The Bronze Serpent

The Bronze Serpent

13No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of
Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:13-15

The mission of Jesus Christ is the most difficult mission anyone has ever had to
accomplish. He had to come to earth, the very heart and home of the enemy, and he had to do it
by leaving his divinity back in heaven. He had to come down without any protection himself and
had to completely trust his Father in protecting him through the Spirit. He was born a baby, with
all the human limitations of a baby. Then he had to grow up as a child, teen and then adult
surrounded by human sinners who were also brothers, friends and strangers. Sometimes we feel
like we are different from everyone else but in Jesus’ case it was real. He truly was different.
And why did he do all that sacrifice to come down to the earth? He came to be a blood
sacrifice. When Moses put up that bronze serpent, it pointed to Jesus. It’s a strange sight
considering a serpent is usually connected with the devil. In this case it symbolized sin being
killed on a cross and that is what Jesus did. Before he carried that cross he put on himself the sins
of the world. He held tightly to those sins, as much as they hurt, and dragged them down to death
where they could be separated from us.

Jesus died surrounded by sin. Not of it was his own, being perfect, but their staining
effect was on his soul. He felt like a sinner in those moments as he held on to the sins. The sins
disconnected him from the Father. That is why Jesus yelled out “My God, My God, why have
you forsaken me?” And he did all this while the very people he was trying to save was mocking
and laughing at him.

But with all of that Jesus still went forward with his mission. Not only that but he
accomplished it perfectly. He lived for years in a sinful world behind enemy lines but came out
victorious. He resurrected with victory over the world, Satan and sin itself. He did what no one
else could ever do.

So what is our part in this mission of salvation? We just need to believe and accept the
gift of salvation. With that simple act we can have eternal life. Is that something you can do? It’s
so simple compared to what Jesus had to do. That is a loving God.

Blessings
Pr. Steven Couto