What a curious sign God gives the Israelites in the desert: the very cause of their suffering, the serpent, lifted on a pole. Somehow, their salvation rested in God taking the instrument of their demise and, in a mysterious change, working it for their restoration.

Likewise, in the fullness of time, God also sends his Son. Christ does not save us by wielding earthly power. His salvation is not brought about by any means we might expect. Instead, taking the form of a slave … he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.

This is the profound mystery of the salvation wrought by Christ. Sin was the source of all human suffering and misery. Worse than the sting of the saraph serpents, sin not only brought physical death into the world but also the eternal spiritual death of separation from God. In response to our sin, God took on a human nature and, although he never sinned himself, he experienced sin so intimately during his passion that Saint Paul writes of Christ, For our sake he made him to be sin (2 Cor 5:21). Then, having “become” sin, Jesus is lifted up on the cross like the saraph mounted on the pole.

Gazing at the innocent crucified Christ, we must acknowledge the consequences of our sin. But we also see, in him, God’s infinite love for us. We see Jesus’ intention to “undo” Adam’s sin of disobedience by his perfect obedience to his Father. We see his desire to forgive us and heal us.

This is why the cross, a horrible instrument of suffering and death, can be celebrated. This is why, in our churches, we use crucifixes (which have a figure or “corpus” depicting Jesus) instead of simple crosses. We are to look at Christ, our salvation, mounted on the pole of the cross not so that we might remain in sorrow because of the gravity of our sins, but because God loves us and has won forgiveness for us. The contrition we experience for sin should stimulate us to seek God’s forgiveness – and this, in turn, is what will heal us. Just as a relationship is restored when fault is acknowledged and pardon is asked, given, and received, so our contrition and God’s forgiveness restore our relationship with him. And this relationship is the life of our souls.

As Jesus tells Nicodemus in today’s Gospel, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. We prepare for eternity now by finding our life in Jesus Christ and the healing he offers. Let us, then, lift high the cross! In it is our hope! For through the cross, God has worked our salvation. Let us lift our eyes and welcome the salvation Christ brings.

(Fr. Michał Pająk, OMI, Sept. 14, 2025)