Lent with Bossuet – Meditations on the Gospel (12)

The Power of the Cross

“The prince of this world,” the demon who is the master of it through idolatry, “will be cast out” (Jn. 12:31), and the false divinities abandoned. To cast out the demon, however, is not enough. It is also necessary to restore the empire to God through Jesus Christ. “And I,” says He, “if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself” (Jn. 12:32).

There, in the cross, lies enough power to attract all men. All classes of men, not only of both sexes, but from every nation; men of genius from every profession, from every condition, will be so powerfully attracted that they will come to Jesus in crowds. And from this blessed totality, that God has united by His eternal and merciful election, not one will be abandoned.

The action of the crucifixion seems to have elevated Jesus as the object of the whole world. On the one side, He is exposed to all contradiction; on the other, He is the object of the hope of the world. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up,” in order that the world might be able to turn its eyes toward Him, as He Himself says (Jn. 3:14).