On this Feast of the Exultation of the Cross, we are pushed to ponder why we should celebrate this violent means of death. One thing it teaches us is that by dying this way, Jesus shows us a better way to counter the violence we see in the world by not responding in violence, but through inner strength, keeping our eyes on God's plan and responding to all things with love.
Based on Philippians 2:6-11:
Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
(New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org)
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