John 3:13-21 (ESV)

¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ²¹ But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

The conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus continued, as Jesus provided further explanation about heavenly things. Jesus took Nicodemus back to an interesting point in Israel’s history. The account is recorded in Numbers 21:4-9. When the people of God were wandering in the wilderness, they criticized both God and his servant Moses’ leadership. Because the people weren’t happy with their circumstances, God sent serpents among them to deliver venomous and deadly bites. Even though the people spoke against Moses, he cried out to God on behalf of the nation and asked God to forgive them. In response, God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. Then Moses was to lift the serpent up on the pole. The people who looked at the serpent on the pole were saved. Jesus taught Nicodemus that in the same way he himself would be lifted up, so that whoever looked at or trusted in him would be saved. What did Jesus mean by the phrase “lifted up”? John actually used this phrase four times in his Gospel to mean “lifted up” on the cross. Nicodemus had no clue about Jesus’ future, but Nicodemus would have understood the account of the serpent in the wilderness. It is interesting to consider whether Nicodemus remembered this conversation when he saw Jesus on the cross.

Nicodemus, like the rest of humanity, needed to turn to Jesus as his only hope for life. In the Numbers account, not all of the people were saved. Some refused to look at the serpent on the pole that Moses set up. Why would they not look? Stubbornness? Pride? Did they feel they didn’t need God’s help? Who knows! In the same way, some will refuse to trust in Jesus. Why? Stubbornness? Pride? Maybe they feel they don’t need God’s help. But for those of us who have looked to Jesus or trusted in Jesus, what a relief to know that we have been healed of the venomous effects of our sin! And we aren’t merely preserved in this life, but we have eternal life that no one can take away from us. Is it because we were good? No. We are saved simply because we have turned to Jesus as our only hope. God sent his Son to save the world. Pray that those you know and love would be graced with the faith necessary to turn their eyes upon Jesus and be saved.