The Bronze Serpent and Jesus

The Bronze Serpent and Jesus

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up . . . .” John 3:14.

We read that Israel murmured against God and Moses. So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people that bit them, and many of the people of Israel died. Then Moses prayed for the people, and the Lord said to him: “‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.’” Read Numbers 21:5-9.

When Moses raised up the serpent, it was a testimony to the fact that it was dead. If someone was bitten by a serpent, he lived if he looked up to the bronze serpent. The bronze serpent was a testimony to all those who believed that all serpents were dead. The mortal poison had lost its power.

Satan came in the form of a serpent and led our first parents astray. The poison he injected has permeated all generations and caused them to suffer a spiritual death—a death in trespasses and sins. Eph. 2:1. Not only that, but mankind became so degenerate that the name “vipers” is an appropriate name for them. Jesus and John the Baptist both used this expression for those who were supposed to be God’s people. Luke 3:7; Matt. 12:34, 23, 33. To put an end to this state of affairs the incident in the wilderness had to be repeated, but in a much deeper sense.

Nothing happened by the bronze serpent as such. It was neither good nor bad; but it pointed to a time when the real serpent was to be killed and the poison of sin was to be destroyed. The bronze serpent was a shadow of reality because this work was to be done in Jesus. Therefore God had to send His only begotten Son and let Him be born into mankind and partake of flesh and blood like the children. Heb. 2:14; Rom. 1:3-4. This is how God could condemn sin in the flesh and destroy Satan’s poison. Rom. 8:3. As the Son of Man Jesus partook of the will of man, and while He was obedient to His Father, He said, “Not My will, but Your will be done.” Thus He put our self-will to death. He became the last Adam who opened up the way of obedience for us—the way which the first Adam had interrupted. Heb. 5:7-9; 10:20. By dying to His self-will—Satan’s poison—He destroyed him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. Paul says it like this: “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin destroyed, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” Rom. 6:6. Therefore Jesus says, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up . . . .” It was the Son of Man who was raised up. Therefore Paul could say that if One died for all, then we all died (2 Cor. 5:14), and our old man was crucified with Him. Thus the work of putting the viper to death was done in Jesus. Just as they could look up to the bronze serpent in the wilderness and live, so we, by faith in Jesus’ work, can reckon ourselves dead indeed to sin, but alive to God. Rom. 6:11.

Today many people do not see anything more in Jesus than in the bronze serpent. They say that the bronze serpent was only an image of the fiery serpents, and there was no poison in it. And so Jesus was also just an image of mankind, and no work was done in Him. They plead that Jesus came only in the likeness of sinful flesh, but they overlook the fact that God condemned sin in this likeness. Rom. 8:3. Consequently, they do not believe in victory over sin. If Jesus did not overcome sin, who should then overcome it? Of course, none of them are so conceited that they believe they should be the first one. However, we who have received faith in the work that God did in His Son in the days of His flesh, we believe in victory, and we proclaim it with great boldness. Jesus has become the foundation for our faith. We know that He was tempted in all things like we are. He was tried as the Son of Man in a flesh like ours, not just in an image. He was tried in having a will that had to be denied, but He was not tried in sinning, because we were not supposed to learn that. He was without sin in all His trials! This is what we are meant to learn! Seeing that we have a High Priest who knows our weaknesses, we can come boldly to the throne of grace to receive help in time of need. Heb. 4:15-16. Jesus is the first One who overcame; He also came with an eternal redemption from the power of the serpent. This is why He instructed Nicodemus with the following words: “You must be born again”—from being a viper to being a child of God. And Paul, together with many other God-fearing men and women was able to say: “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ . . . .” 2 Cor. 2:14.