The Lifted Serpent

*Adapted from a sermon given by Pastor Ruffin Hill

As Christmas approaches, our minds naturally turn toward the birth of Jesus. We think about Bethlehem, the manger, the angels, and the shepherds. We are thankful that the Bible tells us how He was born and where He was born. Yet one of the most meaningful statements about His coming is found not in a nativity scene, but in the purpose behind His name: “Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.”

That truth reminds us that Jesus did not come merely to be admired, but to save.

Recently we looked at several names given to Christ in Isaiah chapter 9. Now we turn to another powerful picture, one that Jesus Himself used to explain His mission. It comes from an unexpected place: Numbers chapter 21.

Before we return to that Old Testament passage, we need to remember a conversation recorded in John chapter 3. Jesus is speaking with Nicodemus, a religious man who knew the Hebrew Scriptures well. In that conversation, just before the famous words of John 3:16, Jesus said something striking:

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”

Nicodemus would have immediately known what Jesus was referring to. The story comes from Israel’s journey through the wilderness, and it carries a message that reaches all the way to the cross.

A People Discouraged and Ungrateful

In Numbers 21, the children of Israel are traveling through a difficult region called Edom. The journey is hard. The way is rough. They are tired, thirsty, and frustrated. Instead of trusting God, they allow their circumstances to shape their attitude.

They begin to complain, not just against Moses, but against God Himself. They question why they were delivered from Egypt, accusing God of bringing them into the wilderness to die. They even speak with contempt about the manna that God had faithfully provided, calling it “light bread.”

What they fail to see is that their problem is not the journey. Their problem is their hearts.

The Consequence of Sin

Scripture tells us that God sent fiery serpents among the people. These were venomous snakes, and many were bitten. Many died.

According to Deuteronomy, this region already contained serpents. What had changed was not the environment, but God’s protection. When the people persisted in rebellion and ingratitude, God removed His hedge of protection and allowed the consequences to come.

Sin always has consequences. Complaining against God may seem small to us, but it reveals a deeper issue of unbelief and pride. When the people were bitten, their attitude changed quickly. Pain has a way of doing that.

They came to Moses and said plainly, “We have sinned.” They asked him to pray that the Lord would take the serpents away.

Notice something important here. They did not excuse themselves. They did not blame their circumstances. They confessed their sin clearly and urgently.

God’s Plan, Not Man’s 

When Moses prayed, God did not remove the serpents. Instead, He gave a plan.

God instructed Moses to make a serpent of brass and place it on a pole. Anyone who had been bitten could look at the serpent and live.

At first glance, this plan makes little sense. There was no medicine involved. No antidote. No treatment. Just a command to look.

But this was God’s plan, and it worked.

The people did not have doctors, emergency rooms, or antivenom. There was no man-made cure available. Their only hope was obedience and faith in what God had provided.

This is where the picture becomes unmistakably clear.

A Picture of Our Condition

The serpent’s bite brought death. Scripture tells us that the sting of sin is death. All of humanity has been bitten by sin, and there is no human remedy for it.

No amount of good works, moral improvement, religious effort, or self-reformation can cure the sin problem. If there had been a human solution in the wilderness, the Israelites would have used it. But there was none.

The same is true today.

Religion is man’s attempt to fix himself. Salvation is God’s work of rescue.

The brazen serpent points us forward to Christ. Jesus told Nicodemus that just as the serpent was lifted up, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. The cross was not an accident. It was the plan of God.

The Simplicity of the Gospel

God’s plan of salvation is remarkably simple. “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

The world often mocks this simplicity. A Savior born of a virgin, living a sinless life, dying on a cross, and saving sinners through faith alone sounds foolish to human wisdom. Scripture tells us plainly that the message of Christ crucified is a stumbling block to some and foolishness to others.

But the foolishness of God is wiser than men.

Throughout Scripture, God has always worked in ways that confound human expectations. Naaman was healed by dipping in the Jordan River. Gideon won a battle with pitchers and lamps. Elijah prayed, and rain came after years of drought. None of it made sense apart from obedience and faith.

The cross is no different.

No Substitute, No Shortcut

The Israelites were not told to fight the snakes. They were not told to change their behavior first. They were not told to worship Moses. They were not given relics or rituals.

They were told to look and live.

Eight hundred years later, the people began worshiping the bronze serpent itself. King Hezekiah destroyed it, calling it what it truly was: a piece of brass. The object had no power. The power was in God alone. 

In the same way, there is no saving power in religious objects, traditions, or personalities. There is no saving power in baptism, church membership, good deeds, or moral reform.

Salvation comes through Christ alone.

A Personal and Immediate Cure

No one could look for another person. Each individual had to look for themselves. Salvation has always been personal.

The cure was also immediate. The moment they looked, they lived.

Salvation works the same way. When a sinner looks to Christ in faith, the work is done instantly. Growth takes a lifetime, but new life begins immediately.

Scripture says we were dead in trespasses and sins, but God made us alive. That is not poetry. That is reality.

Lift Him Up

Those who died in the wilderness did so for one of two reasons. Either they refused to look, or they never knew they could.

That truth places responsibility on us today.

God lifted Christ up on the cross. Now we lift Him up before the world. We do it through our testimony, our obedience, and our proclamation of the Gospel.

Jesus is not in the cradle anymore. He is not on the cross. He is not in the tomb. He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He is coming again.

The world does not need reformation. It does not need better programs or better politics. It needs Jesus.

And so do we.

There has never been, and never will be, another cure for the snakebite of sin. The remedy has already been provided.

Look to Him, and live