Saved by the Cross

“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

John 3:14-15

We are saved by the Cross. The cross was a hideous thing. To die by the cross is to die in a most excruciating and humiliating way, and yet that was the way our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ died. He died not because He was a criminal, a blasphemer, a revolutionary; He died because of love. He died so that sin and death might be conquered once and for all. He died so that all who comes to believe might have eternal life.

Today we celebrate the Cross, not because of its bloody appearance but because of what came from it. As Christians, we believe that the Cross is not a symbol of torture or death, but rather a symbol of life and salvation. It is by the Cross of Jesus Christ that we dare to hope in life eternal. When we look up at the Cross, what do we see? How do we feel? In the Old Testament when the Israelites were bitten by snakes, they had only need to look upon the pole on which a serpent was mounted and they were relieved of their pain and suffering; they were whole again. Similarly, when we are downtrodden, despairing, and unsure about life may we look upon the Cross and allow the life that came through it fill us with gratitude, joy, and hope. Brothers and sisters, let us rejoice in the Cross because through it we have the hope of everlasting life.