John 3:14-15

Posted by DJL on Feb 12, 2015 in Daily Bread | 0 comments

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

One further word on these verses as they reference a story that is perhaps not as well known to us but gives us insight into how John understands and presents Jesus in his Gospel.

On the way to the Promised Land, and during their forty years of wandering, the Israelites at one point grow impatient and grumble against Moses and, more significantly, against the Lord (Num. 21:4-9). Safe to say, the Lord is not pleased. In fact, he afflicts them with poisonous snakes. But, as is often the pattern in these stories, when the people repent, God relents. In this case, God instructs Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole so that every time someone is bitten, that person can look at the bronze serpent and be healed.

It’s hard to know precisely what connection Jesus is making between this rather obscure story and his own mission as he offers no direct explanation. I think that, first and foremost, it is foreshadowing Jesus’ cross, and I have wondered whether the connection is that in each case an instrument of death – serpents in the OT story, the cross in Jesus’ story – becomes a sign of healing. What I find particularly interesting, though, is that Jesus identifies his crucifixion as being “lifted up.” This will be an important element of the theology of the cross John offers. The cross is not a moment of humiliation or loss but rather signifies Jesus’ greatest moment of glory and triumph.

That’s not the way most of Jesus’ contemporaries would have thought of the cross, nor, truth be told, most of our own. Yet, according to John’s confession, God always finds a way to wrest love from hate and life from death. This confession is at the heart of the mystery of the faith and something we will have occasion to ponder throughout John’s story of Jesus.

Prayer: Dear God, as we read John’s witness to Jesus, invite us into the wonder that through Jesus’ cross you work to demonstrate your love for all people. In Jesus’ name, Amen.