“14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

15 so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.”

— John 3:14-15

“6 Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.

7 Then the people came to Moses and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take away the snakes.”

8 And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”

9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”

— Numbers 21:6-9

“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.””

— 1 Peter 2:24

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace and peace from Christ to you.

When Nicodemus was puzzled at Jesus’ talking and teaching, Jesus offered Nicodemus a tremendous revelation—the redemptive work of the cross through an incident familiar to Nicodemus. Responding to His people’s rebellion in the wilderness, God brought a plague of poisonous snake. The dying Israelites asked Moses to pray. God commanded Moses to make a bronze snake which illustrated the sting of sin and death. As the snake was lifted on a pole, God promised He would heal anyone bitten who looked at the snake. This miraculous physical deliverance received by looking at the snake pointed to Jesus and His defeat of death on the cross, a demonstration of God’s mercy for humanity.

Jesus told Nicodemus that He, the Son of God, came to take away our sin, death and punishment. He would be lifted up like the snake. The Israelites who obeyed God’s Word in faith and looked at the snake lived. All who look to Jesus who bore sin’s punishment on the cross receive eternal life. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we, the believers, do not face eternal punishment but live as God’s beloved children by the power of the Holy Spirit! Hallelujah!