A Snake on a Pole
TRANSLATION
(9) Nicodemus asked him, “How can these things be?” (10) Jesus responded, “Are you Israel’s teacher and yet you do not understand these things? (11) Truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen, yet you do not accept our testimony. (12) If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? (13) No one has entered heaven except the one who came from heaven, namely, the Son of Man. (14) Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, (15) so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
OBSERVATIONS
Referring to a rather obscure incident from the history of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness recorded by Moses in Numbers 21:4-9, Jesus skillfully laid out for Nicodemus the necessity of spiritual rebirth, commenting along the way that he should have already known about the need for regeneration and how to obtain it.
Repetitions in this segment included “these things” (vss. 9 & 10) and two more uses of “things” (both in vs. 12), “heavenly/heaven” (three times in vss. 12 & 13), “Son of Man” (vss. 13 & 14), “lifted up” (twice in vs. 14), and the synonyms “bear witness…testimony” (vs. 11). In response to Nicodemus’ bewilderment (vs. 9), Jesus offered a mild rebuke (vs. 10), an extended explanation regarding his authority as the heavenly Son of Man (vss. 10-13), and an Old Testament allusion to explain the new birth (vss. 14 & 15).
OUTLINE
I. Jesus displayed his authority to clear up Nicodemus’ confusion about spiritual rebirth. (9-13)
II. Jesus used an incident from Israel’s early history to illustrate spiritual rebirth. (14 & 15)
IDEA STATEMENT
Jesus, the Son of Man endowed with divine authority, taught Nicodemus what it meant to be “born again” by referring to the snake-on-a-pole story taken from Israel’s wilderness wanderings.
APPLICATION
The occasion for the story of the snake erected on a pole was another of Israel’s rebellions, the people complaining against God and his servant, Moses, for having brought the nation into the wilderness where they were forced to live on a diet of manna and quail. In response to their ingratitude, God sent a plague of poisonous snakes to punish the people who then cried out to God with the following prayer: “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the snakes from us.” When Moses interceded for the afflicted nation, God responded by telling Moses to fashion a bronze snake and erect it on a pole in the middle of the camp. Anyone who simply looked at the snake, believing in God’s provision, would immediately be healed and saved from dying.
Jesus’ straightforward application of this story clearly set forth the Gospel message. “(Just) as Moses lifted up the (bronze) serpent in the wilderness (to provide healing from the sting of sin resulting in death), so must the Son of Man be lifted up (on a cross), that whoever believes (looks to him in faith) may have eternal life.” As a master teacher, Jesus spelled out for Nicodemus all he needed to know about the process of regeneration with this historical incident with which Israel’s teacher was surely familiar. Simply by trusting in the provision which God had made for their sins, the children of Israel in the wilderness were healed of their fatal bites. Likewise, when we who suffer from the sting of sin simply trust in the provision God has made for us in the atoning work of Christ on the cross, we are saved from our sins and given the gift of eternal life. It doesn’t get much simpler than that!