“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” John 3:14

This has always seemed like an odd connection to me, the serpent with the Christ. It sounds like we went in one door and came out another. Why did Jesus choose this strange tale of healing from a graven image to simulate the life he had to give?

When Moses contrived the image of the serpent on a pole, it seemed to foreshadow a violation of the second commandment: “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” (Deuteronomy 5:8). It seemed like a poor choice for a God who wanted to break his people of the habit of worshipping artifacts of nature. “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” (Numbers 21:8) Then Jesus had to cite this very passage to explain salvation to Nicodemus. What a mass of contradictions!

If we re-consider the New Testament along with the Old Testament stories, we could work from the more recent to the past. First, Jesus said lifting him up was like the poisonous snake on the pole, not that they were the same. So whoever looked on the icon of the snake or of Jesus would live. They were similar in that they healed those perishing from a fatal wound.

Second, the snake was not an object of worship, but an object of fear. To view one’s fear was the beginning of healing. Clearly the serpent on the pole inspired no reverence, but rather the image of death in the camps. To look upon this image was to trust God as the healer or deliverer from death. And so it was that God transformed what was fatal into life and healing.

Finally, Jesus obliterates the imagery of fear, “so whoever believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life.” We no longer look at what might kill us, but what will save us. The image of the serpent is replaced by the image of a loving God. “Those who believe in him are not condemned. . .”

But, of course, you can’t forget that haunting image of the serpent curled around a pole, and if you could, you’d have that healing image used by doctors and pharmacists even to this day: the serpent on the pole. Why do we persist with this archaic image of health? Are doctors reduced to waving the future cause of our death in our view?

When I look at this serpent I am reminded that I must face my fear before being healed of it. Even though a Savior and wonder drugs are behind this symbol, the serpent is there to remind us we are sick, and we need a physician. How easily we forget this when modern medicine and forgiveness are so accessible in our lives. How easy it is to pop the pill of cheap grace and skip over the repentance, when Jesus has been lifted up in place of the serpent on the pole.

In fact I would always consider the serpent in the wilderness a quaint story, except that Jesus had to make a point of it. What is the point? I finally asked. The point is to confront my fear before claiming the forgiveness I can depend on.