Articles

John / Chapter 3 / V14-15

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” ~Jn3:14-15

What does it mean to believe in Jesus? What is “saving faith” all about? When we talk about “belief” and “faith,” these are two abstract ideas difficult to be explained clearly. If we were to say that to qualify for salvation is perhaps a hundred good deeds or to attend church services for a year, it would definitely be much easier to grasp. To tell someone to receive salvation by “faith,” does cause some difficulties in understanding.

To help us in our understanding, the Lord used the example of how Moses lifted up the bronze snake in the desert, where all who looked upon the snake lived; to compare to how He was lifted up on the cross, so that all who looked upon Him received eternal life. Let us look at what happened during the time of Moses, to understand what it means to believe in Jesus and receive eternal life.

The Israelites then grumbled against God and Moses when the journey became weary and burdensome, so the Lord sent fiery snakes among them and many of the Israelites who were bitten died. The dead could have easily numbered several thousands or even tens of thousands. They started to come before Moses to confess their sins and pleaded with Moses to intercede with the Lord for them. When Moses prayed for them, God forgave their sins, and He instructed Moses how he could save the people who were bitten by the snakes. God told Moses, “make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” Moses followed the instructions of God and made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole, so that anyone who was bitten could look at the bronze snake and live.

The fiery snakes were probably a species of venomous snakes with very lethal poison such that those who were bitten were as good as dead. Those who had a stronger physique or were not so seriously poisoned probably took a longer time before they succumbed to the effects of the poison. But regardless, the results were the same for those who had been bitten; it was just a matter of time before they too died from the poison. However, we know that the people who had been poisoned did not die immediately, otherwise God would have just driven away the snakes and did not have to erect a bronze snake to heal the people. When the people were bitten by the snakes, they did not seek Moses for help straightaway, because by the time they came to Moses, many of the Israelites had already died. It is not hard for us to comprehend why they did this, for their hearts must have been filled with anger and discontentment against God. In their anger, it was natural for them not to seek immediate help from Moses. They would have also tried their own ways and means to treat the poisoning, through herbal remedies or the bleeding away of the poison. However, no matter what methods they used, they were unable to stop the poison from overpowering them one by one. As time passed, their loved ones started dying and the sound of crying and wailing filled the air. When all hopes were gone, they finally decided to send representatives to Moses, because they knew that only God was able to save them now.

After Moses made the bronze snake and lifted it up on a pole, the hearts of the congregation must be filled with doubts and disbeliefs: after all, they had exhausted all ways and means for a cure, how could a mere glance of a bronze snake heal them? How could it be so simple and effortless? Didn’t they need at least some sort of ointment to apply on their wounds? What did a glance at the bronze snake have to do with the poison in their bodies? Could God’s method really prove effective? Could His words be trusted? Many started off skeptical, however, after the first person looked at the snake and was healed, the masses followed to put their gaze upon the bronze snake. To their astonishment, with a mere look, the poison in their bodies completely vanished without a trace! They lived because they had followed the instruction of the Lord.

This is the definition of “faith” as described in the bible. What made the people decide to put their gaze at the bronze snake was faith, because the method used by God was different from any other known conventional methods of treatment and it totally defied the laws of nature and their logical understanding. The only thing they could do was to believe God, to have faith in His solution; to trust that by doing according to His prescribed method, which was by looking at the snake, their poison would be removed.

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, to save everyone afflicted by sin. As the poison of the snake destroys the body of a man, the poison of sin destroys the soul of a person. The salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ is vastly different from the methods that we commonly know. Many people try to do charitable deeds or to undergo severe punishments of the body so that they may eliminate the problem of sin and gain deliverance for their soul. If ten sins have been committed, it will be cancelled off by doing ten good deeds or by going through equal amount of sufferings, this sounds logical and fair. However, the method of our Lord does not require us to do anything on our part, all that we need to do is to solely trust Him to solve all our problems of sin. Just by looking at Christ on the cross, all our sins will be removed instantly and our souls will be saved.

Should the Israelites then decide that God’s way was too simple and unbelievable, and tried to use any other ways but to look at the bronze snake, they would all eventually perish from the poison. Similarly, if we decide that our good deeds are able to deliver our souls and we deny the salvation that God has prepared for us – to believe in Jesus, then we will inevitably suffer the consequence of condemnation of our souls. The meaning of “saving faith” is to redirect our faith and trust away from our own good deeds, and focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, to depend on Him alone for the salvation of our soul. In the past, we have trusted man’s way of salvation, now we are being offered the salvation of God. If we have once placed our trust in our feeble selves, for us to trust the almighty God now, is it a thing too difficult to do? Doesn’t God prove more reliable than mere flesh and blood?

Jesus Christ is the power of God, He is able to save all who believe in Him. The Israelites merely looked at the bronze snake and all the deadly poison in them was removed; today, if we look upon the Son of God – Jesus Christ, wouldn’t He prove more worthy and able to remove all our sins and deliver us from hell?