Homily Two on the Sunday Before the Exaltation of the Holy Cross of Christ
By St. John of Kronstadt
By St. John of Kronstadt
"No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven" (John 3:13).
Before Jesus Christ, no one among mortals ascended to heaven, except Him, the Son of Man who descended from heaven. No one ascended to heaven because it had been closed to humanity since the transgression of Adam: for Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts, and the wicked shall not come near Him, nor shall the workers of iniquity stand in His sight (Ps. 5:5–6). Only the Son of Man, who descended from heaven and is in heaven, has ascended with His humanity, for He fulfilled all righteousness for us with His humanity united to the Divinity, and when He was baptized in the Jordan and prayed, the heavens, long sealed by Adam's sin, were opened to Him first; and He, after His suffering, death, and resurrection, ascended to heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, showing us the way to ascend there as well. You might say that Enoch and Elijah were taken up to heaven. No, not to heaven, but only to the abodes of the righteous, only as if to heaven, according to the expression of Sacred Scripture. What, then, follows from what has been said? That heaven, our true homeland, for which we were created, is now once more opened for mankind by the Son of God, and people have become children of God in Christ. Therefore, strive, brethren, toward the open heaven, in the likeness of the saints who have pleased God since ancient times and have inherited the heavenly homeland; do not dream that the earth is your homeland, rather live as pilgrims and sojourners, and be ready every hour to pass through death to your homeland.
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:14–15). What is this mystery? Just as Moses lifted the bronze serpent on a pole in the wilderness for the healing of the Israelites bitten by snakes, so it was necessary for the Son of God to be lifted up on the cross, to be nailed to the cross. Remember the first commandment given to Adam and Eve and their transgression: they stretched out their hands towards the forbidden tree, contrary to God's command, and took the forbidden fruit. For their disobedience, for their pride akin to that of the devil, for their falling away from God, for the corruption of their minds, hearts, and wills, they were condemned to death. "In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:17). Before God, an infinite injustice was committed by man, to whom an endlessly abundant gift was bestowed by God (for he was created in the image and likeness of God), and in gratitude to God for all the gifts it required of him infinitely little: merely not to touch the fruits of a single tree. It was necessary, by justice, to impose upon the offender a fitting punishment – a curse and eternal death. However, man did not fall initially (Wisdom 2:24): he was seduced by the devil, and, moreover, he felt remorse for his wrongdoing and thus deserved mercy. And so, before the truth of God the Father, the mercy of God the Son intercedes for the pardon of the offender, on the condition of satisfaction for his guilt, for the guilt of all humankind, which He Himself, the Son of God, was to take upon Himself. And thus, for the outstretching of hands to the forbidden tree by the first humans, for the attachment and fastening of people to earthly things and pleasures, the Son of God, having become incarnate, is nailed to the cross, suffering horrifically on the cross because of our inclination toward carnal pleasures, He is exposed on the cross for our nakedness from the God-woven garment and for our passion for vain adornments. Instead of our eternal death, He Himself tastes death, albeit temporary, for even a minute of the death of the Son of the God who is without beginning equals a whole eternity, to save us from eternal death. Here lies the mystery of Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness and the Son of God being lifted up on the cross! Just as the Jews, bitten by natural serpents in the wilderness, were healed by merely gazing upon the bronze serpent, which was the image of our Lord crucified for us on the cross, so we, by looking with the eyes of faith upon the crucified One, are healed from the sting of spiritual serpents – demons, and from our passions, and from spiritual death, both temporal and eternal.
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:14–15). The crucifixion of the Son of God saves those who believe in Him from eternal destruction and grants them the right to inherit eternal life, from which we have fallen due to sin: for the Son of God died for us, and by His death He put our death to death, and by His resurrection He bestowed upon us eternal life. Therefore, my brethren, do not cling to the earth; flee from the attachment to earthly things, for our attachment to them has fastened us to the cross of the Son of God. Rather, cling entirely to God, trampling underfoot the desire for the earthly with heartfelt resolve, for all that is earthly is from the earth and will return to the earth, but the soul will return to God (Ecclesiastes 12:7). "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:16-17). If God has loved us so dearly, surely we, in response to His ineffable love for us, ought to love Him above all else. What can one say about those who do not love Him even after He has made such a great sacrifice for their salvation? What can one say about those who do not believe in the Son of God – who crucify Him again – what can one say about the indifferent towards faith and the Church of Christ, who do not see the need to know the Gospel and live by faith? The answer to them has been pronounced in the Gospel: they will perish eternally. For just as the believer will not perish but will have eternal life, so the unbeliever will not receive eternal life but will perish forever. The unbeliever "is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God" (John 3:18). The fate of the unbelievers is dreadful, brethren! The strong enemies of the Christian faith are our own attachments to earthly things, this materialism in life, which currently prevails with particular force – this greed, this sensuality, this gluttony, this drunkenness, this debauchery, this passion for public amusements, games, for the theft of others' possessions – this passion for living broadly, specifically, this passion for living brightly and joyfully. For all of this nails us to the earth, while we are called to the Heavenly Kingdom.
Brothers and sisters! Believe sincerely in the Son of God, believe in the Gospel, fulfill the Gospel, amend yourselves, be renewed, perform acts of repentance – and you shall not perish. "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him" (John 3:17). Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
