Cross buried deep so we could be lifted up

I wonder how deep into the ground Jesus’ cross was planted? It would have had to be deep enough to support the cross and Jesus’ added weight.
I wonder who dug the hole? Someone yanked from the crowd, a Roman soldier, or a professional who did such things for a living? Was he told to keep digging after the supervisor checked his work and found it unsatisfactory? Did he know who would be raised on the cross to be lodged in the hole he was digging? Did he care?
Or was the hole a permanent one, fixed hard by rocks and mortar, a sign that crucifixions were commonplace in those days?
Whoever dug that hole, he must have dug deep. It had to be a snug fit. It had to be reliable.
Perhaps such questions seem odd. I’ve been pondering them lately for two reasons: first, because of some words of Jesus; and second, because of some words of Msgr. James E. O’Connell.
Jesus had said to Nicodemus, “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.” (John 3:14-15; see also John 8:28) He was referring to God’s instructions to Moses (Numbers 21:9) to fashion a bronze serpent and hold it high on a pole, so that the Israelites who looked up at it would be healed of the serpent bites God had sent as a reproach.
In John 12:32-33, Jesus said to a crowd: “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” John adds, “He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.”
Msgr O’Connell, the revered senior priest of the Diocese of Little Rock who died at age 97 last month, was known as an extraordinary orator. One of his former high school students (now in his 80s) told me that Msgr. O’Connell frequently said to them, “Boys, if you want to go high, dig deep.”
I like the phrase because it has many applications. If we want to do well in life, we must have deep roots. Otherwise what we build will soon collapse because its foundation is weak.
In the past few weeks, Msgr. O’Connell’s words have shed light for me on the Scripture passages I just quoted. If Jesus was “lifted up” on the cross, the cross must have been planted deep into the arid ground to remain standing for so many hours. It is a gruesome thought, but no doubt someone was charged with ensuring that such was the case every time there was a crucifixion. Otherwise crosses would have tumbled to the ground, their victims with them, only to require replanting with back-breaking, frustrating effort.
The cross dug deep into the earth because it stood so high. But even more was Jesus deeply, steadfastly rooted in his heavenly Father. How else could he have stood firm through the ridicule, the scourges, the false testimony, his passion and death? How could the cross have stood tall, bearing Jesus’ bodily weight and the much more burdensome weight of our sins, had Jesus not been deeply grounded in his Father?
Jesus sought every opportunity to be one with his Father in prayer, to be strengthened in his mission, to give himself for our sakes and his Father’s glory. There was nothing superficial about Jesus, nothing artificial, nothing opportunistic, no trace of self-preservation. Only love could have sustained him through his ordeal, love for his Father and love for us. Uncompromising love. Unshakable love. Deep love.
When Paul wrote that we must have the attitude of Christ, he quoted a hymn familiar to his fellow Christians.
“Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, who, 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.” (Philippians 2:5-11)
Paul echoes what John teaches about Jesus’ death: that through the cross Jesus was exalted, glorified and raised — “lifted up” — by his heavenly Father. The Church always speaks of his “death and resurrection” in the same breath, because Jesus’ submission to death out of love for us is at the same time the glorious triumph of his Father’s love for all. Sin cannot stand up to such love. Death cannot conquer the creator of life.
The cross was planted deep in the earth, for Jesus was planted deep in loving trust of his Father, deep in his determination to free us from sin and death. As we bear the crosses life gives us, we can recall the depth that gave Jesus strength, the depth through which his Father “greatly exalted” him. When we sink our roots deep in God, he upholds us, strengthens us and gives us life though we had begun to think all was lost.
When on the last day our bodies rise up glorious in Christ, we will see just how deep his cross was planted in the earth — for his sacrifice at Calvary was complete enough for all and forever.
Do you have an intention for Bishop Sartain’s prayer? If so, send it to him at Bishop Sartain’s Prayer List, Diocese of Little Rock, 2500 North Tyler St., P.O. Box 7239, Little Rock, AR 72217.

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Cross buried deep so we could be lifted up

I wonder how deep into the ground Jesus’ cross was planted? It would have had to be deep enough to support the cross and Jesus’ added weight.
I wonder who dug the hole? Someone yanked from the crowd, a Roman soldier, or a professional who did such things for a living? Was he told to keep digging after the supervisor checked his work and found it unsatisfactory? Did he know who would be raised on the cross to be lodged in the hole he was digging? Did he care?
Or was the hole a permanent one, fixed hard by rocks and mortar, a sign that crucifixions were commonplace in those days?
Whoever dug that hole, he must have dug deep. It had to be a snug fit. It had to be reliable.
Perhaps such questions seem odd. I’ve been pondering them lately for two reasons: first, because of some words of Jesus; and second, because of some words of Msgr. James E. O’Connell.
Jesus had said to Nicodemus, “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.” (John 3:14-15; see also John 8:28) He was referring to God’s instructions to Moses (Numbers 21:9) to fashion a bronze serpent and hold it high on a pole, so that the Israelites who looked up at it would be healed of the serpent bites God had sent as a reproach.
In John 12:32-33, Jesus said to a crowd: “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” John adds, “He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.”
Msgr O’Connell, the revered senior priest of the Diocese of Little Rock who died at age 97 last month, was known as an extraordinary orator. One of his former high school students (now in his 80s) told me that Msgr. O’Connell frequently said to them, “Boys, if you want to go high, dig deep.”
I like the phrase because it has many applications. If we want to do well in life, we must have deep roots. Otherwise what we build will soon collapse because its foundation is weak.
In the past few weeks, Msgr. O’Connell’s words have shed light for me on the Scripture passages I just quoted. If Jesus was “lifted up” on the cross, the cross must have been planted deep into the arid ground to remain standing for so many hours. It is a gruesome thought, but no doubt someone was charged with ensuring that such was the case every time there was a crucifixion. Otherwise crosses would have tumbled to the ground, their victims with them, only to require replanting with back-breaking, frustrating effort.
The cross dug deep into the earth because it stood so high. But even more was Jesus deeply, steadfastly rooted in his heavenly Father. How else could he have stood firm through the ridicule, the scourges, the false testimony, his passion and death? How could the cross have stood tall, bearing Jesus’ bodily weight and the much more burdensome weight of our sins, had Jesus not been deeply grounded in his Father?
Jesus sought every opportunity to be one with his Father in prayer, to be strengthened in his mission, to give himself for our sakes and his Father’s glory. There was nothing superficial about Jesus, nothing artificial, nothing opportunistic, no trace of self-preservation. Only love could have sustained him through his ordeal, love for his Father and love for us. Uncompromising love. Unshakable love. Deep love.
When Paul wrote that we must have the attitude of Christ, he quoted a hymn familiar to his fellow Christians.
“Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, who, 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.” (Philippians 2:5-11)
Paul echoes what John teaches about Jesus’ death: that through the cross Jesus was exalted, glorified and raised — “lifted up” — by his heavenly Father. The Church always speaks of his “death and resurrection” in the same breath, because Jesus’ submission to death out of love for us is at the same time the glorious triumph of his Father’s love for all. Sin cannot stand up to such love. Death cannot conquer the creator of life.
The cross was planted deep in the earth, for Jesus was planted deep in loving trust of his Father, deep in his determination to free us from sin and death. As we bear the crosses life gives us, we can recall the depth that gave Jesus strength, the depth through which his Father “greatly exalted” him. When we sink our roots deep in God, he upholds us, strengthens us and gives us life though we had begun to think all was lost.
When on the last day our bodies rise up glorious in Christ, we will see just how deep his cross was planted in the earth — for his sacrifice at Calvary was complete enough for all and forever.
Do you have an intention for Bishop Sartain’s prayer? If so, send it to him at Bishop Sartain’s Prayer List, Diocese of Little Rock, 2500 North Tyler St., P.O. Box 7239, Little Rock, AR 72217.

Latest from From the Bishop

Cross buried deep so we could be lifted up

I wonder how deep into the ground Jesus’ cross was planted? It would have had to be deep enough to support the cross and Jesus’ added weight.
I wonder who dug the hole? Someone yanked from the crowd, a Roman soldier, or a professional who did such things for a living? Was he told to keep digging after the supervisor checked his work and found it unsatisfactory? Did he know who would be raised on the cross to be lodged in the hole he was digging? Did he care?
Or was the hole a permanent one, fixed hard by rocks and mortar, a sign that crucifixions were commonplace in those days?
Whoever dug that hole, he must have dug deep. It had to be a snug fit. It had to be reliable.
Perhaps such questions seem odd. I’ve been pondering them lately for two reasons: first, because of some words of Jesus; and second, because of some words of Msgr. James E. O’Connell.
Jesus had said to Nicodemus, “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.” (John 3:14-15; see also John 8:28) He was referring to God’s instructions to Moses (Numbers 21:9) to fashion a bronze serpent and hold it high on a pole, so that the Israelites who looked up at it would be healed of the serpent bites God had sent as a reproach.
In John 12:32-33, Jesus said to a crowd: “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” John adds, “He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.”
Msgr O’Connell, the revered senior priest of the Diocese of Little Rock who died at age 97 last month, was known as an extraordinary orator. One of his former high school students (now in his 80s) told me that Msgr. O’Connell frequently said to them, “Boys, if you want to go high, dig deep.”
I like the phrase because it has many applications. If we want to do well in life, we must have deep roots. Otherwise what we build will soon collapse because its foundation is weak.
In the past few weeks, Msgr. O’Connell’s words have shed light for me on the Scripture passages I just quoted. If Jesus was “lifted up” on the cross, the cross must have been planted deep into the arid ground to remain standing for so many hours. It is a gruesome thought, but no doubt someone was charged with ensuring that such was the case every time there was a crucifixion. Otherwise crosses would have tumbled to the ground, their victims with them, only to require replanting with back-breaking, frustrating effort.
The cross dug deep into the earth because it stood so high. But even more was Jesus deeply, steadfastly rooted in his heavenly Father. How else could he have stood firm through the ridicule, the scourges, the false testimony, his passion and death? How could the cross have stood tall, bearing Jesus’ bodily weight and the much more burdensome weight of our sins, had Jesus not been deeply grounded in his Father?
Jesus sought every opportunity to be one with his Father in prayer, to be strengthened in his mission, to give himself for our sakes and his Father’s glory. There was nothing superficial about Jesus, nothing artificial, nothing opportunistic, no trace of self-preservation. Only love could have sustained him through his ordeal, love for his Father and love for us. Uncompromising love. Unshakable love. Deep love.
When Paul wrote that we must have the attitude of Christ, he quoted a hymn familiar to his fellow Christians.
“Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, who, 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.” (Philippians 2:5-11)
Paul echoes what John teaches about Jesus’ death: that through the cross Jesus was exalted, glorified and raised — “lifted up” — by his heavenly Father. The Church always speaks of his “death and resurrection” in the same breath, because Jesus’ submission to death out of love for us is at the same time the glorious triumph of his Father’s love for all. Sin cannot stand up to such love. Death cannot conquer the creator of life.
The cross was planted deep in the earth, for Jesus was planted deep in loving trust of his Father, deep in his determination to free us from sin and death. As we bear the crosses life gives us, we can recall the depth that gave Jesus strength, the depth through which his Father “greatly exalted” him. When we sink our roots deep in God, he upholds us, strengthens us and gives us life though we had begun to think all was lost.
When on the last day our bodies rise up glorious in Christ, we will see just how deep his cross was planted in the earth — for his sacrifice at Calvary was complete enough for all and forever.
Do you have an intention for Bishop Sartain’s prayer? If so, send it to him at Bishop Sartain’s Prayer List, Diocese of Little Rock, 2500 North Tyler St., P.O. Box 7239, Little Rock, AR 72217.

Latest from From the Bishop