Snake Bite Healing

Jesus said to Nicodemus: “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” 

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:13-17)

According to Numbers, Yahweh punished the people by sending serpents to bite them.  The people complained against Moses and God.  The people then turned to Moses for help; they confessed they had sinned; and they asked Moses to pray to Yahweh to remove the serpents.  

At Yahweh’s command, Moses made a bronze serpent and raised it on a pole.  When the people looked at the serpent, they were healed. This healing was linked to obedience and faith.  This story is about a pattern of rebellion-punishment-intercession-forgiveness.

When we look up at Jesus on his cross high above the altar at Christ the King, do we feel healed of our pain and sorrows?  Jesus was lifted-up like the serpent.  From the cross, Jesus recognizes our rebellions (such as lies and other sins) and our self-induced punishments of guilt and sorrow.  He intercedes for us with the Father, and we are forgiven.  We are healed and saved from the pain of shame and regret that can feel eternal when we refuse the snake-bite remedy we call our Christ.

[Note: Doctors heal, thus the snake(s) on poles as their symbols.]

Deacon David Pierce