The Storyline Connect

High and Lifted Up

No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” John 3:13-15.

Forty years of listening to complaints and criticism would drive anyone to a fit of anger. Moses must have been worn out by the Israelites’ constant grumbling. In Numbers 21, we find that God was certainly tired of it. And so, according to the Scripture, God sent venomous snakes among the Israelites. This must have been a terrifying experience. For many, it was deadly. The Israelites did the only thing they knew to do; they begged Moses to intercede.

Before we go on, I want to confess that had I been Moses; I don’t think I would have asked God to save the Israelites from the snakes -- at least not right away. After their griping and backstabbing, I might have let them suffer a little longer. I would have at least waited until my biggest critics were swollen and in severe pain before I asked God to remove those snakes. Moses didn’t do that. He immediately prayed, asking God to rescue His people. And God did but in a most unusual way. God told Moses to “make a snake and put it on a pole.”

Weird, right? But that image has become such an enduring symbol of healing that even today, it remains the international sign for medical care. Moses then held the pole up, and anyone who had been bitten could look upon the snake and be healed.

This is an odd story. Why didn’t God respond to Moses’s prayer by simply removing the snakes and healing the people? Why all the theatrics with the snake on a pole? I believe it was because God was offering a glimpse of something still to come.

There would be another servant sent to lead His people out of slavery. This servant would also be rejected by those He came to save. This servant would be nailed to a pole and lifted up for a dying world to see. And like Moses’ snake in the desert, anyone who looked upon the Cross of Christ would be healed.

Jesus explained this to Nicodemus when He came to question Him. John was there and captured that conversation in chapter three of his Gospel. I do not believe John or Nicodemus understood Jesus’ reference to Moses and the snakes that night. Only years later, as both men stood at the foot of Jesus’ cross, would His words again flood their minds. The Son of Man lifted up for all to see the love of God and salvation for all who would believe.

Still today, Jesus' cross stands as a beacon to all affected by sin's venom. Stop running and look to Jesus. He will make you whole.

Jesus, high and lifted up.

What should be an ugly scene has become beautiful. I know I am powerless to save myself, but as I look to Your cross, I see the means of healing. Thank You for being willing to intercede for me. Thank You for dying a death that was rightfully mine. Amen. (Day by Day with the Disciple Jesus Loves)

In every dimension in which you are not real, you will argue or evade the issue altogether rather than come; you will go through sorrow rather than come; and you will do anything rather than come the last lap of the race of seemingly unspeakable foolishness and say, “Just as I am, I come.” As long as you have even the least bit of spiritual disrespect, it will always reveal itself in the fact that you are expecting God to tell you to do something very big, and yet all He is telling you to do is to “Come….”

Come to Me… —Matthew 11:28


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