God’s purpose of consequences and punishment for sinful rebellion IS ALWAYS to lead His people BACK TO HIMSELF through repentance. So when the people confessed to Moses: “We have sinned… Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us… The LORD said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.’ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.” (Numbers 21:7-9)
Now, of course it wasn’t the bronze snake on the pole – but God – who healed them. The bronze snake was merely a symbol – a FOCAL POINT for the sinful people to look away from everything else, to the one place of healing and life which God had established.
In John 3:14-15, when Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, Jesus POINTED Nicodemus to the FOCAL POINT for sinful people to LOOK AWAY FROM EVERYTHING ELSE, to the ONE PLACE of healing and life. Jesus told Nicodemus: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15)
Isn’t it ironic? The bronze serpent on the pole in the wilderness looked like the source of death – but God made it the “cure” for physical life! Jesus’ suffering and dying on the cross looked like the source of defeat, the end of our Savior Jesus, but God made it the only “cure” / the only “means” of eternal life for all people! Looking up to Jesus, His cross and resurrection, gives eternal life to “everyone who believes.”
But “looking up to the cross” is much more than MERELY looking at the symbol of the cross; wearing the cross as jewelry. We read in 2 Kings 18, (500 years after “Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness”), that Israel had been “burning incense” to the bronze snake! King Hezekiah put an end to such “superstitious foolishness.” He “broke the bronze snake into pieces”! It was NOT the bronze snake, it is NOT the cross, to which we are to look up to for life!
Have you heard about or seen the 19-story cross located in Texas? Steve Thomas and his wife, Bobby, wanted to do something to express their devotion to Jesus Christ, so, sparing no expense, they built this huge Cross. It stands 190 feet (19 stories) in the air. It took 100 welders 8 months to construct. It weighs 1,250 tons and is encircled by 14 bronze statues depicting the Stations of the Cross. They say, on a clear day, you can see it from 20 miles away.
Will seeing this Cross and being impressed by its sheer size and scope lead to lives that reflect the presence of the living Christ, or will most people simply stop, take pictures and go on as they often do when they see other monuments like the Washington monument or the statue of Abraham Lincoln?
Anyone can build a statue or hang a picture of Jesus. Jesus Christ is no bronze serpent on a pole. He’s the crucified and risen Lord, and He calls us to live in relationship with Him day by day. To lift high the Cross of Jesus is to walk with Him, serve others in His name, and glorify Him as Lord of all creation.
(PASTOR DAN MYERS)