for the Elevation of the Cross…

Second Vesperal Reading for the Elevation of the Cross (hat tip: Dynamis)

The Wisdom of the Cross: Proverbs 3:11-18, especially vs. 18: “Righteousness proceeds from her mouth, and she carries law and mercy upon her tongue.” In Paradise “God caused every tree beautiful to the sight and good for food to grow,” and also “the tree of life and the tree of learning the knowledge of good and evil” (Gn 2:9). The Lord made one proviso for Adam and Eve that applies, by extension, to all men: “You may eat food from every tree in the garden; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you may not eat; for in whatever day that you eat from it, you shall die by death” (vss. 2:16-17).

Sin and death came, and we are enmeshed in them still. The enemy dangles a lie before the woman: “You shall not die by death” (vss. 3:4). As Saint John Chrysostom points out, “she not only failed to turn away” from Satan, but proceeded to disclose to him “the whole secret of the Lord’s direction, thus casting pearls before swine. . . . She exposed to swine, to that evil beast, that is, to the demon acting through it, the divine pearls” of God’s mysteries (Manley, The Lament of Eve, p. 22-3).

Since “evil company corrupts good habits” (1 Cor 15:33), Eve sees that which she has not perceived up until now: “the tree was good for food, was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree beautiful to contemplate.” Thus deluded, “she took its fruit and ate” (Gn 3:6).

Is it wise to take what is forbidden by our Creator? What wisdom can be found by esteeming the advice of the enemy over the cautions of God? As Eve’s accomplice, Adam is no wiser than she. He takes what he knows to be forbidden, and he also eats. Listen to the word of the Lord: “Then the eyes of both were opened” (vss. 3:7). Who opened them?

Saint John Chrysostom states clearly that God “saw to it that they would now experience their nakedness and the loss of the glory they enjoyed before eating. . . . From that event knowledge of sin then entered the scene, and shame as well” (Lament of Eve) with death not far behind. Truly, we gain no wisdom from disobedience!

Is wisdom perhaps available from the other tree in Eden? Proverbs 3:20 might seem to imply this (“She is a tree of life for all who cleave to her”). Or is wisdom hopelessly beyond us, excluded as we are from Paradise where God has “stationed the cherubim and the fiery sword which turns every way to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gn 3:24)? Are we consigned to amass knowledge without ever finding wisdom? Such an idea is contrary to what the text says! The word of the Lord declares: “Blessed is a man who finds wisdom” (Pr 3:13).

How, then, do we go about finding wisdom? Let us begin with the apostle’s words: “Christ [is] the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24). God became Wisdom Incarnate – that is, He made Himself tangibly available to us, so that we can learn from Him and gain understanding person to person. Thus God’s advice in Proverbs includes the insight that we are to gain profits from wisdom (Pr 3:14). To gain in Hebrew means “to engage in trade.” The Lord Jesus underscores the nature of this exchange when He says: “Sell all that you have . . . and come, follow Me” (Lk 18:22). He is the Pearl of Great Price; He is Wisdom; He is greater than any earthly “deal” ever offered, for He is God.

Everything we read about wisdom in these verses from Proverbs applies to Christ’s crucifixion. His Cross is “the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:24) and life itself! We are excluded from Paradise, yet He joins Himself to our weariness and vexation of spirit that we may find wisdom, life, righteousness, and peace through Him.

O most venerable Cross, surrounded in joy by the ranks of angels, raise ye up Christ God, exceeding in goodness, and we shall fall down in faith before thee, His divine footstool. – 7th & 8th Vesperal Sticheron for the Exaltation of the Cross, Festal Menaion, p. 134