The Serpent Lifted
Scripture Reading: John 3:14-15
As we continue to meditate on this text, we might be struck that the type of Christ here is a serpent. In the Old Testament account, the serpent was made of bronze. Bronze is a symbol of God’s righteous judgement. We see this in the Wilderness Tabernacle and then in the Temple. If you read the detailed descriptions of their construction, one thing you might notice is that inside the Tabernacle and Temple the metal components are all gold, but on the outside, we see bronze everywhere.
Don’t let the meaning escape you. Judgement must fall on sin before you can enter the glorious Presence.
But why would Jesus be pictured as a serpent? Of course, we know that the serpent is the original source of our trouble. It was the serpent that tempted Eve and that became the corrupting, killing force in the world. The point is not that Jesus was somehow changed into something other than what he is. The point is that Jesus took on Himself the guilt and punishment of sin.
The apostolic way of putting is, “He who knew no sin became sin for us.” The bronze serpent is a picture of the judgement that fell on Jesus so that we might be saved.
