John 3:14 – 15 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
The Old Testament tells a story of a curse that befell the people of Israel due to their sin. In the book of Numbers the 21st chapter we read the story of the Israelites traveling through the wilderness by way of the Red Sea, encompassing the territory of Edom. The Israelites are having a difficult time with the journey and are growing weary of the travel and are desirous of more variety in the diet, other than the manna the Lord has provided. The people of Israel begin to complain and speak vile of both God and Moses. As a result of their sin and rebellion the Lord sent many serpents into the camp of Israel and these serpents bite and kill many Israelites. The people humble themselves before Moses and beg him to beseech the Lord on their behalf to save them from the serpents. The Lord instructed Moses to fashion a brass serpent and place it on a pole and everyone that looks upon it will be saved and healed from the bite of the serpent; to say it another way they will be spared the penalty of death as a result of their sin. Moses obeys the Lord command and as a result everyone that was bitten who also looked upon the serpent was healed. (Number 21:5-8)
What an interesting illustration that Jesus would use during the course of his dialogue with Nicodemus. Having read the other three books of the Gospel that serve as the beginning of the New Testament we can conclude that when Jesus refers to the “Son of man being lifted up” that he is referring to his pending crucifixion and resurrection. However, to draw a parallel between himself and a brass statue that Moses constructed in the wilderness is a very curious illustration. Partly we can gleam that because of Nicodemus’ theological pedigree, being that was a Pharisee Jesus knew he would right understand the comparison. In order for the Israel to not be destroyed entirely they had to look upon this serpent that was raised up in the wilderness for their salvation and therefore in order for the world to be saved from the sin that has entered into it Jesus Christ must be raised up that all those that “look” upon him and believe will be saved from their sin. It wasn’t the brass statue that brought about the healing and salvation in the wilderness it was the belief the people of Israel had in their God to save them through whatever means He would see fit. Similarly Jesus being raised was is an awesome miracle and showed forth the awesome power of the Lord God Almighty, however many of have died in sin since Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, the power of salvation is not only in the miracle, but our belief in Jesus and his power to save.
We are more than conquerors today because God loved us all so much that he would come to earth by taking on the personhood of his only son, Jesus Christ that if we would only believe in the miracle of Jesus, the God man that was and only man to be fully God and fully man at the same time to be the propitiation for our sin. Jesus came for no other than to suffer a brutal death at the hands of those he came to save and to be raised up before the entire world so that if we would look upon him we could be saved. Jesus Christ, the savior of the world, will you choose to believe.
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