Call for Great Faith

 

salvation is anchored on our faith in Him as Son of God

Reflection on Today’s Readings, the Feast of Exaltation of the Cross, Thursday 14th September, 2023
Texts: Numbers 21:4-9; Psalm 78:1-2,34-38; John 3:13-17 

One thing that is implicit in today’s gospel reading is the call for great faith. “What is great faith?” we may ask. It is the faith that sees God in ordinary things of life. In one event God is revealing His love to us. In another event He is calling us to learn, be it humility or forgiveness. Who will ever believe that the man on the Cross is the Son of God. Yet salvation is anchored on our faith in Him as Son of God. Hence, Jesus says,  “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” 

It takes great faith to discover that the man on the Cross is the Son of God. He has taken different form to find Himself on the Cross. St. Paul affirms it thus: “Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” Jesus also says, "No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man.” The Son of God left His state in heaven to the earth.  

Do you hear that? He has taken another form! He has descended from His state! This reminds me of a story I heard of a man who wanted to see a Bishop. He met him cutting flowers and took him for a gardener and asked him of Bishop. The same thing happened to Mary Magdalene, taking Jesus for a gardener. It takes great faith to discover that a servant is God.  

The God on the Cross does not stop at taking the form of a servant. He goes further to identify Himself with criminals. Cross is a place for criminal, yet we have to discover God there. It is a place we would hardly go to search for God. It is uncommon to find God in suffering. Being on the Cross, He is drawing us to an unusual place to find Him. He wants to be found in unexpected places. Taking the form of a servant, He is calling us to see Him in unusual persons.

Today’s first reading speaks of looking at the bronze serpent hung on a tree. We read, “So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it up as a sign; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.” The bronze serpent was a remedy for the people. It prefigures the cross. When we look at the cross what do we see? We see God’s hatred for sin and eternal suffering for sin. We also see God’s love for humanity. Jesus says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” 

Prayer 

O God, who willed that your Only Begotten Son should undergo the Cross to save the human race, grant, we pray, that we, who have known his mystery on earth, may merit the grace of his redemption in heaven. Amen (Collect) 

Fr. Andrew Olowomuke