Connect the dots for Catholics On September 14, as the Church celebrates the Exaltation of the Cross, we’d like to do a little something called “typology.” Whoa there! Stay with us. We could almost see your eyes glazing over. Don’t be scared off by the theological jargon. Typology is one of the oldest, simplest, and most exciting forms of biblical interpretation. And once you know how to do it, it’ll really make the Scriptures come alive for you. “Typology” simply means that we look for parallels between Jesus and the persons and events of the Old Testament. It’s like playing a game of biblical connect-the-dots.
Believe it or not, typology is used in the Mass all the time. In the Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, the priest says:
“You placed the salvation of the human race
on the wood of the Cross,
so that, where death arose,
life might again spring forth
and the evil one, who conquered on a tree,
might likewise on a tree be conquered.
Did you see the parallels between the event of the Cross and the event at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? As St. Paul points out in the second reading, Christ didn’t deem equality with God a thing to be grasped. What happened in Eden? Adam deemed equality with God a thing to be grasped. Through the Cross Christ reverses Adam’s mistake. That’s how typology works!
Even Jesus used typology to interpret the Bible! Were you listening to the Gospel reading today at Mass? Did you catch this line: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up…” (John 3:14)? If you don’t remember the story of Moses and the serpent, don’t worry. That’s what we’ll be talking about in the rest of this article.
So forgetful… In today’s Responsorial Psalm, we are told: “Do not forget the works of the Lord.” Why? Because forgetfulness is at the root of the Israelites sin against God in the desert. God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt by one of the most amazing displays of power ever. And now as they were traveling through the desert, He was feeding them with a miraculous bread from heaven every morning, and a miraculous flock of quails from heaven every evening.
How do they thank God for all He has done for them? By accusing God of wanting to kill them! “Have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the desert? Then they complain about the food that God was providing for them. “We are disgusted with this wretched food!” Not only had they forgotten how God had delivered them from slavery, but they were ignoring how He was taking care of them even now!
As an aside, how often are you forgetful of the good things God has done for you? It’s easy to start grumbling against God when life gets tough, especially when the difficulties arise directly from your attempts to live the Faith. Wouldn’t it be easier to “go back to Egypt” spiritually and live like the rest of the world?
Snake bites… To “punish” the Israelites for their ingratitude, God sends a bunch of poisonous snakes into their midst. It’s not really a “punishment” so much as a wakeup call. It’s like God saying to them, “Fine, you don’t want my care and protection any more. I’m giving you what you want. Here’s what your life will be like without me.” God removes His protection, and the snakes immediately slither in. They start biting people, inserting venom into their veins. Then the people begin to get sick and die.
If we’re reading this story “typologically” we need to look backward for a moment. What happened in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve ate the fruit? The poison of sin entered their spiritual “veins.” We became sick with sin, and through this sickness death entered the world. (cf. Romans 5:12). It’s no coincidence that almost immediately after the poison of sin enters mankind’s veins, we read about the first instance of fratricide. (cf. Gen. 4:1-16).
But just as God offered Adam and Eve a way out when they’d sinned, so too He offered Israel a way out of the “punishment” he sent them. And He offers this same way out to you and I as well. It’s called “repentance.”
Take your medicine Strictly speaking to “repent” doesn’t mean to go on one long guilt trip over how you’ve messed your entire life up… and probably ruined the rest of the world in the process. To “repent” simply means to do an about-face. You recognize your life is going in the wrong direction, so you turn (repent) and begin going in the right direction.
As the Israelites lay sick and dying from the poisonous snake bites, God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent, mount it on a pole, and lift it up for all to see. God promises that whoever looks at the serpent mounted on the pole will live. The very thing that was destroying them becomes the thing that saves them.
In 2 Corinthians 5:21 St. Paul says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin…” Christ took into himself the very poison of sin that was destroying us. And, like the bronze serpent, He was lifted up on the Cross “so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life.”
But the Israelites who have been bitten are going to have to turn (repent) in order to see the serpent. Some will have to turn in the opposite direction they are facing. Others will only have to turn a little. But all will have to turn. It’s the same for our lives today. Turn on the news some time. It’s obvious that some people have turned further from God than others. But we’ve all been “bitten” by the poisonous snake of sin, and we all need to turn to the Source of healing, the Cross of Christ.
The Divine Paradox Through one man, the poison of sin entered the entire human race. Poison kills. The poison of sin entered our spiritual veins through Adam. But Christ is the antidote. His Cross is our salvation. St. Paul calls the Cross a paradox, but he reminds us: “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” I’m sure to the Israelites who lay dying on the desert floor, the idea of looking at a bronze image of the thing that was killing them seemed stupid. But those who turned (repented) and gazed upon this image knew its power to save.
Similarly, to the world the Cross of Christ seems like so much nonsense. And taking up your cross daily and following after Christ seems equally nonsensical. But to those of us who know from experience the joy of the Christian life, and the freedom from sin that we experience—especially when we make regular use of Confession—the Cross is the very power of God to save.