucifixion and subsequent resurrection. It also calls to mind the suffering servant in Isaiah who, after suffering greatly for others, was “raised high and greatly exalted” (Isaiah 52:13).
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
Jesus is comparing the effect of Moses lifting up the bronze serpent on a pole (physical healing and extended life on earth) to the effect of him being lifted up on the cross (spiritual healing and eternal life).
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.
This single verse is arguably the most famous and cherished verse in the entire Bible, and for good reason: it describes the scope of divine love.
God’s love for the world is so deep and so magnanimous that nothing is spared for its salvation, not even God’s only Son. The word here for “gave” is dídōmi, a verb associated specifically with the giving of a gift. Jesus came to earth, suffered, died, and rose from the dead for the express purpose of revealing God’s love for all people.
The structure of this passage suggests that the Son of Man from the previous verses is also the Son of God that is referenced here. The idea that one person would occupy both titles was a profound revelation.
In Judaism, these titles were often seen as distinct and sometimes even contrasting. “Son of Man” was associated with humanity, while “Son of God” was linked to divinity, and many Jews at the time would have understood them as separate categories.
For Jesus to claim both titles and to suggest their unity in his person would have been a huge challenge for his audience. This revelation contributed to the growing understanding of Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God, and it played a crucial role in shaping early Christian Christology.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
The universalism expressed in this teaching would have also been a challenge for Jesus’ audience. The Israelites continually marveled at the love God had for his chosen people; however, this passage is remarkable in its explicit declaration of God’s love for the entire world.
Jesus’ sole purpose in embracing the cross was to fulfill the will of his Father and to offer eternal life not to a chosen few, but to everyone who believes in him.
Connections and Themes
He emptied himself. The cross is the ultimate representation of the very essence of God. In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he describes Christ’s kenosis, his self-emptying. He gave everything, even his life on the cross. This selflessness is characteristic not only of Jesus as a man but also of the Godhead.
Unlike Good Friday, when we solemnly face the stark cross while grieving the death of our innocent Messiah, today we stand before the glorious cross and praise God for his incomprehensible kindness toward us. God’s grace is poured out universally and lavishly, as only profound love can be expressed. Such is the loving nature of our God, and the cross is the symbol of this love.
The sign of healing. The readings for today’s celebration delve into the symbolism of the cross as a sign of healing. In the wilderness, the pole on which the bronze serpent hung was merely a pole. However, Jesus connects it to the cross that became the ultimate source of our healing.
The crosses we bear in our own lives are also painful but transformative. If we bear them with a mindset geared toward God, they become catalysts for personal and moral growth and reveal the true meaning of life. Life’s hardships test our virtue, refine our character, and strengthen us. In the midst of the pain, suffering, and brokenness of this world, we can look to Christ’s cross as a sign of healing and a promise of new life.
Our access to God. The cross represents triumph over adversity and the ultimate victory of good over evil. Christ’s crucifixion was not merely a brutal execution but a divine act of sacrifice. It was through the cross that Jesus won for us access to God. In baptism, we join ourselves to Christ, dying to sin and rising to new life in Christ.
It’s counterintuitive to think of death as the way to life, but that is the message of this feast. The cross, which was a sign of shame and torture, is now a symbol of glory and exaltation.
Sunday Readings 