Reflections on the Readings for the Fourth Sunday in Lent
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. “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. “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. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not
believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of
the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the
world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.
For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds
may not be exposed. –
John 3:14-21
I have been an associate of the Anglican monastic community The Order of the Holy
Cross for most of my life. Their mother house is in West Park, New York, looking over
the Hudson River, about two hours drive north of New York City. Over the doorway to
the guest house is the inscription “Crux Est Mundi Medicina” – the cross is the medicine
of the world.
At first glance, such a statement may seem puzzling, even contradictory. After all, the
cross was designed to put people to death in a prolonged and humiliating way so as to
cow and intimidate others.
The passage from the third chapter of John’s gospel looks at the cross with the eyes of
faith. It is part of the dialogue of Jesus with Nicodemus, a Jewish Pharisee and religious
leader, who had come to Jesus expressing a sincere, though partial and imperfect,
belief.
Nicodemus says to Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from
God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God” (John
3:2).
Jesus tells Nicodemus that he should experience a new birth, a birth from above, to
come to a life of deeper and richer faith. This is an invitation to enter fully into the
Kingdom of God, realized perfectly in Jesus Christ.
Jesus goes on to say that the Son of Man must be “lifted up.” The remote origin of this
first theme can be found in the fourth poem of the Suffering Servant of God, from the
Prophet Isaiah, chapter 52, verse 13. There we read: “See, my servant shall prosper; he
shall be exalted and lifted up and shall be very high.”
The “raising up” theme was part of the preaching of the early Church, as can be seen,
for example, in Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2, verses 32-33; also in Acts, chapter 5,
verse 31.
“This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses. Being therefore exalted
at the right hand of God…he has poured out this that you both see and hear” (Acts
2:32-33). And: “God exalted Jesus at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might
give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31).
The lifting up of Jesus has been understood as not only his being lifted up on the cross
at the crucifixion, but also at the resurrection of Jesus and his going up on high at the
Ascension and exaltation in glory forever.
Even at his crucifixion, Jesus exercised a rule over all, because from the cross Christ
revealed fully God as salvific love, and continuously invites all to receive the gift of
salvation. The Gospel passage forming the basis for this belief are these words of
Jesus: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John
12:32). On the cross Christ became ruler of all who accept the invitation and believe in
the saving power of God.
The lifting up theme also has resonances with a passage from the Book of Numbers,
chapter 21, verses 4 – 9. There we are told that Moses in the desert raised up on a pole
a bronze serpent as a sign of the power of God, whereby the Israelites who were bitten
by the poisonous snakes as a punishment for murmuring against God, could look on the
bronze serpent with faith and be saved. In the Book of Wisdom, chapter 16, verse 6, the
bronze serpent is called a “symbol of deliverance.” Once again, the uplifted Christ is the
sign of deliverance and salvation, so that all who look to him with faith, believing in him,
will be saved, that is, possessing eternal life.
The scope of that salvation and healing is unlimited. In his commentary on St. John’s
gospel, Archbishop William Temple (+1944) wrote “Here is the whole great truth. God so
loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that everyone that believeth on him
may not perish but have eternal life. This is the heart of the Gospel. Not “God is love” –
a precious truth, but affirming no divine act for our redemption. God so loved that he
gave; of course, the words indicate the cost to the Father’s heart. He gave; it was an
act, not only a continuing mood of generosity; it was an act at a particular time and
place…No object is sufficient for the love of God short of the world itself. Christianity is
not one more religion of individual salvation, differing from its fellows only in offering a
different road to that goal. It is the one and only religion of world redemption…Its scope
is…as wide as the love of God” (William Temple, Readings in St. John’s Gospel. First
Series: Chapters I-XII, p. 48).
Jesus’ death is not just another on the long tally of senseless deaths. According to St.
Luke, he died breathing forgiveness on those who nailed him up. Even to his last breath
he refused to hate or blame. He sees and names our ignorance, and still forgives us.
Looking at that ruined man upon the cross will cost us our apathy, our lack of
compassion, our private hatreds. It may be bitter medicine, but to take it is to receive the
love that alone can save us.
Kevin+
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