The Perfect Obedience of the Son

There is perfect oneness in the Blessed Trinity, a knowledge that is only accessible to man because of the Incarnation of the Son of God, ever at the Father’s side, who revealed what is unknowable to the creature from dust, as this truth is high as the heaven where no mortal has been. This absolute unity is not only in the divine substance, as all Three share the same, and the Holy Spirit of Love that proceeds from the Father and the Son, who binds them as one, indivisible God, but also in the unanimity of will because all Three Persons are perfectly persisting in the absolute truth, so much so that it can be stated that all Three have only one will for truth is one. In direct contrast to this state of oneness, is the race of man, as its first parents lost this blessing by nodding to the devil’s lie in paradise, as from then on their descendants see the truth in an arbitrary, self-serving way; as truth in the domain of man but separated from God has many versions-- from total falsehood without factual basis to truth discolored by lies in varying levels. Jesus’ response to the request of the mother of James and John is a prime example of the Son’s perfect obedience to the Father by deferring to his decision. He said: “But sitting on my right hand or my left is not mine to give. That is for those to whom it has been reserved by my Father.” (Matthew 20: 23) This total acceptance of the Father’s primacy in everything has been the defining truth about the life of the only begotten Son and for this, the Father loves him. Jesus said: “The Father loves me for this: that I lay down my life to take it up again.” (John 10: 17) The Son’s mission, entrusted to him by the Father was the greatest test of his total submission to the Father and for that, he is the beloved of the Father, for nothing less than life on the line is love’s true measure of faithfulness, which both the ex-archangel Lucifer and the first man and woman failed badly. The Father, being the instigator of every act of the Trinity, also implies that he is also author of each and every step that leads to the realization of his will, as he has the sole prerogative to define the manner of his plan’s execution and the designated time of its fulfillment, exactly as Jesus had shown by words and deeds. There was a time when his disciples urged him to make a big splash in the upcoming festival in Jerusalem, surmising that it was the right time to go public. Jesus said in response: “It is not yet the right time for me, whereas the time is always right for you.” (John 7: 6) Kairos, which is God’s time does not necessarily correspond to the Chronos, which is earthly time, for God is a long-range planner and where time is but one of the essential elements in the fulfillment of his overall plan whereas in man’s case, time has a looser definition because of his limited field of vision, preventing him from seeing the many elements that need to be in placed before a successful scheme is launched on a specific point in time. Moreover, God has a different estimation of time, as one day can be a thousand years and vice versa, (2Peter 3: 8) for he is a Being who has no beginning nor end and where time rightly finds its beginning and end, as he is the author of time. Time in the supernatural sphere is but an infinite matrix where God can unveil his plan, unlike man who experiences time as a finite quantity and thus, always in hurry before the hourglass runs empty. In the scene recounted above, Jesus’ inner circle erroneously perceived that time was on their Master’s side, an offshoot of their inability to know the Father’s plan for the Messiah, for their self-serving expectation was for the immediate liberation of their homeland from the Roman Empire. Unbeknownst to them, time was slowly ripening, gradually pointing to Jesus’ scandalous fate in that first Good Friday, which dashed their hopes for freedom from tyrannical rule. Though in the Chronos as he was flesh and blood, but Jesus’ internal clock ran in total synchronicity with the Father’s time, for the road to Calvary had specific stop points that required perfect timing, as this could be undermined if Jesus prematurely exposed himself to danger, just as he said in the verse that followed: “The world is incapable of hating you, but it does hate me because of the evidence I bring against it that what it does is evil.” (John 7: 7) God’s great work of bringing forth realities, visible and invisible from nothing, which took him billions of years to accomplish, could be considered a ‘walk in the park’, as the state of nothingness had no power to hinder the miracle of creation, for in essence, it was only the blank canvas where God could freely do as he wanted. But the salvation of the being created in his image who is the linchpin of his design for his eternal kingdom, is a complicated matter, requiring careful planning, diligence and outmost attention to details, for man has the mind that can impede the work of grace, as he was gifted with a free-will, which in the beginning of time was separated from the life of God because of his sin. Thus, God’s ultimate masterplan for man’s salvation was finely tuned down to the minutest aspect, including time, as this was centered on the unparalleled miracle of God incarnating as man, just as man was his appointed instrument for the fulfillment of this plan, beginning with Abraham, to Israel and his twelve sons, to the immaculate Virgin Mother who was to give flesh to his Son, to the ruler who would so easily caved-in to the cries of the mob for blood, down to the soldier who drove a lance that pierced the Savior’s heart. After his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, he related his own story to his disciples in veiled language, as the parable was about the property owner who leased his vineyard to tenant farmers. It was a tale of gruesome criminality perpetuated by the farmers who murdered the owner’s son when he came to collect his father’s share of the harvest. (Matthew 21: 33- 44) This was the Father’s grand scheme to save the creatures made in the divine image and likeness, as sin had to reach its fullest measure of evil in order to reveal the immeasurable wealth of God’s merciful love for man. It was the fate that awaited Jesus right from the time of his birth, as he was born to give life to men through his own death. Jesus said: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I solemnly assure you, unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.” (John 12: 23- 24) His glory lay in the fulfillment of the Father’s plan for him, just as he said: "It is not to do my own will that I have come down from heaven, but to do the will of him who sent me. [John 6:38] His will was put to the test in a garden called Gethsemani where he began his passion spiritually. Noteworthy that it was in a garden called Eden that man lost his freedom through his act of disobedience, so it is but fitting that Jesus would reclaim that freedom for man in a garden where he agonized over the martyrdom that he must undergo, as this was central to the plan for the Lamb of God, who was the sin-offering that would take away the sins of the world. Jesus being the God-Man knew the hour was upon him, as this was the reason why he was born, as this was the way to pass from this world back to the glory he had before time began, but through a most horrible manner that only evil could devise; as the accumulated hatred of the ages brought by sin found the ultimate victim on his person. He went down on his knees and prayed: "Father, if it is your will, take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done. In his anguish he prayed with all the greater intensity, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground." [Luke 22: 41-4] At the end of that night, Jesus triumphed as he offered obedience to the will that brought him to this hour. This union with the Father and the Spirit through loving obedience was again tested when he was hanging on the cross but this time, he was at the throes of suffering: “People going by kept insulting him, tossing their heads, and saying: ‘So you are the one who was going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days! Save yourself, why don’t you? Come down off the cross if you are God’s Son”? The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders also joined in the jeering: “He saved others but he cannot save himself! So, he is the king of Israel! Let’s see him come down from that cross and then we will believe in him. He relied on God; let God rescue him now if he wants to. After all, he claimed, ‘I am God’s Son.’” [Matthew 27: 39- 43] Jesus’ response was silence like a lamb led to the slaughter, as foretold in Scriptures. Yet, it was in Jesus’ power to do exactly what the unbelievers were taunting him to do-- to come down from the cross. No nails could hold back the Son of God as harsh weather did not prevent him from walking on waters. There was only one reason that kept him on the cross and that was, the will of the Father; as God hanging on the cross for the love of man, is the all-time sign of the Triune God’s love for his human likeness, never to be eclipsed by anything else. It was the Father’s will that Jesus’ passion and death were enough to meet the demand of divine justice, just as his redemptive act would be sufficient to pay for the crimes of men, in the past, in the now and into the future, as he is the one remedy for all time and season, as Jesus said: “and I—once I am lifted up from the earth—will draw all men to myself.” [John 12: 32] This was in fulfillment of what had been written about him, as the Old Testament was Jesus’ blueprint to the cross, as it was the script, authored by the Father, and announced by the prophets under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It was the perfect plan, designed, executed, and brought to completion by the Triune God, as nothing else could fulfill the requirement of salvation in the absolute sense, as something less than perfect could not achieve the unparalleled objective of re-creating man interiorly or in the words of Jesus “begotten from above.” (John 3: 3) The original version, a true marvel of creation as he was the image and likeness of God but this similitude was only in the generic sense, for he was gifted with an immortal soul with a free-will that was tasked to do the will of God here on earth. Tragic as it was, the free-will went against the law of God, resulting in the death of the undying soul and the enslavement of the will; and thus, man became the anthesis of his Maker, as sin found a comfortable niche in the heart of man. Jesus said: “I give you my assurance, everyone who lives in sin is the slave of sin.” (John 8: 34) Since man had become the slave of the perverse force that was in direct opposition to God, he had lost his place in the family of God, for he was at his creation the designated heir to the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said: “No slave has a permanent place in the family.” (John 8: 35) And thus, for God’s plan to effect the salvation of the being who had become his negative reflection, the miracle must overhaul man from within, a process that was spiritual in essence, and not physical as Nicodemus surmised when he said: “How can a man be born again once he is old? Can he return to his mother’s womb and be born over again?” (John 3: 4) This silent wonder, instigated by the Father, had to happen on man’s three levels of being, for after all, all three gave ascent to the devil’s primal lie in Eden. And thus, all three must share the life-giving grace that flows from the crucified God. On the highest level, the soul that committed the sin of pride by saying yes to the devil’s insinuation of god-like status through disobedience, it had to be freed from spiritual death by the thorough cleansing of its sins, as only then could it received the Holy Spirit, as this was the divine plan right from the start but temporarily defeated by Adam’s disobedience. This in-dwelling of the Spirit of the Almighty is the meaning of begotten from above, which transforms the creature from dust into the true image and likeness of the Triune God; just as this gift from above is the most profound definition of God-like status, which is in direct opposition to Satan’s offer of power. The Third Person of Trinity, sent by the Father through the Son divinizes man to live the life of God by becoming the instrument of love in the temporal sphere, in thought, word and deed; just as the in-dwelling of the Spirit consecrates man to holiness of life, most pleasing to God. Holy Bible says: “Become holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, after the likeness of the holy One who called you; remember Scripture says, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’” (1Peter 1: 15- 16) This inestimable blessing from above genuinely authenticates his divine pedigree as he shares in the essence of God, his Holy Spirit, which is far superior than his generic inborn gifts, which are the immortal soul with free-will. Furthermore, this sharing of his Holy Spirit consecrates the person to receive the greatest gift here on earth as he becomes God’s temple in the now as long as he remains true to the law of love in thoughts, words, and deeds. Jesus said: “Anyone who loves me will be true to my word, and my Father will love him; we will come to him and make our dwelling place with him.” (John 14: 23) This in-dwelling by the Triune God bestows the grace to be another Christ who showed men, in thought, word and deed what it meant to be the Son of God-- living out in his 33 years here on earth the demands of transcendental love, a love that knows no barrier; as this love is not in the province of the human heart, which sadly operates along the lines of natural relationships. Only the Incarnation could have done this, and in so doing, showed men the true essence of God, not in an abstract but in the most real way imaginable, as one who could be heard, seen and touched; as one who was like us in all things except sin. Dying on the cross for love is the unimpeachable delineation of this quality of transcendence; as God himself crossed over from the glorious everlasting kingdom of heaven to the realm of temporality, coming in the likeness of the creature he had created, only to suffer the most horrible death; as God, the most holy, offered himself as the payment for man’s sins, cancelling man’s debt by his own death. Dying on the cross for love defined love’s unfathomable breath and scope, as no other act could have done this, for the cross is the unsurpassed pulpit of love that illuminates for all to see, its unbreakable strength—its forbearance, its trust, its hope, its power to endure. (1Corinthians 13: 4) Only such a love empowered from above by the Spirit of love can fulfill the command of love, as only those begotten from above can answer Jesus’ challenge to be his other self and to follow in his footsteps by offering their lives in the altar of love, as no other motive can live up to one’s divine pedigree other than transcendental love, the virtue bestowed by the Spirit. He said toward the end of his ministry: “I give you a new commandment: Love one another. Such as my love has been for you, so must your love be for each other. This is how all will know you for my disciples: your love for one another.” (John 13: 34- 35) The sheer radicality of this new, all-encompassing commandment delegated the commonly accepted precept of love of neighbor based on love of self, to second base, though still difficult to do; as transcendental love, patterned after Jesus’ love, is beyond the endurance of the human spirit, limited as it is. Jesus’ parting command raised the bar infinitely higher that showed the limitless capacity of a heart that has been transformed by grace through the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit, as this grace re-creates the heart to become the true likeness of God’s heart, pierced for the love of man. His new command enjoins his disciple to live according to the divine essence, which is love, by following in the way of love, made comprehensible to the created mind because of the truth proclaimed by the cross. Had it not happened, had there been only two crosses in Calvary for the two criminals, this new edict is meaningless, for as Jesus said: “There is no greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 14: 13) But precisely because of the cross, this power now resides in man, for united with the Spirit of the Most-High, men could truly be the divine image and likeness, not only in the generic sense but in the unsurpassed grace of sharing in the divine essence, and thus, allowing the odyssey of love from the heart of God to his human family without exceptions, without limitations. Transcendental love, being transformative, is also the most effective cure for man’s deadly affliction, first acquired in Eden and passed through succeeding generations, for its self-giving creative power for good negates pride in all its permutations. Pride makes man so unlike his God, as its illusions of power raise man to false heights, which is in direct opposition to love, as the latter empowers man to descend in all humility in the service of others, just as God descended from heaven to save man through the mystery of the Incarnation, for only this miracle could teach men in the clearest of terms, the humility of God. Paul wrote: “Though he was in the form of God, he did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at. Rather, he emptied himself and took the form of the slave, being born in the likeness of man.” (Philippians 2: 6- 7)

On the second level, the mind that deduced the forbidden fruit as good for gaining wisdom, it had to be completely rewired by grace so that the wisdom it greatly desired came from the knowledge of God and not just from the fruit of the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and bad. This faulty source, obtained through disobedience, made one susceptible to the wiles of the devil, just as its sinful beginning gave rise to an earthly kind of wisdom, which is relative and self-serving, to the point that the mind became the laboratory of evil schemes against God and his neighbor, which defiled his being. Jesus said: “From the mind stems evil designs—murder, adulterous conduct, fornication, stealing, false witness, blasphemy. These are the things that make a man impure.” (Matthew 15: 19- 20) Only when God broke through time, being born in the likeness of his beloved creature, through the mystery of the Incarnation, could man truly gain the knowledge of his Creator who lives in an unapproachable light, inaccessible to the creature from dust; for before this event, men had only a veiled encounter with the Almighty. Only the Incarnate life of the only begotten Son of God, from the manger to the cross, could teach man what it means to be the beloved Son of God, in the most fundamental sense, which was by doing the Father’s will, no matter the cost; thus, providing man a firsthand encounter with this wisdom from above that until that point was beyond human grasp. Only the simple common life of a carpenter’s son from Nazareth could give man the knowledge of the surest way to glory by showing in real terms how to live his temporal

life as a son of God, as this way of living treasures above all things the fulfillment of God’s will as the reason for being despite trials and sufferings. True that man’s supernatural gifts that came with his birth made him God’s likeness, for he was created as a spiritual being endowed with free-will, but these gifts must be employed in ways that gives glory to God, for to be truly like God is to think, speak and do as Jesus did, as these three levels of action—thought, word and deed, must be in synched with the love- force that gave him life. Related to this but on a different plane, the mind must also be taught the utter ugliness of sin, as only the sight of the bloodied and disfigured God hanging on the cross as payment for sin could proclaim this truth, albeit in the most gruesome manner. On the lowest level, the mortal body molded from dust with its genome encrypted with the base instinct of animals, it could not share in the miracle of rebirth in this life, for in truth, it is but a shell with a short lifespan that provides a home, albeit temporal, to the soul. And yet it too, despite its earthly origin, shared in the abundance of grace that flows from the cross of Jesus, as only the cross has the power to cause the death of the sinful desires of the flesh; as the body’s bloodless crucifixion happens every time a negative reply is given to the promptings of the flesh. Only this human contraption of death and suffering, sanctified by the Second Person of the Trinity, and nothing else has the power to restrain the beastly desires of the body from dust, as only the overwhelming grace that flows from the cross can deal the death blow to its carnality. Thus, the cross is the apt symbol of death that awaits it, for it too must die in order for the other two levels of being, soul and mind, to respond and triumph in grace; as the miracle of re-creation cannot proceed fully if the body still answers the call of its base instincts for pleasure and gratification. However, if the body is dead to sin, it becomes the physical expression of the two higher levels, doing their bidding to proclaim the truth through words and actions; for the other two need a corporeal instrument to give materiality to the grace that is leading the redeemed to the victory of the cross; as love is not an abstract concept that solely inhabits the mind and soul but a powerful force that can move heaven and earth, as all three levels of man’s being are moving as one, in accord with God’s will. Yet, as Jesus revealed by his glorious body when he resurrected from the dead, the mortal body by the power that flows from the crucified Christ, is to be transformed to one that is proper to man’s undying soul, as this new garb is unbounded by time as it can live forever, and unhindered by nature as it has the power, as shown by Jesus, to appear or disappear, and to pass through walls and locked doors despite the fact that it has flesh and bones. At the resurrection of the dead on the Last Day, the corpus or the mortal body finally fulfills its true reason for being and that is to be the immortal garb of the immortal soul, as it shares in the Resurrection-victory of the God-Man. To the disciples frightening reaction on seeing him after his death, thinking that he was a ghost, he said: “Why are you disturbed? Why do such ideas cross your minds? Look at my hands and my feet; it is really

I. Touch me and see that a ghost does not have flesh and bones as I do.” (Luke 24: 38- 39) The resurrected body is perfectly suited for the eternal realities that are to come after the Last Judgment, for it can withstand the infinite fullness of heaven or the absolute emptiness of hell. Whether it rises to be forever blessed or condemned, to be filled to overflowing or to be deprived of all things akin to life, is the ultimate choice placed before all men, for the cross of Jesus awaits all who have answered the call to self-denial, to lose their lives for Jesus, thus be able to ascend the most sublime altar of love; for after all, men without exception are created in love and for love. Man’s supernatural pedigree, encapsulated in mortality, is but the cross that he must live-out in the time given him, which is nothing less than to continue the journey of love from God’s heart to his human likeness, again without exception or prevarication; as this overarching task holds all men accountable regardless of belief, persuasion or religion. This movement to fulfill life’s most basic requirement that separates him from animals, is the heaviest burden laid on all shoulders, as one cannot truly love without dying to oneself, as one cannot live-out his reason for being without the cross of Jesus. This journey through trials and hardships, accepted wholly or half-heartedly, is the divine proposition placed before all the creatures from dust, excluding none, as it is the call to live-out the heavy cross of mortality, as one created lower than the angels but commanded to triumph the love-force that gave him life. The mystery of the Incarnation elevated all men, again regardless of creed or belief, for the God-Man now shares in his mortality, and is coming to all men of diverse persuasions, as the least of men, who is in need of love, just as he said: “I assure you, as often as you did it for one of my least brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25: 40) Just as the Incarnation of the Son is the divine instrument of salvation, it is also the instrument of damnation, as Jesus is now inextricably one with the human family, who is hungry and thirsty, naked and a stranger, sick and in prison. This is all-prevailing human conditions, in times past, present and future, are a challenge to all men-- to minister to Jesus by ministering to the poor and the marginalized, to aliens, disfranchised and those imprisoned by biases and prejudices, and are alone and in need of human companionship, even crossing over to one’s enemies. Jesus’ gospel of life excuses no one, as his doctrine compels everyone to be a brother, sister, mother, friend, and neighbor to one another, regardless of creed and religious belief, social status, and political affiliation, down to the most basic which is sexual orientation. Each person’s response to Jesus’ need will either acquit or condemn him before the tribunal of justice on the Last Day where Christ Jesus is the presiding judge, in obedience to the Father’s will.

Toward the end of his passion on the cross, Scripture has it: “Jesus, realizing that everything was now finished, said to bring the Scriptures to fulfillment, ‘I am thirsty.’” [John 19: 28] The declaration, “I am thirsty” was Jesus’ admission of his own need, just as this need was the reason why he was nailed on the cross in the first place. He was in extreme agony when he said these words—scourged to the point of disfigurement, as the barbaric instrument for flagging took bits of flesh from his body; not just crowned with thorns but hit repeatedly on the head with a reed so as to make the thorns sink all the way to his skull; made to carry the heavy cross in the streets of Jerusalem, as wailing of women intermixed with mockeries were the soundtrack that announced that a great spectacle, never to be missed, was unfolding, with a short respite when a Cyrenian was made to carry it on the way out of the city. And finally, when the torturous snail-paced procession reached the skull place, his arms and legs were stretched to their limits and nailed to the cross, which made the natural act of breathing an agony, more so when the cross was made to stand upright. He was hanged between heaven and earth, that space reserved for class A criminals, as he had two consorts, one on the left and one on the right, as these two, together with Jesus at the center were deemed by the power holders to be inimical to public safety and order. And all through these, Jesus did not utter a word, for in silence and trust lay his strength. So, the words “I am thirsty” were of great import as the pronouncement of a dying man. It was not about a physical need though at this point, he was severely dehydrated, as he lost water and blood through his ordeal. No, these words referred to his profound spiritual need. Jesus had given all in his love for his people, culminating in the shedding of his blood, and He thirsts for his love to be returned, as in “love following upon love.” [John 1: 16] It was his wounds that healed us of the disfiguring gouges caused by sin, so deep that all three levels of man’s being were afflicted. It was his suffering that made us whole, for sin had morphed man into a being, so unrecognizable from the creature judged to be very good at the time of his creation, as he was broken to the core by his inequities. It was his cross that made our yoke easy and our burden light, for from then on, man was reconciled to the Triune God who created him, giving him the strength of heaven to live through his own Calvary, the new reality that supplanted the once paradise of the innocent in Eden. It was his thirst for our love that refreshed us, as his love was the invitation to love, not in human terms, which was faulty and limited, but in the likeness of his boundless love that can surmount any and all obstacles; just as his cry of thirst was his prayer to the Father to open the floodgates of heaven’s grace to the bone of his bones, to the flesh of his flesh, assuring the triumph of love divine in the hearts of men, as he is the mediator of all graces. It was his death that brought us life, as it freed man from the deadly grasp of its former master, as he was the slave of the sin that lives in him. It was his life that gave meaning to our lives, showing man through words and deeds the true meaning of sonship, which is based solely on doing God’s will; as this is man’s reason for being that will bring peace, joy, and fulfilment to his life. Only the Incarnation could have done all these, as only the life of Jesus could have taught man how to reclaim what he lost by the living out of his divine likeness by obedience to God’s will. Only the death of Jesus can re-create man in his three levels of being, allowing him to recover his lost status as a son of the Almighty God, as this miracle did not only brought the forgiveness of sin, but more importantly, it provided the profound knowledge of who God is through personal encounter, for man could not be the image of the Creator if he lacked this knowledge from above, which was only possible with God taking the form of man. Only by following in the footstep of Jesus can man truly possess the grace that imparts on him the essence of divinity, sanctifying him in the name of love by the Holy Spirit of love; as sharing in the divine essence is the fulfillment of God’s intent when he first thought of creating him. Only in the sharing in the passion, death and resurrection of the God-Man can man truly be the heir of the kingdom of heaven, under the kingship of Christ Jesus; as man’s oneness in the life and death with the only begotten Son, who was flesh of our flesh, bones of our bones, is the mark of man’s divine adoption as sons and daughters of the resurrection despite their sinful beginning, giving them victory over the enemies. Jesus said: “Come to me, all who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Your souls will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light.” [Matthew 11: 28- 30] If these were not enough, the miracle of the Incarnation allowed Our Lord and Savior to sustain his followers’ journey through this vale of tears, as he offered his body and blood as food and drink till man reached the shores of eternity, as it is the only food and drink that can nourish man’s supernatural component. Jesus said: “For my flesh is real food and my blood real drink. The man who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.” [John 6: 55- 56] And finally when his earthly mission had been completed, he said: “Now it is finished.’ Then he bowed his head, and delivered over his spirit.” [John 19: 30] ‘It is finished’ was Jesus’ declaration that he had fulfilled everything written about him to the smallest part of the letter, exactly as his heavenly Father had commanded, which was encrypted in the five letters of his name, the name that the angel Gabriel gave at the announcement of his birth-- JESUS, meaning God saves. Jesus foresaw the victory of his cause when he said: “and I—once I am lifted up from the earth—will draw all men to myself.” [John 12: 32] The cross, horrible as it is, was God’s chosen pulpit to proclaim his love for his people and as such, love is now defined and measured by this human contraption sanctified by Jesus’ suffering and death. Love is not love without the cross-- without suffering, without pain, without thirst, without death; as human love in order to be the image of divine love must be transformed by Jesus’ self- giving act, undergoing a total overhauling by the full embrace of the difficult consequences of self-denial in the name of love. I heard learned people say that God could have saved the world by other means other than the cross. This is pure folly that could easily be committed if love is removed from the equation, as only those who have not experienced real love are susceptible to this line of thought, so far from the truth. There is no other way to save man for only the cross could reveal the true essence of God, which is love, as this knowledge is central to the divine plan from the beginning, which had a false start in Eden when instead of partaking the fruit from the tree of life, man opted for the forbidden tree that gave an arbitrary, self-serving knowledge of good and bad, including love. Secondly, only the cross could make the perfect representation of the wickedness of man, so much so that God had to suffer and die, as any other means would fail in teaching man the depth of his fall from grace. Still other say that Divine Justice required the ultimate sacrifice- the death of the Incarnate God. This is another folly, for it was written: “Yes, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” [John 3: 16] It was Divine Love that brought Jesus to cross, which is not to say that justice only played a secondary role. Love, being God’s essence, is a wholistic force that has many facets, for as was said earlier, love is the self-giving, creative force for good, and as such, founded on the Absolute Truth, as justice is the arm of Truth. There can be no love without truth and justice, nor can there be truth and justice without love but only in the divine sphere, for man had seriously compartmentalized these attributes instead of seeing these as parts of one integral whole and thus arriving at deficient notions of love, of truth and of justice; for even if a single facet was missing, the fullness of the message of the cross is compromised. God loves wholly and perfectly for he cannot do otherwise, despite man’s sinfulness; nor does he love half-heartedly nor can God ‘unlove’ us, unfaithful, and unloving as we are, nor does his love undermine truth and justice because that is contradictory to his essence. Since man had chosen the forbidden tree, justice demands that he be held accountable for his actions. But since he was unable pay the penalty for his crimes, God gave man the means of expiation through the redemption wrought by his only Son, and thus, manifesting his justice that must be met before sinful man could be reconciled with him, and thus be able to share his divine life. In the end, because of Jesus’ redemptive act, divine justice triumphed transcendental love by allowing it to continue its journey to the hearts of men, just as love divine was sublimely manifested by God’s act of paying the exacting demand of justice. The cross of Jesus is the revelation of the truth, as it is the intersection of love and justice; as it was the means to achieve justice and to proclaim love in absolute terms, like hitting two birds with one stone, humanly speaking. Jesus said, “There is no greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” [John 15: 13] The Cross is the ultimate solution to the problem of sinful man, as it is the only way that could fulfill God’s plan for his human likeness who was disfigured by sin. It can even be said that from the moment man bit the forbidden fruit, the fate of the only begotten Son of God was sealed; as the first Adam can only be redeemed by the last Adam, the Incarnate son of Mary, as the last has to pay for the sins of the first and all his descendants till the consummation of time. Thus, the cross is redemptive, as Jesus pleaded to the Father when he was hanging on it: “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23: 34) And as the consequence, the cross becomes the preeminent challenge to all men, for all time; as the grace that flows from the cross must be accepted by the living out its message, which in itself, if done faithfully, is a true cross. Jesus said: “Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16: 25) Life for a life, as the cross is the divine invitation to follow Jesus and if answered affirmatively, the disciple must offer his own life to God; as the salvation offered by the cross requires the genuine ascent of the heart to trials and difficulties, to the glory of God. Thus, for the cross to be redemptive, it must also be ‘conformative’, meaning that man has to stretch his arms and legs on the cross of Christ, as he must hang between heaven and earth; of heaven but not yet, as the fullness of life that it offers is beyond the reach of mortals; of earth but not really, for the disciple yearns to be freed of mortality and return to whence he came—the heart of God, as this yearning is the cross of mortality that must be borne in silence and trust. But in the meantime, he embraces his own daily cross that the Good God had given him, uniquely his to carry as it was specifically designed to fit his shoulder, and yet common to all, as it is the cross of God’s will, the birthright of each man. There are many sufferings in the world but they are not necessarily the cross of our Savior. Jesus made an example of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. He said: “Do you think that these Galileans were the greatest sinners in Galilee just because they suffered this? By no means! But I tell you, you will all come to the same end unless you reform.” [Luke 13: 2- 3] For sufferings to be the cross of Christ, no matter how light or heavy, it must be borne through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity with the Holy Spirit, for the glory of God the Father; as any suffering borne in Jesus’ name is accepted by the Father as his Son’s suffering. This is exactly what the faithful professes every time that the most sacred Body and Blood of Jesus are raised by the priest in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, as the great Amen signifies oneness with this truth, in thought, word and deed. Redemptive, conformative and thus, the cross is transformative, for the living out of the cross by the humble acceptance of trials and hardships that the Good Lord deemed to bless his sons, gives men the means to triumph over his sinful nature, in order to live a life pleasing to God, which is only possible if God himself was hang on the cross, as a cross without God is a mere symbol of defeat sans redemption. The cross is man’s front row seat that gives him the knowledge of God’s essence, which is love. Thus, to know is to be and to be is to love and to love is to love divinely, which demands the death of the flesh on the cross, as it was sold to slavery of sin. But for the cross, either light or heavy, to be transformative, it must be, first of all, forgiving of the trespasses committed by others. Jesus suffered the worst evil that man could possibly do and yet pleaded forgiveness to the Father on behalf of fallen humanity, so men are challenged to follow in his footsteps in order to receive the redemption offered by the cross. Jesus said: "If you forgive the faults of others, your heavenly Father will forgive yours. If you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive you.” (Matthew 6: 14- 15) To the repentant thief who asked to be remembered when Jesus enters upon his reign, Jesus said: “I assure you: this day you will be with me in paradise.” [Luke 23: 43] The cross is merciful, just as Jesus said: “Be compassionate, as your Father is compassionate.” (Luke 6: 36) Suffering intensely with life slowly ebbing away, Jesus saw his mother with the beloved disciple and said: “Woman, there is your son.” In turn he said to the disciple, “There is your mother”. [John 19: 26- 7]. The cross is caring and mindful of others, as this is the ultimate test of discipleship, as Jesus declared his metric in the judgment scene when he said: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me. I was ill and you comforted me, in prison and you came to visit me.” “I assure you, as often as you did it for one of my least brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25: 35- 36, 40) Despite men’s best effort to imitate the cross of Jesus, it is beyond the creatures from dust, as it is the perfect act of the God-Man and yet the intent that moves a person to action makes up for the deficiencies in the act. Jesus said: “And I promise you that whoever gives a cup of cold water to one of these lowly ones because he is my disciple will not want for his reward.” (Matthew 10: 42) Here the simple act of giving a cup of cold water was consecrated by its motive-- as doing it for Jesus assured its reward in heaven. Nothing goes to waste, as Jesus sanctifies the action, no matter how inconsequential it might be, elevating it to the altar of sacrifice, in union with his own sacrifice. Yet, it is also true that the cross is the vocation of the lifetime and not a mere passion of the moment, as any disciple of the cross is enjoined to embrace it until he reached the finish line, which is his own Calvary, as this is the endpoint for all cross-bearers. Aware that his earthly ministry was drawing to a close, he said: “An hour is coming—has indeed already come—when you will be scattered and each will go his way, leaving me quite alone. Yet I can never be alone; the Father is with me.” [John 16: 32] The strength of Jesus was his oneness with the Father and yet on the cross, he said: “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” [Mark 15: 34] This statement gives man a window into the depth of Jesus’ suffering. Even the sun hid its face for three hours because of that unbearable sight on Calvary. This was suffering at its purest form that only God could have endured. No human can endure this—the total separation from God at the height of suffering. Physical agony is something we can understand, qualify, and quantify. But the interior suffering, infinitely more intense than the physical, remained hidden in Jesus’ heart. There was a scene in Nazareth, his own part of the country where “He could work no miracles there, apart from curing a few who were sick by laying his hands on them, so much did their lack of faith distress him. He made the rounds of the neighboring villages instead.” [Mark 6: 5- 6] His response was to leave the place which was the same admonition he gave to his disciples— “If anyone does not receive you or listen to what you have to say, leave that house or town, and once outside it shake its dust off your feet.” [Matthew 10: 14] But here in Calvary, where he was made to share the lot of common criminals and rejected by the unbelievers, Jesus remained silent, unable to leave. He could not even shake the dust off his feet because they were nailed on the cross! The soldiers made fun of him and gambled over his tunic. The onlookers gave him a chorus of scorn and insults. They jeered and blasphemed him to the very end. Jesus took it all in, suffering immensely because of their rejection and unbelief, as it is written: “To his own he came, yet his own did not accept him.” [John 1: 11] In Gethsemani, Jesus said to his disciples, “’Stay here while I go over there and pray.’ He took along Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, and began to experience sorrow and distress. Then he said to them, ‘My heart is nearly broken with sorrow. Remain here and stay awake with me.’” [Matthew 26: 36- 8] “Nearly broken” while in the garden of agony yet still in the company of men, but on the cross with a broken heart filled with sorrow, Jesus was all alone. His disciples had deserted him except one, the beloved disciple, as our witness to the climax of Jesus’ ministry. And to top it all, was the spiritual suffering brought about by the abandonment of the Father— “Why have you forsaken me?” This is the worst of Jesus’ sufferings beyond words to capture, for “God the only Son, ever at the Father’s side,” [John 1: 18] was now very much alone as one who had never sinned but was now caring the cumulative sins of fallen humanity on his flesh. Jesus’ hour on the cross was the only time he was separated from the Father from the moment he was begotten. This was pure agony that no human can ever fathom, for rightly it belongs in the realm beyond our comprehension-- the internal life of God and the interior dynamics amongst the Three Persons of the Trinity. The Father forsaking the Son in his greatest time of need, is too much for our mind to grasp, as God is infinitely beyond the creature; as the relationship within the Blessed Trinity, the Holy of holies, hidden through the ages, is a reality that can only be experienced when the soul attains perfect union with God in the life to come. For now, all we can do is to beat our breasts because it was our sins that brought God this immense grief and pain. This is one spectacle that will never happen again. The cross, as shown by Jesus, equals suffering, demanding the humble submission and acceptance of the grief and pain that it brings, all according to God’s will. Aware that he has completed the work the Father had given him, Jesus said, “Now it is finished.” [John 19: 30] The triumph of the cross was ultimately to the glory of its omnipotent Author, God, the Father who specifically designed it for his only begotten Son whose love was tested by the cross but prevailed to the end, and as such, it powerfully proclaimed God’s love for man, undiminished in spite of suffering, victorious even in death. Forgiving, merciful and caring and so finally, the cross is glorious, as it is the triumph of love, the greatest force unleased on creation, both visible and invisible, fleetingly stymied by sin but led to victory by Jesus’ redemptive act; and as such, love is the surest way back to God, as every act of love, however small, purifies the heart of dead works, all toward one end and that is to give witness to Love Divine by living out the doctrine of the cross, day in and day out. Jesus said about the woman whose tears washed his feet: “I tell you, that is why her many sins are forgiven—because of her great love. Little is forgiven the one whose love is small.” (Luke 7: 47) The cross was the Father’s chosen way to give glory to his beloved Son who for the love of God and man offered his life on the cross and so attained primacy over all things, including suffering and death, as he was the first man, borne of woman, to rise from the dead. Paul wrote: “He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creatures. In him everything in heaven and on earth was created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, principalities and powers; all were created through him, and for him. He is before else that is. It is he who is head of the body, the church; he who is the beginning, the first born of the dead, so that primacy may be his in everything. It pleased God to make absolute fullness reside in him and, by means of him, to reconcile everything in his person, both on earth and in the heavens, making peace through the blood of the cross.” [Colossians 1: 15- 20] In the same way, the cross is the disciple’s way to glory, as it is the penultimate step to resurrection to life eternal that awaits all the children of the cross, where they will share the glorious fullness of the divine essence, which is the Holy Spirit of love, as this is the fulfillment of the divine plan right from the start, conferring to man the true likeness to his Triune God by sharing in his divinity, not in a symbolic but in the absolute sense. This miraculous re-creation begins today, as the divine invite is not set to take effect in the future, but in the here and now, for the cross is ever ready to receive those who are willing to deny themselves for Christ and so, crucify their sinful flesh on the one remedy offered by Divine Wisdom. The death of Jesus on the cross is not a mere historical event, but an open invitation, for all men and for all time, to follow; for the mortification of the flesh and its desire for pleasures must happen first before man can be fully re-created from above. This miracle does not happen in an instant but an everyday struggle as long as the body has not yet returned to the ground from where it was taken. Only when it does, can one truly echo the words of Jesus, “It is finished.”