Our meditation to start the week is from John 3:14-15, part of the Gospel reading for the coming week.
[14] And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, [15] that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
This week we gain insight into our salvation by considering two serpents.
Numbers chapter 21 gives the account of God sending poisonous serpents among the people of Israel, who were at that time grumbling against God. Israelites who were bitten by the serpents were dying. The Israelites asked their leader Moses to intercede for them, to ask God to take away the serpents. Instead, God had a bronze serpent mounted on a pole. Those who were bitten by serpents were to look upon the bronze serpent for healing.
Jesus used this account to foreshadow his death and resurrection. Just as the serpent was held up on a pole, so Jesus would be held up on a cross. The Israelites were healed through trusting God would heal them when they looked at bronze serpent. We are saved through faith in the crucified and resurrected Christ.
The bronze serpent is also a reminder of the serpent in the Garden of Eden. After Adam and Eve’s fall from grace, God promised to put enmity between the serpent (Satan) and Eve’s offspring. This is the earliest written prophesy about the Jesus, the Messiah. In his death and resurrection, Jesus became this “enmity.”
Kevin Wilson 360 