Living Stones – Thursday, November 23, 2017
Lifted up
John 3:14
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up …
The conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus gets to the place where Jesus is pushing him to connect the Old Testament teaching in such a way that he sees Jesus as the fulfilment of what it symbolises and predicts. Jesus then makes what, for me, is a very strange Old Testament reference that I still struggle to totally understand.
Jesus tells Nicodemus that, as He is lifted up, “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” In making that statement Jesus uses an analogy from the story of the plague of firey serpents in the wilderness.
In Numbers 21:4-9 we see the disgruntled and complaining children of Israel becoming victims of an attack of serpents. “So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.” Later the people repented and God put a plan in place for their healing. “Then the Lord said to Moses, “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.””
This story would have been easily understood as a comparison with Jesus if the story ended there, but there is more. This bronze serpent that Moses made was not discarded after the incident in the wilderness. The people carried it to the Promised Land, kept it, and over time it became an object of worship.
The people, whose God, in Exodus 20:4-5, told them, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them,” are the same people who were worshipping the bronze snake.
Fortunately, Hezekiah became king and put an end to that practice. “He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan.” 2 Kings 18:4
Jesus says to Nicodemus, “… the Son of Man [must] be lifted up,” in order that “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” In churches in our part of the world today, we often tackle this issue of lifting up Jesus in songs and corresponding actions. A good example is the chorus “Lift Jesus higher” here are the lyrics.
Lift Jesus higher / Lift Jesus higher / Lift Him up for the world to see / He said if I be lifted up from the earth / I will draw all men unto me
When this chorus is sung, many display the corresponding hand motions to show the ‘lifting up’ of Jesus.
What does it really mean for Jesus to be “lifted up”? Teachers have many views on this. Some say that it referred to Jesus being “lifted up” on the cross. There is validity to that position. Jesus, up on the cross, became the one to whom we could look for healing from sin and sickness, “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.” 1 Peter 2:24
The view of others is that Jesus was “lifted up” when he ascended into heaven. Acts 5:30-31 says “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” And Philippians 2:9 “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,”
But is the “lifting up” of Jesus a one-time event in the past at His crucifixion or His ascension? Or is the “lifting up” the thing we do with our hands and songs in church? I believe that these questions are crucial because the people of God have gotten it wrong before. After the serpent incident, they held on to an artifact that became an idol. We too can hold on to things that obscure the real action that’s required.
While we must praise Jesus in our worship, the context here in which Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus is not just to put a song on the song list for the next service, it is for us to focus on the salvation of men’s souls. It is not for us to have a good time in church, it is for us to cause men to ‘believe on Him and have eternal life.”
We should be out there “lifting up” the name of Jesus among those who are being bitten by “firey vipers” because of their sin. Not just dancing and pushing out hands up in church to feel good about ourselves.
Think on these things:
- We lift up Jesus in worship but how could Jesus be “lifted up” in our day-to-day engagements that others might be able to look to Him in their circumstances?
- Has anyone ever asked you about your faith in Jesus and how that helps you face the various issues and challenges of life?
- Do you know how to actually introduce someone to Jesus if they shared a problem with you or if you were to visit them in a hospital?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that as we spend time at work, school, and in various social settings, those around us would see Jesus “lifted up”.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex