The Exaltation of the Cross

There are three intruding questions in the Christian scriptures: Where are you? Where is your brother? Where is your cross?

Where are you? Adam and Eve, after they disobeyed, were hiding away from God; God came in search of them. Where is your brother? Out of sheer jealousy and narrow-mindedness, Cain kills Abel. God went after him and asked Cain, "Where is your brother?" "Where is your cross?" is a recent question. Many came to follow Jesus. Jesus asked them to take up their cross and follow him. In other words, they came to follow him to be popular, to have a seat at his right or at his left, or to gain an eternal reward; but Jesus asked them to give up everything, find their daily cross, and join him. The most demanding factor of his call is the cross. You die and others live. What have you done? What have you given up? What have you taken up so that others may live? Many left him sad because they could not take up their daily cross.

Cross is volunteerism. Christian relevance is in living for the other. One modern word that I can associate with the cross is volunteerism—the practice of offering time and skill to support people, communities, and causes without any benefits and returns. It is not accidental that the cross is a sign for many volunteering organisations like the Red Cross.

Lisa Tzwu-Fang Su, an American billionaire business executive, while addressing the graduates at MIT said, "Find the toughest problems out there and volunteer to help out." The world is full of complex and challenging problems. Working on those hard problems is extremely challenging and frustrating. Go all the way till the end. I remember a powerful quote I have read: "Don't quit before the miracle happens." Living the Cross makes a Christian relevant.

In the hymn of Kenosis, Philippians 2:6-11, Jesus's journey of volunteerism is laid bare before us: "who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!"

Cross is love. No one truly loves another if they are not willing to make a sacrifice. There is no greater love than one who lays down his life for a friend. When we are driven by measurable outcomes, loving is challenging. We often say, "I love you because you're kind," or "I love you because you make me laugh," or "I love you because you support me." These are beautiful sentiments, aren't they? They speak to qualities we appreciate, to comfort we find, to needs that are met. But what if I told you that the deepest, most authentic love lies beyond these reasons? Love goes beyond likes and dislikes. If I do not know why I love you, that is real love; if I know why I love you, it is business—it has a payoff, could be money, emotional support, etc. If there is a payoff, it is not true love; it is business, it is a transaction.

Have you loved anyone with Jesus's template? Jesus had earlier called Simon "Peter," meaning rock; now again Jesus calls him Simon, meaning reed, and asks him three times, "Simon, do you love me?" (John 21:15-25). Though Simon is sure in the beginning, Simon slowly loses his assertiveness. And when he was asked for the third time, Simon broke down and cried, saying, "You know, Lord." When you are re-examined and exposed, you realise in a terrifying way that there is not even one instance of unconditional love.

Cross is the greater one choosing to die for the lesser one. In Matthew 18:23-35, we meet two debtors who are choked under the pressure of debts. By highlighting the radical decision of the first creditor, Jesus categorically showed us the most effective way out of debts. As the world thinks, as you and I think, it is not the helpless debtor who has to be squeezed, tried, and killed. The debt cycle comes to an end when the creditor agrees to let go unconditionally. The creditor decides to die. Look deeper at Jesus on the cross—isn't our creditor dying on the cross?

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 1:23, "I preach to you God who is crucified." Not a thief or criminal who is crucified, but a good man crucified. This is the dictum of the cross. It is a good man dying on the cross for the sake of bad men; a rich man dying on the cross for the sake of a poor man. The cross is God dying for humans.

Cross is silent resistance. The cross symbolises a radical form of resistance to oppressive power, not through worldly strength, but by the power of love, forgiveness, and nonviolence. Jesus resisted Caesar, Pilate, Herod, and the religious leaders with the cross. Our resistance is the cross.

It is not surprising that the cross appeared as folly to the Greeks and Gentiles. In one of Fyodor Dostoevsky's novels, we have a Christ-like man named Prince Myshkin who is a good man embodying innocence and goodness in a corrupt, materialistic society. People laugh at him for his folly. Fyodor was confused as to what to call this book, and finally he called the novel The Idiot.

Every person who was bitten by the venomous snake looked at the bronze serpent made by Moses and was made well again (John 3:13-17). Today, on the feast of the exaltation of the cross, we are called to gaze upon the cross of Jesus, that we may be healed of our infirmities, pains, doubts, hatred, jealousy, indifference, insensitivity, exclusivity, and so on.

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