We would never compare Jesus to a snake. Why would we? The snake is forever remembered as the enemy - the tempter who led Eve to take the first bite of the forbidden fruit. Jesus is the offspring in Genesis 3 who crushes the head of the snake! Whoever makes that comparison must be crazy...
But that would mean Jesus is crazy. John 3:16 is perhaps the most well-known verse: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." But notice, the first word in that sentence is "For." The word "for" means something preceded that statement. So let's take a step back:
No one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from Heaven, the Son of Man. 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. - John 3:13-15.
See, Jesus compares Himself to a serpent! In memory of my near death by snake, this section of JOT (Jesus in the Old Testament) will explain why Jesus calls Himself a snake. You can read the intro to the JOT series here.
The Grumbling Israelites
Let's first step back from Jesus' time. A big step...all the way back to Moses. Moses is leading the nation of Israel around in circles in the wilderness. Moses got them to the Promised Land, but the nation freaked out because the people were giant! Not trusting God, they went back into the wilderness; having just escaped slavery in Egypt, there was nowhere for them to go.
These people have seen God do incredible things time and time again. They follow a giant pillar of dust by day and fire by night! Bread falls from the sky, water comes from a rock, the ground has opened under men, and so much more. Yet once again, the Israelites complain about God to Moses: "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food!" (Num. 21:5)
They are like the entire human race. Our very existence relies on God's will (Rev 4:11). We see and hear of His acts, but we rebel. We hate Him, we ignore Him, and we mock Him. We use the name of our Creator as a curse! We, like the Israelites here, declare that all the good He does is evil. In this world, treason against your nation is considered a terrible crime, but we have been committing treason against The Divine from the beginning.
God, being just, declares the sentence for their crime: "Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died." However, immediately following, the people come to Moses saying "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and you. Pray to the Lord, that He take away the serpents for us." And Moses prays, and the Lord, as merciful as He is just, provides a way for them to be healed: "Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." Moses obeys, and the people who look at the serpent on the pole live. (Num. 21:6-9)
Jesus the Serpent
Now lets return to John 3:14-16. In this passage, Jesus is talking to a man named Nicodemus. Nicodemus wanted to speak to Jesus because he believed it was clear that Jesus came from God. They then get into a discussion about entering the Kingdom of Heaven, during which Jesus explains, "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."
Nicodemus is a Pharisee - a member of the religious elite. He knows the book of Numbers better than anyone else. The full story of the Israelites
would have flashed through Nicodemus' head when Jesus spoke of the serpent in the wilderness.
Now that we have the information Nicodemus had, let's look at what Jesus was saying.
The people of Israel had rebelled against God, declaring the good He does as bad. We, likewise, do the same every day. This evil deserves punishment. We have earned the cup of God's wrath on the Day of Judgment. We have already committed this crime. No good we do now can cover our sin, just as a murderer cannot clear his name by being good the rest of his life.
But God, being merciful, provided a way to be free of this judgment. First we must recognize our sin against God, as the Israelites did. We must believe that we are rebels, completely deserving our punishment and completely hopeless to avert it. God graciously provides a Substitute, the snake, Jesus, and sets Him on a pole, the cross. And if we look to the snake on the pole, Jesus on the cross, we will be saved! The venom in us, the sin in us, means certain, eternal death (Rom. 6:23). We are dead men walking. But when we look upon the snake, Jesus on the cross, we will be brought back to life!
The snake - the lying, deceitful snake that led us away from God in the beginning - is our father. Jesus tells the general Jewish populace, "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desire." Jesus saves us by becoming the snake as well. While on the cross, all the acts of rebellion we commit against God are placed upon Jesus!
[Jesus] was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds...we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Is. 53:5-6).
Conclusion
Wow...just wow. If that does not leave you in speechless awe of our Lord and Savior, I do not know what will. Just as God raised up a snake on a pole when the Israelites sinned in the time of Moses, the Son of Man must be lifted up on the cross, so that any who believe will be saved from their sin and have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, the Son who knew no sin but became sin, became the snake, for us all, so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life, becoming the righteousness of God in Him (Jn. 3:14-15, 2 Cor. 5:21).
John 3:16 grows in depth and power when we see how the OT created the same picture hundreds of years before. I hope this post has grown your love of John 3:16, the OT, and most importantly, Jesus. If you have never looked to the snake on the pole, please do! The venom is sliding through your body, leaving you a dead man walking, and you will be sentenced to death on the Day of Judgment. Our only hope is letting Jesus endure the punishment for us.
Thank you for reading! I would love any feedback in the comments below, Twitter (@RTankersley), Facebook, or in person if you can find me!
See you next time!