Exaltation of the Holy Cross
‘The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.’
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From all eternity the eternal Son has looked upon the sacred cross. Upon its wood will the salvation of man be struck; upon it shall the son of man be glorified.
The crown of God’s creation, man, has been disgraced. In sin he has been made like the dust of earth, and has been sown into the ground, and shall remain alone, for it is written, ye shall surely die. Lest the seed of the corpse of dead man be watered, it will not rise again. Indeed it must be watered with the flood which will proceed from the side of the just man. It must be given life from the blood of him who took the form of the servant. For otherwise, it will never be fruitful and multiply, these corpses, sown into the earth.
The Father speaks to the Son: ‘You see the cross, my beloved one. You see the tree which has been established before the foundation of the world, the altar of the most high. Will you then, bend its boughs? Will you then be its fruit?
The Son shall suffer all things, for He is patient. And He shall do so, that mankind might be watered from His side, for He cannot bear to see us languish, He cannot bear to see us lost, so great is His compassion; so incomprehensible His kindness.
‘Dear Father, I will empty myself. I will become as a man, in the form of a servant, for only as man may this sacrifice be offered. For to empty myself is not beneath me, indeed nothing is beneath the Most High.’ No arrogance fills His mind. Indeed, His humiliation is His only thought.
He will indeed take up the cross, bearing the flesh, the flesh born of Mary. He will take it up for the sake of our salvation, for the sake of our sin. But none will recognize this work. Indeed they will revile Him and mock Him, for so they did to the prophets that came before Him. Yet He opens not His mouth, like a lamb, He is silent. By the insults He is not angered, nor by our curses is He angered, for to Him such is but the crying of a child; the crying of the helpless, who cannot help themselves. The crying of a baby left in the wilderness to die of exposure. Like a mother to a lost child, and a she-wolf to the forsaken child, He comes.
For remember this, dear Christian, that we speak of our Lord going to the cross, going to Golgotha, to the place of the skull; but He does not go anywhere. Indeed, He only comes to us.
It was thought that the reason why Golgotha was named ‘the place of the skull’ was because beneath it Adam and Eve were buried, and with them, all of humanity, all of dead humanity, all in our first parents.
So the Lord does not go to Golgotha. He only comes to us.
He has come to the mountain to bear witness to the truth, for His crucifixion is nothing but a confession of the truth of God, of His faithfulness to His promise, His promise that the serpent shall indeed be crushed, and by the Son of Eve.
Our Lord is scourged. He bleeds and is ripped apart, as by beasts. Yet our Lord endures it, for He no longer will tolerate the evil of mankind, but now will abolish it in Himself. The malice of mankind must be put to death, that God’s truth might be known.
See how He goes to His death, see how He does not waver, He does not doubt. Rather he counts even the sufferings of this present life as joy.
O Most Holy Cross, what is it that you bear? Is it the Son of Man? That flesh will indeed weigh upon your branches. Is it the Son of God? His glory will indeed make you a life-giving tree. But what, O Cross, is it that you bear upon your arms? Upon you, we see a man. But this man is not alone, for indeed, we are all within Him; for in Him is the iniquity of us all. Upon Him hangs the hatred and violence and envy and adultery of the world, for He was made sin for us.
How then, do you bear this weight, O tree, how do you carry this glory? How are you not broken by the guilt of ages?
It is because you do not bear such a burden. For upon you hangs love, and love alone; for upon you bleeds our God, the God who is love.
It is love that bears all things, and now, dear Christians, we who are being saved, look upon Love Himself, who in faith toward the Father has earnestly sought out our redemption. It is for you, O sinner, that He endures all things.
Look now, dear Christian, upon this cross, that adorns this altar, for behind it, and in it, lies the very cross which our Lord, the only begotten Son, has contemplated from all eternity. Even now He looks upon it, and even now, He speaks from it; He speaks as one forgiving, forgiving us, who know not what we do.
See its pewter and silver and gold, colors that do not decay, and cling to this cross in the passing moments of your life, in the dark nights of your soul, in the hour of your death.
Cling to it, and never let it go. Bind it around your neck, and hang it upon your walls, for it this cross that for you shall be as bridge across hell, even the hell we endure in this life.
For whatever it is you suffer, even now our Lord suffers, and suffers on the cross. Whatever sin you commit, even now He bears, even bears upon the cross. Do you see Him, as He hangs? A sacrifice for the sin that even today you will commit?
There He hangs, our lamb who was, and is, and ever shall be slain. There He hangs, and bleeds from His sacred wounds: water, and blood.
You too dear Christian, will die. Your lifeless corpse, too, will be sown as a seed into the earth, and there it will remain alone. But blood from this chalice shall fill you, even as water from this font waters you. Then in the depth of your darkness, in the sleep of your mortal death, you will be remembered. The Son shall remember you. Though endless days and seasons may pass, He will not forget where you have been sown, but will come to your grave, and by the hand raise you up; Him, who from the cross, did water you.
Then you will know, dear servant, that God is love.
Then you will know, dear child, that love never fails.
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Preached by Pastor Fields
Sermon Texts: Numbers 21:4-9; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; John 12:20-33.