Nicodemus
had witnessed Jesus’ cleansing of the temple. He saw Jesus heal the sick and
comfort and feed the poor. Nicodemus knew that what Jesus was doing were some
of what the prophets of old had prophesied. Only One with authority from heaven
could cleanse the House of God and perform such miracles. Nicodemus also knew
that throughout scripture, God’s people were taken captive by other nations
when they went against God. God’s people were now under the rule of the Romans.
All these things stirred Nicodemus’ heart to hear more from Jesus.
Knowing Nicodemus’ dedicated life in service to
God and his study of the scriptures, Jesus didn’t directly answer Nicodemus’
question about being born anew. Nicodemus is looking through “natural” eyes,
but Jesus is teaching a “spiritual” truth. The “natural” person cannot understand
the “spiritual” unless they are born of the Spirit. Instead of responding
directly to Nicodemus’ question about being born anew, Jesus went right to the
heart. The Jewish religious leaders believed that strict adherence to the Law
would entitle them to a place in heaven. Jesus is upending this premise with
His words. In the minds of humanity, Nicodemus who was an honored and renowned
servant of God and His Law would certainly be welcomed into God’s spiritual
kingdom, but Jesus is spiritual and is teaching spiritual truth. Jesus said to
Nicodemus, “I tell you the truth, no one
can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” Jesus
really isn’t saying anything new. The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel had
prophesied that God said His people needed a new heart and a new Spirit and He
would give both to them. (see Isaiah
64:6; Jeremiah 24:7; Ezekiel 36:26-27)
No human can earn
a place in heaven. Like Nicodemus, next to Jesus all of humanity is unclean and
unholy. Only a Holy One could atone for the sin of humanity by His grace. And
only the Holy One can give the Holy Spirit of God. It is the pure blood of Jesus
shed on the cross that atones for all sin. It is the resurrection power of
Jesus that gives the Holy Spirit to everyone who believes in Him. Jesus is
teaching this to Nicodemus. He wants Nicodemus to understand Jesus’ heart and
mission. Jesus’ anointed Truth is beginning to penetrate Nicodemus’ mind. The
seed of truth has been planted. God will help it grow. Unlike the other
religious leaders, Nicodemus continued to watch and listen to Jesus’ words,
actions and deeds. No doubt Nicodemus remembered the words of Isaiah, Jeremiah
and Ezekiel which kept him listening to Jesus.
Jesus gives
Nicodemus another example in the Older Testament that Nicodemus would be
familiar with – Numbers 21:4-9. Jesus
will compare this event to Himself.
Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted
up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone
who believes in Him may have eternal life.” John 3:14
The whole Truth could not be known
until Jesus because He is the whole of Truth. God revealed his plan of
salvation and deliverance through His Son Jesus in types and shadows in the
Older Testament. Moses and the serpent on the pole are a foreshadowing of what
Jesus would do in the spiritual.
Numbers 21:4-9
God’s people have been traveling through the desert. They became
discouraged and impatient because it was taking so long to reach their
destination – the Promised Land. The people began to murmur and complain
against God’s provision of the manna and water and His chosen and anointed
servant Moses. “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the
desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this horrible
food!” Numbers 21:5 Their ingratitude toward God and their attack upon
God’s anointed one opened the door for the work of the devil. In the New Testament a similar thing
happened. The Pharisees, Sadducees and members of the Sanhedrin Council also
loathed Jesus, the Anointed Bread and the water sent from heaven to feed the
spiritual hunger and thirst of God’s people. Jesus is the Manna of heaven and
the Rock that sent the water of the Holy Spirit. The Pharisees like the
Jews in the wilderness spoke against God’s Anointed One – Jesus. There is a
consequence in touching God’s anointed ones. God says in scripture, “Touch
not My anointed ones and do My prophets no harm.” (1 Chronicles 16:22; Psalm
104:15)
Then the Lord sent venomous snakes (a brood of
vipers) among
them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. V6 God sent Divine
judgment through the brood of vipers. When God’s people reject God’s
provision and speak against His anointed ones, God acts. There was no way God’s
wrath could be reversed except through confession, repentance, intercession,
faith and obedience to God’s Word. Jesus did all of this for us. His
blood reversed the curse for sin. When we confess our sin and repent, Jesus
forgives our sin. He is our Mediator and Intercessor before the Father.
The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against
the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from
us.” So Moses prayed for the people. V6-7 The people confessed their sin
against God and Moses. Then they asked Moses to be their mediator and
intercessor before God. He did so because they had confessed and repented of
their sin. (Moses is a type and shadow of Christ as the Servant-Ruler,
Lawgiver, Mediator and Intercessor between God and His people)
God honored the intercession of His chosen, anointed servant Moses
and told Moses what to do to deliver and heal His people. “Make a snake and
put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” So Moses
made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a
snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.” Numbers 21:8-9 The Hebrew
word for pole is nec meaning banner, standard or a sign. God is
telling Moses to make an image of what is killing His people and lift it up on
a pole for all to see. Moses had faith in God and obeyed His instruction. Why a
bronze serpent? Bronze is the metal of sin and judgment. The serpent represents
sin and the devil. This was a fiery serpent! The devil is going to end up in a
lake of fire in the end. God was telling the Israelites to look at the source
of their pain and sin, turn from it and they will be healed and live. In other
words, “look, turn and live!” The poison of sin fueled by the serpent (devil)
brings spiritual death, not spiritual life. All of humanity are born with
the serpentine nature (sin) because of the original sin in the Holy
Garden of God in Genesis. We are all descended from Adam, so we all must look
at the fact that we are all sinners. God wants us to look at our sin and its
source, not ignore it. Then turn from our sin and be spiritually
alive.
Those bitten
by the snakes on the ground must “look up” for their deliverance and healing.
This was a physical healing. The healing power wasn’t in the serpent; it was
God working and showing His people the cause of their pain. Recognizing this,
they were healed and turned their thoughts and lives back to God.
The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up
Jesus is using the lifting up of the serpent on a pole to teach
Nicodemus about His eternal salvation and deliverance which gives eternal
spiritual life and healing. The Israelites were saved and received physical
healing, restoration and life by looking up to the bronze serpent on a pole. In
the New Testament Jesus was lifted up on the cross to save us from eternal
spiritual death. Moses’ faith and obedience to God’s Word brought physical
healing and deliverance to those who looked at the serpent on the pole. Jesus’
faith and obedience to God even unto death on the cross brought eternal
spiritual deliverance, eternal spiritual healing and eternal spiritual life to
all who believe in His finished work on the cross. Jesus also suffered and died
to give us victory over the serpent and his poisonous bites (sin). The
serpent had his head crushed by Jesus on the cross in fulfillment of Genesis
3:15. Unfortunately, the serpent is still active in the hearts and minds of
humans through our fleshly nature until Jesus destroys the devil and his
demonic host forever in the lake of fire in the belly of the earth. (see
Revelation 20:10-15) Until then, Jesus has given us the power of the Holy
Spirit and Truth to ward off the attacks of the enemy of the souls of humanity.
As you may recall, John the Baptist
and Jesus called the Pharisees and other religious leaders who opposed them a “brood
of vipers.” (see Matthew 3:7; Luke 3:7; Matthew 12:34; Matthew 23:33) Instead
of accepting Jesus, they were always nipping at His heels (Genesis 3:15) to
prove Him wrong. As the teachers of Israel, these religious leaders were
keeping God’s people from the Truth and the Messiah. The venom (untruth and
hatred) of this “brood of vipers” was preventing people from
receiving eternal life. Many Israelites would remain dead in sin because
these religious leaders talked and fought against Jesus instead of leading the
Jews to Him for eternal life. The Romans (gentiles) also nipped at
Jesus’ heels keeping people from coming to Jesus for eternal life. Keep in mind
that Nicodemus is a Pharisee! Jesus using this event in the Older Testament
must have troubled Nicodemus. Brothers and sisters in Christ, the devil will
continually nip at your heels to keep you from receiving all that God has
provided through His chosen and precious Son Jesus. Rely upon the power of the
Holy Spirit and Word to defeat the wiles of the devil, just as Jesus did. The
ways of Jesus are the antidote to the ways of the devil. Jesus provided the
Way, the Truth and the Life. The power of His blood and resurrection will breathe
new life in the Spirit and in Truth into us.
Jesus became a curse for us. (see
Galatians 3:13) He was made sin on our behalf. (see 2 Corinthians 5:21) He
bore our sins in His body. (see 1 Peter 2:4) Jesus came in the
likeness of flesh but He had no sin. No other human can make this claim.
Therefore, God had to send His Holy Son to save, deliver, heal and give us the
power of the Holy Spirit to defeat sin and the devil. The work of the bronze
serpent was temporary, but Jesus’ work on the cross is permanent and eternal.
Jesus became the bronze serpent for us. Just as the vipers poisoned the
disobedient Israelites, all of humanity is poisoned by sin. The cross of Jesus
Christ is God’s emblem of freedom from sin and Divine judgment for sin. Jesus
bore the wrath of God for sin for us. Because of Jesus, God is for us, not
against us.
Jesus is our banner/standard. God
wants His people to allow the Word and the Holy Spirit to put our sinful flesh
to death so we will walk in the abundant spiritual life and glory that Jesus’
death on the cross provides. Every sinner’s destiny is based upon his or her
response to God and His Word. Those who respond to Jesus who is the Word of God
and obey it will be healed and receive eternal life. God illustrated what
happens when His people reject God’s provision. Jesus is the Bread and Water of
Life. Jesus said in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me
will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty…..it was
not Moses who has given you the bread of heaven, but it is My Heavenly Father
who give you the true bread of heaven, for the bread of God is He who comes
down from heaven, and gives life to the world.” The Jews pretty much
idolized Moses. Jesus is saying that it wasn’t Moses but God who sent the bread
of heaven. Jesus is the Living Bread of God sent from God. The manna in the
wilderness in the Older Testament maintained physical life, but Jesus, the
spiritual Bread of heaven, maintains eternal spiritual life.
Moses
lifted up the serpent of judgment and condemnation, but Jesus was lifted up not
to condemn and judge, but to save and show us the unfailing, undying love of
the Father through Him. “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but
whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed
in the name of God’s one and only Son.” V18 Jesus wanted Nicodemus and us
to understand this. Jesus is God’s gift to mankind, but a gift is not a gift
until it is received and opened.
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