Reading 1
Nm 21:4b-9
With their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses,
"Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,
where there is no food or water?
We are disgusted with this wretched food!"
In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,
which bit the people so that many of them died.
Then the people came to Moses and said,
"We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.
Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us."
So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses,
"Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and if any who have been bitten look at it, they will live."
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,
and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
Reading 2
Phil 2:6-11
Brothers and sisters:
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Gospel
Jn 3:13-17
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
"No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Meditation: Philippians 2:6-11
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
He emptied himself. (Philippians 2:7)
Lord Jesus, what did we do that you would treat us with such mercy and love? What could we ever do to merit an act of kindness as great as your sacrifice on the cross? Absolutely nothing—and this is why we celebrate your cross and glory in its triumph.
What an amazing God you are, that in the midst of our sorrow—a sorrow we brought upon ourselves through sin and rebellion—you decided to empty yourself for us. We deserved condemnation, but you decided to save us. We deserved to be separated from you, but you couldn’t bear the thought of losing us. And so in humility and love, you took up the cross. You embraced this wretched symbol of shame and turned it into a symbol of victory and triumph—our victory as much as yours! Our triumph as much as yours!
All praise belongs to you, Jesus! You took on our greatest enemies—Satan, sin, and death—and defeated all of them. Not only have you won the victory, you have given each of us a share in it as well. Sin has lost its power! Death has lost its sting! The devil has been disarmed! Because of your cross, we can all walk with our heads held high, unafraid of anything, so long as we stay close to you. Because of your cross, we can live in peace, even as the world continues to walk in anxiety and fear. Because of your cross, we can rise above every temptation and live in your triumph.
Jesus, we rejoice in your cross, even as we embrace it as our hope and our glory. We honor you, because you have won our freedom. Forgiveness is ours! Not just the forgiveness that pardons but the forgiveness that transforms. Crucified with you in baptism, we can be raised with you to new life. Citizens of this earth, we can also taste the joys of our heavenly home. For you have blazed a path that every one of us can now walk—a path that takes us right into the throne room of God and keeps us there for all eternity!
“Lord Jesus, we revel in the victory of your cross! Because you have triumphed, we are set free. Praise and honor and glory to you forever, Lamb of God!”
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