John 3:13-17
The Lord said, “No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven. And 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. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Church Fathers tell us again and again how things recorded in the Old Testament point to Christ. It is little wonder. You may recall what happens when, in Saint Luke’s Gospel, our Lord meets two of His followers on the road to Emmaus. They are downcast because of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion in Jerusalem; and consider the reports of the women about His resurrection from the dead to be idle tales. Our Lord responds to their mistaken view in the following way:
“Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them the things about Himself in all the Scriptures.
The Scriptures our Lord refers to here are, of course, the Old Testament; for at the time when He spoke the books of the New Testament had yet to be written. And in many other places in the Gospels He makes reference to how the Old Testament speaks of Him. Little wonder, then, that Blessed Augustine declared that in the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed; and in the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.
We have one such reference as to how what is written in the Old Testament speaks to us of Christ in today’s Gospel reading. Speaking to Saint Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a member of the Ruling Council of the Jews who came to Him secretly by night, He told him:
“And 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.”
What is this serpent of which Jesus speaks? It is found in Chapter 21 of Numbers. The children of Israel have been led out of captivity in Egypt by Moses. But the journey is long and hard, and the people become disgruntled:
So, the people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we are disgusted with this miserable food.” Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So, the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and against you; intercede with the Lord, that He will remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and put it on a flagpole; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, and looks at it, will live.” So, Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on the flagpole; and it came about, that if a serpent bit someone, and he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
It is ingratitude of the highest order to complain so bitterly against the man who has rescued them from their lives of harsh slavery. A life, you may recall, where their newborn sons lived under an automatic sentence of death. That the Egyptians seemed unable to enforce this sentence very well is of little consequence. And, of course, when men desire the death of your sons it means that they hope to take your daughters for themselves.
We may further note how disgracefully they speak against God. True, there is not food and water to be found for so many in the wilderness. It would hardly be called a desert if it were otherwise. But God has provided for them. He has given them water from the rock, which we are told elsewhere in Scripture followed them so that they always had more than enough to drink. And for food he gave them manna from heaven, the food of angels. This, we are told in Exodus, was sweet, tasting like wafers made with honey. And, in Rabbinic literature, that it tasted like anything the person eating it wanted too.
Truly a miraculous food upon which to feast. And yet the children of Israel called it ‘miserable’ and were disgusted with it.
The result of this behaviour is that God punishes them by sending fiery serpents among them, to bite and poison them, killing many. Chastened, the people repent of their sins and beg Moses to intercede for them. God then commands Moses to raise up a serpent of bronze on a pole. Those who are bitten and look upon it will be cured.
The way in which this event in salvation history prefigures Christ is clear, as the Fathers tell us. We are as the children of Israel, lost in sin, ungrateful for all that God has done and continues to do for us. We are worthy of death – and the similarity of the fiery serpents to the demons who tempt us and pursue us, trying to lead us astray and poison us with sin is to be noted. But God knows that we cannot save ourselves and need His help to be saved. And, so, He sends His Son, His only Son, into the world that we might be saved. This Son will be lifted up upon the Cross. And just as those who looked upon the bronze serpent were cured from the poison of the snakes, so too those who believe in Christ will have eternal life.
As I finish, let us recall the context of our Gospel reading, which is found in the third chapter of Saint John’s Gospel. Jesus is speaking to Saint Nicodemus, who has come to speak to Him by night, secretly, afraid to be seen speaking with Him. He is mentioned two other places in this Gospel: in chapter seven, where he tries to persuade the other members of the Council to treat Jesus fairly, for which he is mocked; and in chapter nineteen, where he brings the spices for Jesus’ burial as He is being taken down from the Cross. The one who first came by night out of fear, later openly comes to gaze upon the One who was lifted up and show his belief in Him before all the world. I pray that you will do likewise, in the hope that by it you may be received into eternal life. And, remembering that God sent His Son into the world that all might be saved, in the hope that by the open and fearless display of your belief you may lead others to eternal life also. Amen.
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