In His conversation with Nicodemus in John 3, Jesus stated, “I assure you: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (v. 3). In elaborating on being born again, He went on to speak of being born spiritually, or being born “of the Spirit” (v. 6). Then a few sentences later Jesus went on to speak of Himself: “No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life” (vv. 13-15).
Much theology is present in all Jesus said to Nicodemus. Indeed, countless volumes have been written about it. Yet for us at this point, it is important to see the clear connection Jesus drew between being born spiritually and Himself. The two are inseparably intertwined, so much so that a person cannot be born spiritually without relying on or looking to Jesus. Jesus referred to a true historical event, the “snake in the wilderness,” to illustrate this this truth.
When the Israelites were making their way through the wilderness to the promised land, they grumbled and complained numerous times. In Numbers 21:4-9, the people had “set out from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea to bypass the land of Edom” (v. 4). Yet they “became impatient because of the journey” (v. 4) and complained against Moses and God. No bread! No water! Terrible food! So the Lord disciplined His people by sending poisonous snakes among them. Many were bitten and many died—so the ailing people came to Moses and asked him to plead with the Lord for mercy. The Lord was not only merciful, but gracious as well. Yet He didn’t just heal everyone on the spot; He required something of them. What God required was so easy no one could take any credit for being healed, but it also was very difficult because the very act of obeying God meant admitting wrong and acknowledging utter helplessness and dependence on God for healing. The Lord told Moses to mount the image of a snake on a pole. “When anyone who is bitten looks at it,” God said, “he will recover” (v. 8). So Moses crafted a bronze snake and affixed it to a pole that he lifted up for the people to see. And all who had been bitten and looked at the snake were restored to health.
What a vivid picture this is of what people need to do to receive salvation through Jesus! Just as the snake was lifted up on a pole in the open wilderness to make healing possible, Jesus was lifted up publicly on a cross and died (see John 12:32-33) to make it possible for spiritually dead people to live. In looking on the snake for healing, one had to exercise faith; likewise, faith is essential when one looks to Jesus for eternal life. This is why Jesus said, “the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life” (John 3:14-15, emphasis added). But in no case could, or can, anyone take any credit for healing or for receiving eternal life. All of it was—and is—of God.
Copyright © 2017 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations in this article have been taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.