Newsletter 5/29/2025

And 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 3:14–15

Snakes are not exactly the most popular animals on the planet. There are a few folks out there who love the slithering sneaky reptiles, but most people would just as rather not have to deal with them. Every year about this time us foothill dwellers prepare for about 6 months of wariness. As the weather warms, the serpents emerge. Inevitably, eventually, you’ll see them. You are never ready for it and you’ll never know when or under what you’ll stumble upon them. But the snakes will come. 

The venomous rattlesnake is the only one worth worrying about. And over the last few years I’ve seen more of this kind than any of the others. I had to bludgeon one of them a number of weeks ago. I was retrieving some camping equipment out of the metal shop and I encountered a young rattler. My kids were with me and so it was going to have to die. One of my daughters asked if she could do the honors. I informed her that this was a job for daddy and that I didn’t want her to somehow get bitten. I didn’t have a shovel, so I found a large log of wood and proceeded to forcefully drop it upon the head of the snake. But he was a tough one and the first blow didn’t do the job. So I went in for round 2 and 3. All done. But in the process of the execution, I impaled my thumb with a particularly large splinter..if it could be called that being so big. The blood ran down my hand, the pain surged, but the snake died and my kids lived. 

The serpent issue goes a little deeper though. All throughout scripture there is generally one point of reference or key symbol used to to describe the Dark Rebel (Satan). The snake. In both Genesis and Revelation, God’s nemesis is represented as one. In some ancient cultures the serpent is used in occult worship. In religious terms, the serpent is never (or rarely ever) described as anything positive or good. Even the image of the dragon is linked to the serpentine motif. 

As I think about this, in context with the scripture in John 3, I find it a little disturbing that Jesus would compare himself to a snake. But there’s a reason. Jesus, speaking to Nicodemus, interjects a story from Jewish history. Numbers 21 records a rather tense moment. Here’s the summary. The people of God are complaining once again against God. The Lord withdraws his protection and poisonous vipers bite a number of people. They are naturally repentant once they start dying. Moses prays for them and God instructs Moses to make a bronze snake and hang it on a pole. The purpose was that when any ailing individual simply looked at the serpent, the symbol of their failure and punishment, they were instantly healed. And they lived.

Think about this. Jesus indicates that just like that serpent was lifted up on the pole, so He will be lifted up on the cross. Just as the snake represented both the sin of the people and the punishment for sin, so too Jesus became sin for us and bore the wrath of God on our behalf. As the people looked to the snake on the pole and found healing, so we look to the crucified Savior and healing for the soul is granted. As those spectators, who should have died from the snake bite, lived, so all who behold Jesus, though bitten by sin, will live forever. And Christ, symbolized by the serpent, takes a large log of wood and with it He crushes the power of the dragon. He’s impaled on the old rugged cross. The pain surges, the blood runs down, but He lives…and we live because of Him.

Pastor Dean