The Sign of the Life
Reflections of a Monk on Exaltation of the Holy Cross Monday
Is. 19:25-27, 11:10-12; 1 Cor. 1:17-28; Jn. 19:13-35
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen
In the movie “Traitor”, the FBI questions the hero’s mother to find out who’s side he’s on. Here the mother is the unique source of insight into her son, but sometimes, you know, we might have to say “She would say that, or “only a mother could love the person” and forget about it.
This very issue is one the Gospels try to avoid. They may show Mary’s opinion of her son but only in a veiled way and less than we would like, even with the birth narratives and other occasions. We know Mary was among Jesus’ followers and stood at the foot of the Cross. The rest is left to tradition and a lot of it unwritten. For the ancient church, it would have been a tactical error to use her testimony in those times of hostility and persecution. That would only leave it open to accusations of family prejudice and then dismissal when it was trying to live and preach Christ and his message.
As for the apostles, at first they didn’t hold much sway with Jesus’ opponents anyway. Jesus even had to defend them at times. Some were fishermen, but one wonders, what else did they do everyday, in those days before the passion and resurrection? Of course I am over-simplifying somewhat, but a good bit of their story, too, is left to tradition. The same for the women followers: I’m sure they didn’t only stand around and be attentive to the words of Christ. It is not hard to imagine some of them concerned about going to the market, cooking and cleaning up.
The point is, what signs or evidence do we have, as the Pharisees (and others, I’m sure), demanded or wished for, without the testimony of family and friends who knew him closely? Who or what would confirm Jesus’ divine authority, the legitimacy of the faith, and, by the way, the real stature of Mary and the apostles?
Those who were hostile to Jesus did not see as his words, his miracles, and his healings as proofs. Certainly they are signs of something new, but only for “those who have ears to hear and eyes to see.” Signs are usually indications, signals, or even flags and banners to rally behind. By definition they only point to other realities.
Jesus told to his adversaries that the only sign to be given will be the sign of Jonah. The prophet Jonah, as the respected but controversial story unfolds, had been thrown deliberately into the sea during a storm while he was on his way to Nineveh. He was then swallowed by a whale but three days later disgorged onto the beach. It was controversial because here was a prophet from Israel successfully bringing outsiders into repentance at God’s own behest.
At any rate these events were seen to represent, as we know, Jesus’ cross and his burial for three days. But more than this, the cross has been transformed from an image of oppression and execution, and now it veils the deeper reality that Jesus passed through death, and after three days burial, into the resurrection from the dead. Because of who Jesus was, death has been relativized. The sign of the cross has become a sign of eternal life.
This is dramatic, but critical. Those who think it’s all a myth, and those who are unable or refuse to see its radical truth, are really the worse for it. Everyone has to cross the threshold to the larger life “no heart can imagine”. The Cross challenges us to walk freely and confidently in the footsteps of Christ. This is powerful and heroic Path takes us into life abundant even as we are going through all the joys and tragedies of living and dying.
In the discussion of signs, I think Jesus is saying what both Isaiah and John’s gospel were getting at. Something like this:
I am the sign. If I am not among the lowliest, I am not the One who is supposed to come, to fulfill the promise of the ages. I and the children the Lord has given me are signs. They are my witnesses; they know the teaching; they too have seen and have arrived at the truth.
As dawn signals daytime, so am I the rising sun of that new life. Those who know this know from the depths of their souls. The wise and clever and the seekers of proofs and arguments will not find it. The real proof is in the living and doing, and by their fruits you shall know them. As I told the disciples of John the Baptist, what do you see happening here? The blind see, the lame are made to walk, the despairing have the word of life given them. By this John will recognize me.
I came with the Spirit friendly to humanity and was not recognized or figured out. But some caught the fire and woke up, and the light went on in them.
I am revelation, enlightenment, and transformation. Yet at first only the few, the struggling, will find me. As Peter said, “I believe, help my unbelief,” my lack of trust.
Listen, discern, and follow the deepest Spirit with in you. Endure the testing and purification and the suffering that is part of it. Those taught by the Spirit will not be suppressed. Even in their dying they are mine, and their blood will only seed the faith as they go on to life. Trust in God and trust in me for I am the right Way. You cannot make it alone.
Then St. Paul encourages us by writing: Be partners with one another under the sign of the Cross. By your mutual self-giving, by forgetting any self-seeking, let the Holy Spirit make you into the body of Christ, a sign for the world. He tells us: Find your courage and generosity, my friends, and live only for that fullness of life and that unsurpassed love. Your gratitude will seem plain foolish to the world, but you can say “But yes, we are truly fools for the sake of the Cross, the resurrection, and life eternal,” since Christ is in our midst! He is and shall be!