Jesus' Sacrifice On the Cross Is The Greatest (Num. 21:4-9/Ps.78/Phil 2:6-11/Jn 3:13-17)


Whenever we see the cross it must remind us of the price that was paid by our Lord Jesus Christ to redeem us.

The feast of the exaltation of the Holy cross is one that is apt and fitting to be in our liturgical calendar, because it shows and reminds us once again what Jesus had to suffer in order to redeem us from sin and death.

Saint Paul in the second reading tells us about how the obedience of Jesus to the will of the Father was made manifest in his acceptance of death on a cross and as a result of that obedience God has highly exalted Him and at the mention of His name every knee must bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

The cross is a symbol of what it took to redeem us. It is a symbol of our faith. It is the reason we are who we are today. When Christ died on the wood of the cross, those who crucified Him felt they have done away with Him and He has died a shameful death, because their law states that He who hangs on the cross us acursed and as such Jesus could be said to have become a curse on order to set us free from curse and to redeem us.

Jesus came into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He brought us that salvation through his death on the cross and the subsequent resurrection from the dead. His death on the. Cross now made the wood of the cross which was formerly something of shame to become something of glory and as a result of this we can venerate the cross, in the Church, we can hang it in our homes, business area, schools, cars e.t.c as a constant reminder of what Jesus Christ did in order to reconcile us back to His Father.

The gain of the cross of Christ is so enormous that we cannot finish appropriating it in our life time. If we must follow Jesus as the way to life we must be ready to carry our cross and come after Him, because that is the only way we can show that we are His disciples.

Our first parents were conquered by the serpent on the tree and Jesus chose the tree of the cross to be the place where the devil was dealt the blow that destroyed him forever. Therefore, if we desire to have eternal life, we must be willing and ready to believe in Jesus who died on the cross. We must hold unto Him firmly and look upon Him daily and get our healing and restoration from Him as the people of Israel did in the first reading when they sinned against God and were bitten by fiery serpents.

The way of the cross is the way of life and He who has found it has found the best thing ever. If God could let His only Son to go through the journey of the cross in order to save us, then, we must be patient and carry the cross that comes our way in our life, because through it we will identify with Jesus who went through that path in order to redeem us and we will draw the strength to overcome from Him.

The love of the Father for the world made him to send His only begotten Son to come and suffer death on the cross and save us. We must believe in Jesus and let Him reign in our life.  We must continue to put our trust and hope in Him. We must believe in Him so as to gain eternal life.

Whenever we go to the mass, we particiate in a re-enactment of the calvary event. In every mass Jesus dies in order to save us and give us life. We must value the sacrifice of the mass and do our best to attend masses as often as we can, not just to offer our intentions to God through Christ, but to connect ourselves once again to the one single sacrifice that made us whole.

Today's feast is one that should move us to value the cross and strive everyday to cherish what Jesus did for us on the cross by living a good life and by teaching others to do the same.

For every cross we carry in obedience to God's will, there is crown of glory attached. Jesus carried His cross and He was rewarded by the Father. If we carry our cross without grudge, but in humble obedience to the will of the Father, then we will be joyful and happy when the blessings will come. Indeed, if there is no cross, there will be no crown. If there is no Good Friday, there will be no Easter Sunday. Now is the time to rise up once again and begin to meditate on what God has done for us through His Son's death on the cross and what the cross truly means so that we will be able to apply it in our lives, appreciate God the more and teach others to do the same.

The cross is a symbol of our faith in Christ and when we have faith in the one who hung on the cross, there is nothing the evil one can do to us and we will always be victorious as children of the cross because Jesus whom we are following had conquered on the cross. The greatest sacrifice ever happened on the cross and the merits of that sacrifice has continued to be appropriated by those who connect themselves to it. If there was no sin, there will be no need for the cross, but as sin entered, God made His Son to die on the cross so that we who have sinned will be redeemed from the death which sin brings. Cherish the cross of Christ daily for upon it was our salvation wrought.

Let Us Pray: Lord Jesus, you died on the cross to sanctify the cross and to win salvation for me. Give me the grace to carry my own cross daily to follow you and to put my trust in you always so that you will take care of me. Amen.




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