Jesus was lifted for the serpent-bitten.

 

Sermon for Lent 4, March 10, 2024

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  He gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father—to whom be the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

John 3:14-21  ¹⁴“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  ¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  ¹⁸The one who believes in him is not condemned, but the one who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.  ¹⁹This is the basis for the judgment: The light has come into the world, yet people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.  ²⁰In fact, everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, or else his deeds would be exposed.  ²¹But the one who does what is true comes toward the light, in order that his deeds may be seen as having been done in connection with God. (EHV)

Jesus was lifted for the serpent-bitten.

Dear beloved of the Lord,

            Now we know why.  For a long time, I wondered why God commanded Moses to lift a bronze snake on a pole when the Israelites were dying from being bitten by serpents in the wilderness.  To me, that seemed like it would be idol worship to have to look to a metal snake in order to save one’s life.  Now, with Jesus’ explanation, I understand what was going on in God’s plan.  Everything that happened in the Old Testament fit together until Jesus was lifted for the serpent-bitten.

My initial confusion occurred because I failed to understand what was saving those snake bitten Israelites.  It wasn’t that metal image on a pole that had power.  Nor was it the strength of faith in those who believed God’s promise that saved them from the serpents’ venom.  Rather, it was the power of God behind the promise that made them whole when they trusted Him.

This all fits together as a perfect illustration for us, because we needed saving from the venom that the devil injected into the human race at that first temptation in the Garden of Eden.  The poison of sin became endemic to all of us so that we were all dying from the moment of conception.  All die that is, except for those who look to the promised Savior lifted up on a tree, or in reality, a cross.

Jesus told Nicodemus, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  The serpent was cursed for being the conduit through which the devil brought sin into the world.  The Bible also declares, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” (Galatians 3:13)  Therefore, God’s Son, Jesus, took the curse of sin for all of us in order to buy us back into reconciliation with God.  Thus, St. Paul wrote, “He redeemed us in order that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that we would receive the promised Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:14)

Even though he was a teacher of Israel, Nicodemus came to Jesus because curious but hoping to understand God’s plan of salvation.  Nicodemus, and others like him, had always been looking to appease God’s anger for sin with their own works, but without faith in Jesus, all our works are tainted with the sin that infects every part of the sinner, you and me included.  At the same time, Nicodemus recognized that there was something different about Jesus.  Jesus wasn’t like other teachers of His time.  The miracles alone set Jesus apart, but His teaching too spoke little of works and much about faith in the God of their forefathers.  Again, Jesus explained, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  In other words, Jesus was lifted for the serpent-bitten.

One wonders how long it took Nicodemus to fully comprehend what Jesus said.  Did he go away that night bewildered?  I suspect that faith had begun to grow in the man, but it didn’t truly take root until he saw Jesus nailed to the cross for sins He didn’t commit—the innocent Man for the guilt of all people.  Or was Nicodemus still questioning when he helped lay Jesus’ body in the tomb?  I think most would agree that the word of our Lord convinced Nicodemus that Jesus truly is the Savior, and because of his faith in Jesus, Nicodemus was at last willing to put himself in service of the One who loved him unto death.

Jesus continued, “The one who believes in him is not condemned, but the one who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.”  What is so hard for the mind poisoned by sin to believe is that we can do nothing to save ourselves or to reconcile ourselves with God.  In fact, we are born condemned, because it is only by faith that anyone can be saved.  Yet, because God loves us, He doesn’t willingly leave us in that condemned condition.  Rather, God intervenes in the world so that we may hear about Jesus, and the Good News of what Jesus has done for us is used by the Holy Spirit to create saving faith in us.

God intervened in Moses’ time by promising healing through faith in the promise of a look at a bronze snake on a pole, but that was merely a foreshadowing of what was to come—God’s own dear Son taking on the form of sinful man, taking on the curse of sin and the punishment of death we all deserved.  Consequently, through faith in holy Jesus, who was lifted up on that cross as the curse of sin for the world, we are reconciled with God, as St. Paul explains, “But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For he himself is our peace.” (Ephesians 2:13-14)

Jesus explained that to Nicodemus in this way: “This is the basis for the judgment: The light has come into the world, yet people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.  In fact, everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, or else his deeds would be exposed.”  With our sinful nature controlling us from birth, we naturally wanted nothing to do with Jesus, and we see the evidence for that all around our world as people try all sorts of ways to hide their guilt.  Yet, nothing a person does ever brings relief.  However, through His words of promise shining Jesus’ light in us, God brings us to believe in Jesus and through that faith grants us spiritual healing to cleanse us of all the poison of sin.  This is the faith King David displayed as he sang, “Yes, you light my lamp, O Lord.  My God turns my darkness to light.” (Psalm 18:28)

Dear friends, Jesus promised His disciples, “I am the Light of the World.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)  Light always needs a source, and without it, we walk in permanent darkness, lost in sin and destined only for destruction.  Yet, that is not God’s desire for anyone.  Therefore, through history, God intervened in this world to bring about the cure for sin and death.  Every part of history was leading up to the moment when Jesus would bear the sins of the world on the cross and cry out, “It is finished!”  Our reconciliation with God was accomplished by the horrible sacrifice of God’s Son.  This was symbolized by the hours of deep darkness as Jesus hung on that cross.  However, since His Easter morning resurrection, the light of Christ is again shining on the world in the form of His Gospel of peace between God and men.

Here, Jesus said, “But the one who does what is true comes toward the light, in order that his deeds may be seen as having been done in connection with God.”  We come to the light only as the Holy Spirit draws us to believe in Jesus.  The Spirit, though, does not work without means.  Rather, He works in us through the hearing of God’s Word, through the washing of the water and Word in Baptism, and He strengthens us in that faith through the continual application of the Gospel as God serves us in the worship service with the promise of forgiveness and peace because of Jesus.  We are likewise strengthened in our faith by the eating and drinking of Jesus’ body and blood in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper through its connection with the Word of our Lord.

Again, I say, Jesus was lifted for the serpent-bitten.  Through inherited sin that infected all of us from our first parents on, we all enter this world dying from the ancient serpent’s poisonous bite.  Left to our own solutions, our end would be only everlasting death in the wilderness of hell, forever cut off from God’s love.  Yet, because He loves us with an everlasting love, God sent His Son to be our Redeemer and Savior, and it is by His blood shed on that cross of shame that God’s justice for our guilt is satisfied.  Then, by faith in Jesus, God’s only-begotten Son, God has declared us innocent, eternally at peace with Him, and forever welcome in His presence as dearly loved children. 

Our sin and guilt have been removed from us as far as east is from the west, because “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  Thus, by faith in the Gospel, we have been brought to see that Jesus was lifted for the serpent-bitten, so that through faith in Jesus, we who once were dying of sin’s venom, now have life everlasting, and the sure and certain hope that we will live with God in heaven forever.  Amen.

How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, everyone who is walking in his ways.  Amen.