The
Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity.
The Collect.
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LMIGHTY and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and
charity; and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love
that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have eternal life (John 3:14-15)
I
must admit that while growing up, I seldom heard this text preached upon and,
when it was, I did not understand it. In those days, there was a reverent
emphasis upon the Gospel and Epistles but, unfortunately often to the detriment
of teaching on the foundation underlying those writings in the Old Testament.
As I have studied and learned more (and I have a very great distance to go, I
know) I have come to realize the great and consistent truth that runs through
the Holy Scriptures from beginning to end. This was the focus of a conversation
I had only yesterday with a good and faithful minister in Miami. How can we
possibly understand the meaning of the sacrifice of Christ as the Lamb of God
if we had not known of the first Passover in Goshen, or of Abraham's
intentioned sacrifice of Isaac on the Mountains of Moriah? It seemed in my
young mind highly unlikely that Christ should be compared with a serpent.
I believe that my lack of understanding was my failure to grasp the ugliness
and cruelty of sin, and how Christ took upon Himself, being sinless, the sins
of the world at Golgotha. What horrible revulsion must Christ, being pure and
innocent, have experienced hanging on the cross as Redeemer of our souls
bearing the sins of the world! How bruised was His virtuous soul as He was
stripped of all His clothing for all to ridicule and humiliate Him!
It
is such a joy to discover gems of truth hidden away in places of least
expectation, but the Old Testament is full of such gems. They gleam from
Genesis to Malachi and their radiance sheds even greater beauty upon the life
and times of Christ our Lord. Instead of dread and reluctance, I approach each
sortie into the Old Testament studies with an exhilarating anticipation. I hope
you do, too, dear Reader. Let us begin apace:
The Brazen Serpent of the Wilderness as a Type of Christ
14 And
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man
be lifted up: 15 That
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
I love the symbolism with which Christ spoke. How shall the Son of Man be
lifted up to bear our burdens of sin? He shall be lifted up precisely as the
Brazen Serpent of the Wilderness was lifted up on a Tree for all to gaze upon
for healing. We may ask, "How is Christ exemplified by a brazen serpent…how
came the serpent to be necessary in the wilderness?" And the
people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up
out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there
any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the LORD sent fiery
serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel
died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we
have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he
take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the
LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it
shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it,
shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and
it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the
serpent of brass, he lived. (Num 21:5-9 ) The children of Israel
rebelled against God and against His chosen minister, Moses. They sinned in
their rebellious attitude and actions. They hated even the gifts of God – the
light Bread of Manna for which they neither labored nor appreciated.
It
is likewise true that God has given, not only the breath of life, but has
placed all resources in nature for our joy and satisfaction; yet, is this
generation grateful to God for His beneficence? Neither was that generation to
which He came and which represented all generations of mankind. A physical
healing and remedy was prepared in the Brazen Serpent, and a Soul-healing was
prepared in Christ at Calvary. Abraham, Moses, and all the true host of Israel
looked forward to that event on Calvary's brow just as our present day looks
back to the historical and heavenly event.
In the
Wilderness, the people were delivered the "hair from the dog that
bit them" – sin. The wages of sin is death; therefore, an
execution in the likeness of the author of sin – the Serpent of Eden – was
delivered to them. God sent fiery serpents among them which resulted in a
sudden and painful death. A similar snake is still prevalent in the sands
of the Middle East and is called a "two-stepper" because the victim
may only take two painful steps before death occurs. While my family were
living there, we had to be very careful to examine the sand ahead, for they
burrow into shallow sand, are sand-colored, and strike from that refuge.
For
the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23) God did not deliver retribution to these
errant children, but He delivered the wages they justly deserved – death by
sin. They were stung by the serpents, or by their own sins. The prognosis was
always fatal! So are the wages of sin!
There was no remedy available through either Moses or the Law for the wound of
the serpent (sin). Neither was there a remedy at law, nor of the Temple
rituals, nor of priest or prophet for the wounds of sin for all mankind for
which Jesus came to redeem. Christ, like the Brazen Serpent lifted up,
was the ONLY remedy and propitiation for the wages of sin.
Moses was
told to lift the Brazen Serpent upon a pole or tree like as Christ was lifted
upon a Tree or wooden Cross. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that
hangeth on a tree (Gal 3:13) Christ endured our curse for us and
remitted that curse. The Brazen Serpent, having no personality, was a symbol of
that very act of Christ.
The
Brazen Serpent was appointed by God as the answer for that curse that had
killed many people. So Christ was appointed as God's answer for the deaths of
untold multitudes by way of sin.
Just
as death occurred to the first man, Adam, by way of that Old Serpent, so did
life come by that second man, Jesus Christ, represented by the poisonless
Serpent of Brass.
The
Brazen Serpent was not a product of men's hands or any hammer – it was forged
in flames of fire. So righteousness in Christ is not wrought through the labors
of goodness by men, but that righteousness that belongs solely to Christ. Our
salvation was forged, not by men, but by Christ in flames of Passion and
Sacrifice.
It
must be true that a Serpent of Brass is far stronger and durable in its
constitution than a snake of flesh. Though it bears the appearance of a
serpent, it has an entirely different nature. It cannot hurt, though it can
heal. How like Christ, who came in the body of man, is different,
fundamentally, in His nature from man. He did not come to hurt, but to heal.
If
stung by the fiery serpents, even if a hundred times at once, there was a remedy
in looking UP to that Brazen Serpent. Likewise, though besought round-about
with multitudes of sin, we may look up to that Savior on Calvary's Cross for
healing balm, for He alone is truly that Balm of Gilead.
Those people who looked upon their sores and wounds instead of UP to the Brazen
Serpent, died nonetheless. God's means of healing, though made available, are
disregarded to the mortal detriment of the wounded. So, those wounded and dying
in their sins must look UP to Christ to receive life and healing of their sins.
To seek healing from any other source is futile.
The
Brazen Serpent presented an unlikely means of healing and was not consistent
with human reason. Men hated serpents so much that they would rather kill them
than look up to them. So, Christ is an unlikely means of salvation for all
sinners. Who would have believed that God the Father's love would allow for His
own Son to come among His enemies to save them? How many today, as in Pilate's
courtyard, prefer to crucify Christ rather than to receive His mercy and grace?
(Have you witnessed the testimonies to this fact on TV news?)
In
the Wilderness, one did not need perfect vision to look up to the Brazen
Serpent for salvation. Neither do we today need perfect faith (who does have?)
to look up to Christ for our salvation. And straightway the father of the
child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine
unbelief (Mark 9:24)
The
provision of God for the remedy of the fiery serpents was not deserved or in
any way merited by the recipients of the mercy and grace evidenced by the
Brazen Serpent. Neither were the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Christ
as redemption for our sins in the slightest degree merited by the beneficiaries.
In fact, we are totally without merit for forgiveness. So what is the
ingredient that God has poured into all of His works of mercy, grace, and
forgiveness for man? Behold, what manner of love the Father hath
bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the
world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (1 John 3:1) All love
flows from the Heart of God. We can have no love at all if it did not originate
in that Heart, for He is ALL of Love! He that loveth not knoweth not God;
for God is love. (1 John 4:8)
How
are the Brazen Serpent and Christ different? The Brazen Serpent saved only from
temporal death; Christ saves from eternal death. The Brazen Serpent was a
symbol – Christ is the thing symbolized!
The
Brazen Serpent lacked a permanent virtue to heal. It was a symbol and not an
idol to be worshipped. In the days of Hezekiah, men had turned to the Brazen
Serpent for worship rather than the God who gave it. King Hezekiah, because of
this, had the Brazen Serpent destroyed. Christ is One who must be worshipped
and glorified. No King, neither Herod nor any other, could destroy Christ. (see
2 Kings 18:4)
In
this account of the Brazen Serpent, we have pointed out many likenesses thereof
with our Lord Jesus Christ. The Brazen Serpent points, not only to the need for
a Savior, but for a steadfast faith in that Savior. Without looking up in
faith, there can be no healing of our sins. Just as the Serpent mortally
wounded Adam in the Garden, that Serpent must also be crushed by the heel of
Christ.
My
Friends and Readers, have you looked up in faith to Christ today; or do you
suffer a mortal wound to your soul?
