Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

The greatness of God’s love

In the third chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus reveals the plan of salvation in a conversation with Nicodemus. A plan transcends us and is like God’s loving and undeserved purpose for human beings. It is a plan that points to glory and salvation.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Lk 3:16). This verse can be considered the central verse of today’s reading.

Nicodemus was a man who sincerely sought the truth, who felt the need to break away from his environment of prejudice, and decided to meet Jesus without his companions, between four eyes. He seeks him out in the silence of the night – not so much out of fear as out of foresight. Jesus is happy to receive such guests. Their all-night conversation will be a significant enrichment for us as well. Suppose Jesus relates the Old Testament story of the brazen serpent as a parable to himself. In that case, our condition too often resembles the situation in which the Israelites once found themselves in the wilderness. Disobedience and unfaithfulness to his word open the way for many false ideas, passions, and overconfidence, as well as for despair and rebellion against God. All this dangerously attacks our inner life and threatens our relationship with Him. Jesus comes in this situation not to judge us but to offer us a safe rescue. Not in the form of a brazen serpent, but the eternal Father sends his Son to the cross so that we may be perfectly healed of all our faults and weaknesses by looking at him.

For the sight of the Lord lifted from the earth to be truly healing, `any` company is not enough. Many pairs of eyes turn to him at Calvary: some to gaze at his torment, others to stare at his apparent helplessness, humiliation, or to satisfy their curiosity. The gaze that restores health, freedom, and salvation must be a humble and believing gaze. Such a gaze of faith enables Jesus to accomplish the miracle of his grace and mercy: the prospect of eternal life is opened to man. Thus is fulfilled the reason for which God sent his Son into the world, who came not to condemn the world but to save it. Jesus, by his obedience, opens the way for this admirable plan. The greatness of the sacrifice on Calvary is directly proportional to the love with which the Father has loved the Son from all eternity. The distinction of Son’s obedience is proportional to the passion with which the Son loves the Father.

God never deals with man unilaterally; he does not ask of man what he would not have offered or provided before; he does not leave him alone. If He asks man to make a sacrifice, it is never without, at the same time, creating a gift of His Son. When the Son of God sacrificed Himself, He united His divinity with His humanity.

For a man to transcend his human limitations and enter the path of sacrifice for God, he must unite his humanity with the divine gift of his Son. But the attitude of the Christian who lives and sacrifices for God does not end in the depths of pain but tends toward fulfillment in the resurrection. If God invites man to take up his cross and follow Him, He also asks him into fellowship with Himself, to share in His divine sacrifice, so that it may also be true of him that the Father loves him. Thus a new horizon opens for us, where the cross is no longer a scandal but the mystery of man’s redemption. It is present in the daily life of the Christian, who is not to reject it but to embrace it, even though it is sometimes arduous.

Jesus calls his disciples friends because he feels their trust and sincerity. Today’s word also invites us to trust in Jesus, who reveals his secrets to the sincere Nicodemus. Let us also abide in his nearness so that Jesus may comply with us at our cross.