The Cross Speaks of Hope
And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.
John 3:14-15 NLT
I have to admit it, I have become real fan of Pope Benedict XVI. (No, I am not converting to Roman Catholicism. Far from it.) His homilies are grounded in Biblical theology, his preaching is crucicentric, and his writing is provocative and insightful. Of course, we disagree as a Roman Catholic and an Evangelical would, nonetheless I am powerfully touched by the Holy Spirit’s ministry in and through him. This weekend, Pope Benedict preached in Cyprus, a small country with a small Roman Catholic population torn apart through ethnic strife. However, Benedict reached out to the “remnant” by preaching true hope. Only the Cross of Christ can change the situation in Cyprus–only Christ brings all the nations to their knees in humility and worship (Rev. 5:9-10).
The Cross is not just a private symbol of devotion, it is not just a badge of membership of a certain group within society, and in its deepest meaning it has nothing to do with the imposition of a creed or a philosophy by force. It speaks of hope, it speaks of love, it speaks of the victory of non-violence over oppression, it speaks of God raising up the lowly, empowering the weak, conquering division, and overcoming hatred with love. A world without the Cross would be a world without hope, a world in which torture and brutality would go unchecked, the weak would be exploited and greed would have the final word. Man’s inhumanity to man would be manifested in ever more horrific ways, and there would be no end to the vicious cycle of violence. Only the Cross puts an end to it.
While no earthly power can save us from the consequences of our sins, and no earthly power can defeat injustice at its source, nevertheless the saving intervention of our loving God has transformed the reality of sin and death into its opposite. That is what we celebrate when we glory in the Cross of our Redeemer. Rightly does Saint Andrew of Crete describe the Cross as “more noble, more precious than anything on earth […] for in it and through it and for it all the riches of our salvation were stored away and restored to us†(Oratio X; PG 97, 1018-1019).
Pope Benedict XVI, “Homily of Pontiff at Mass With Priests and Religious of Cyprus,“Â June 5, 2010.