The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

At that time Jesus said to the multitude of the Jews: “If I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all peoples to Myself.” This He said, signifying by what death He would die. The people answered Him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” (John 12:32–34)

Most of the time that Jesus engages in dialogue with the Jews, they have no interest in honest discussion. Instead, they seek to trap Him in His words by asking questions, such as “Should we pay taxes to Caesar or not?”, or else they resort to low level name-calling: “You are a Samaritan and have a demon.” But today, for once, their question seems to be genuine. “If the Christ lives forever, how can You say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” (John 12:34) It is clear that they understand that to be lifted up means to be crucified and die. They want to know, “How can You be the Messiah, the Son of Man, if You are going to die?” That’s a valid question, because normally speaking, death is the end of a man, of a leader, of a movement.

God’s plan to conquer sin, death, and hell by dying was so utterly preposterous, so unthinkable, nobody could ever conceive of it. The Bible says that if the princes of this world had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Cor 2:8) Yet, it’s not as though Jesus kept the crucifixion a secret. He spelled it out for the disciples on multiple occasions. “The Son of Man must be delivered over to the Gentiles to be crucified, and on the third day He will rise.” But the disciples couldn’t grasp what He was saying even though He used simple words. The crowds couldn’t understand how the Messiah could die. Even the devil could not fathom how the shameful death of Jesus upon a Roman cross could possibly be the moment of God’s ultimate triumph.

The cross is such a monstrously foolish idea—winning by losing, conquering death by dying, strength through weakness—that it remained a secret even though Jesus plainly laid out the events of the Crucifixion. St. Paul calls the cross “foolishness” for that is how it must always appear to man, and yet, God’s foolishness is wiser than the wisdom of men.

Even today, now that the plan of salvation has been fully revealed and the events of the Resurrection have been recorded in four different eye-witness accounts, we still find it difficult to consider the Crucifixion. According to our fallen human nature, there is something in us that recoils at the image of God hanging in shame upon an instrument of torture. Even those who bear the name of Christ often find themselves unwilling to look upon the gory spectacle of His death.

I wonder if the ancient Israelites found a similar unwillingness within their hearts to look to the brass serpent on a pole. “Why would I want to look at an image of the serpent that bit me? How can looking at a serpent save me from the poison of the serpent that is killing me?” Consider then the foolishness of the cross. “Look at the triumph of sin and death. Look at the bloody instrument upon which God Himself dies, as the forces of evil exult in their victory. Look upon the mangled body of the Son of Man, and behold your salvation!”

St. Paul writes, “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” (1 Cor 2:2) This is the confession of the apostle Paul in Scripture, and yet in many Christians churches, you will not find the image of the Crucified; you will find only a Christ-less cross. The devil has no problem with an empty cross. By itself, it is an barbarous instrument of suffering, torture, and death—all things that the devil loves. But when he sees the body of Christ hangs upon it, then the devil sees the end of his kingdom. He sees the moment that the weakness of God triumphed over the might of hell. He sees how his greatest weapon, death, has been wrenched from his hands and refashioned into the gateway of paradise.

And so, the devil hates the image of the crucified Christ and rages against it. And if he could, he would teach even Christians also to hate the image of our salvation. Amazingly, in the Iconoclasm of the Eighth Century, the devil convinced a huge portion of the church to ban all images of Christ and His cross. And today, much of the church suffers under Second Wave Iconoclasm, believing, contrary to St. Paul’s words, that it is better to know Christ apart from the Crucifixion.

Christians have been taught by the devil to parrot, “We can’t have Jesus on the cross. Don’t you know that He was raised?” Yet, on the morning of the Resurrection, the angel did not say to the women, “You seek Christ the Resurrected.” He said, “You seek Christ the Crucified. He is not here. He is risen just as He told you.” The symbol of the Christian faith is not the empty cross, nor even the empty tomb, but Christ lifted up upon His cross. For there alone we have Jesus’ promise, “If I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto Me.” (Jn 12:32).

We saw last week an example of how desperately Satan hates Christ crucified. So much so, that he also hates any Christians who speak of this crucified Christ. Charlie Kirk was not murdered because of his political views. He was martyred because he spoke with clarity and boldness of Jesus. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so Charlie lifted up the image of Christ with his microphone and with his life, and for this the demons murdered him. Charlie would engage in open and respectful discourse with anyone, but Satan is not interested in honest discussion. He is a liar and a murderer from the beginning. And as he is, so he does. He hates Christ, and he hates His followers. He murdered Christ, and he murders those today who speak of Christ, that is Christians. As of this morning, more than 100,000 people have liked a post online calling for the murder of Charlie’s widow. And if God did not restrain the devil, he would murder you as well. The chief difference between Charlie and other Christians is that he had a bigger microphone, a larger audience. He was articulate and bold. But you have the same confession. You stand upon the same Scriptures. You believe and confess the same Christ.

Perhaps you will not be called to bear the cross of martyrdom that Charlie was. But know for certain that the enemies of God hate you with the same hatred and would murder you if they could. To be clear, our enemy is not the left, or a political party, or the LGBT movement. These groups are only puppets full of deceived people and mindless sheep. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age.(Eph 6:12)

Charlie was glad to address the hardest topics. He welcomed difficult questions. Why? Because he could point to Jesus who alone has the answers. And this is the great comfort of the cross. Christianity is not a religion that runs from our problems in order to escape them. We’re not trying to leave the material world and escape to nirvana or the realm of pure spirit. No, Christianity meets our worst fears, our greatest problems, our strongest enemies head on. When you look at Christ upon His cross, you must face the fact that your sin put Him there. You can’t escape this horrible truth. Instead, you must look straight at it. You must look full upon the snake that bit you. You must look directly at the curse of sin, death, and hell as Jesus is crushed by them for your sake. You must look upon the weakness and foolishness of God because there you find your salvation.

If you have no answers, it makes sense to avoid your problems. But Jesus has the answer. He takes the greatest weapon of the devil—death—and he enters it and passes through it. He takes the greatest shame of man—sin—and is crushed by it for our sake. He takes what people fear most and are dismayed over, and He brings it to an end. Jesus takes all that we meant for evil, and He works it all for our good. He is lifted up from the earth, and now, according to His promise, He draws all men unto Himself. Dear Christians, it is not necessary for us to hide our eyes from the horror of the cross. Instead, we look full upon Christ crucified, and there we find forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Amen.