St. Mary's Church Elizabeth, IL

9/13

Exaltation of the Holy Cross (1)

The Christian message states, that Jesus of Nazareth, who died under Pontius Pilate, is none other than the Christ (Messiah), the Son of God.  Christianity professes that the events which took place far back in the past, still touch our existence. All that we know about Jesus, the Christ, comes from the witness of the people who called themselves "Followers of the Way," as was the original name used by the early Christians (Acts of Apostles 9:2; 19-9; 22:4; 24:14), and from the authors of the New Testament writings.

Christian faith considers the Death and Ressurection of Jesus as the reality and object of faith.  The significance for our faith is the testimony of the first who followed the spiritual way laid out by the Lord, and the significance of the faith is the generations of believers who followed their witness and have brougth the faith to our times.  Playing an important element in regards to our imitation of Jesus' daily actions, love and humility, we are encouraged by their faith.  We believe their testimony is true, and we can say with all our strength that Jesus Christ is risen.

I want to bring to your attention the incident from the journey of Israel, the story from the Book of Numbers (Numbers 21:6-8).  As the Israelites traveled through the wilderness they rebelled against Moses.  According to the Jewish tradition, this was the last and the worst of Israel's apostasies on the way to the Promised Land: the plague of seraphs serpents, a terrible curse from the Lord.  The story says, that "with their patience worn out, the people complained against God and Moses."  The Hebrew version says that the people's"soul was shortened."  A "short spirit" means a miserable state, being unable to keep temper in check, unable to keep self-discipline.  But having a "short soul" means something that reaches to the core of inner being; they were thoroughly discouraged, they wer depressed and cheerless.  They bitterly complained to Moses.  The author, however, makes it clear that in doing so, they were "speaking against God."  They complained that there was no daily provision of food and water, only this "wretched food."  What they referred to was their displeasure with, was the manna, a gift from God that allowed them to live through the most difficult moments of life!

Such a blatant contempt for Godi's gift and purpose for them, evoked God's anger, and the punishment took the form of seraph serpents.  The word "serpents" is seraphim, the very word Isaiah uses to describe the creatures standing around the Lord's throne, the angelic servants of the Lord (Isaiah, chapter 6).

Fr. Joachim