And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:14-15)

The Agency Of Death Becomes The Hope Of Life

Near the end of the wilderness journey, Israel spoke against God and Moses about the lack of food and water and having to eat manna. They called the manna “worthless bread.” God had provided the people with food and water for forty years, and they were ungrateful. Angered by the continual complaining, the Lord sent serpents among the people, and many of the people of Israel died. Considering the number of people was over one million souls, the number of serpents must have been incredible. Realizing their sin, the people pleaded with Moses to intercede. They asked God to take away the serpents, but God refused. Moses was told to make a fiery serpent of bronze and set it on a pole. When a serpent bites someone, he can look at the bronze serpent on the pole and live. Serpents continued to afflict the people of Israel, and when they looked upon the bronze serpent, they did not die. After a time, the serpents disappeared.

God used the symbol of death to give life to the people. The people begged God to remove the serpents. Instead of taking the serpents away, the Lord created a test of faith to see if the people would obey. Looking upon a bronze serpent has no medicinal value. If a person does not take immediate medical attention to a snake bite, they can die. The cure from God was to find the bronze serpent made by Moses and look upon it with faith. How ironic when a man was bitten by a serpent, he gazed upon a bronze serpent to save him. God used the agency of death to become a symbol of life. He was teaching the people of Israel the power of His grace.

There was nothing the people could do to fend off the serpents. With more than a million people in the camp, the infestation of snakes must have been tremendous. They begged God to remove the snakes, and the Lord refused. Only when the people obeyed the will of the Lord in faith could they live. What was killing them became their avenue of salvation. The reason for their fear was a rebellion against God. Salvation came from the power of God in the bronze serpent lifted up by Moses. Life could only be given to those who believed in the power of the bronze serpent. If a man were bitten by a serpent and begged God to save him in his tent, he would die. God could have saved the man in his tent, but that was not His will. Only when the man left the tent and came to the bronze serpent could a man live.

Jesus tells Nicodemus that as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews. He was well-versed in the story of the bronze serpent. Jesus uses this story to show Nicodemus how salvation would come to all men through the death of the Son of God. Like the story of the bronze serpent, Jesus would take on the agency that was killing all men to save them. Jesus took on all the sins of the world in His blood. He was innocent and sinless, yet He became life. God demands obedience to the cross of Jesus Christ for salvation. A man refusing to come to the cross of Jesus is like a man bitten by a serpent and refusing to find the bronze emblem crafted by Moses. The cross is foolishness to the world, but for those who are called, it is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Many refuse to obey the will of the Father. Jesus died to become the symbol of life through the image of death. The debt incurred on the cross can never be paid because salvation is beyond the wisdom of men. Only through God’s grace in the message of the cross can a man find life. Through the blood of Jesus Christ in the waters of baptism, will sins be washed away. Refusing to be baptized is denying the power of the cross. There is no other way to have sins washed away. Faith only can never save any more than faith only could save a man bitten by a serpent. Grace alone never saved those bitten by serpents. Obedience to the will of God is how the people of Israel lived. You must come to the cross and see your sin to find hope and eternal life.