When Pope John Paul II was ill, the suggestion must have come to him to retire. And the news informed us that the Pope asked: ” Did Christ come down the cross?” “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross and we will believe.” Those words came from the Jews insulting the Crucified Son of God. The ways of God are strange. It was by staying up on the cross that we believed!
St. Gregory the Great stated: “Had He, yielding to their insults, then come down from the Cross, He would not have proved to us the power of patience. He waited for the little time left, He bore with their insults, He submitted to their mockery, He continued patient, and evoked our admiration.” Patience!!! A Pope never retires; nor should any priest or christian. . . when they are up on a cross. They must prove their patience and their Catholicity. Pope John Paul II died on the cross. If he went down we would not have admired him.
Why did Christ refuse to come down the Cross? Because it is more important to rise again from the sepulchre. More did it matter so to rise from the sepulchre than to descend from the Cross. A far greater thing was it to overcome death by rising from the sepulchre, than to preserve life by descending from the Cross.
The Jews saw that despite their insults Christ would not descend from the Cross and when they saw Him dying, they rejoiced thinking He would be forgotten. But it was by rising from the dead that He has grown in honour and come to His glory. . . and now He is remembered.
So we must not come down from our crosses. It is our only link with the Cross of Christ. There is no comfort or glory in coming down from the cross. It is by resurrecting with Christ that we shall share the glory of Christ.