God So Loved The World

The Miracles of Jesus

March 10, 2024

Fourth Sunday in Lent

John 3:14-21; Numbers 21:5-9

“God so loved the world.”

I’ve never been a lover of snakes. On the other hand, my grandson Keegan likes snakes and is working towards breeding them to sell.

Whenever I think of snakes, I think of the first Indiana Jones movie. In “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Jones encounters a snake, a boa, in his friend’s plane. “I Hate Snakes,” Indiana Jones said. Later in the movie, he falls into an underground cavern with thousands of snakes. Of course, when he did fall in the cavern, he also located the Ark of the Covenant. 😊

***********************The Point**************************

In today’s devotion, we encounter a very familiar passage, John 3:16. What most skip over are the two verses before that.

Let’s take a moment and read the passages from John 3 as Jesus speaks with Nicodemus.  

  “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. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John 3:14-21

The serpent Jesus refers to is a direct reference to the book of Numbers:

“And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he takes away the serpents from us.” So, Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten when he sees it shall live.” So, Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”

Numbers 21:5-9

• The book of Numbers says that the people spoke against God and Moses. One would think that this was not grumbling once in a while. The people became quite outspoken, and their faith in God and His prophet Moses became weak.
• The rest of the story is pretty straightforward. God got mad, sent poisonous snakes into the camp, and a lot of Israelites died.
• Suddenly, they realized they had messed up. The Israelites knew they needed God’s help and Moses’ leadership.

How often does the same thing happen in our own lives? We get impatient waiting for God to answer our prayers, so we complain, grumble, and sometimes even turn away from God.

But one cool thing about God is that when we ask for His help and forgiveness, He acknowledges us and gives it to us.

• So, God instructs Moses to set a bronze serpent on a pole. If anyone got bitten by a snake, all they had to do was look at the bronze serpent, and they would live.

Let’s look at Jesus’ analogy to the bronze serpent again.

“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.”

Think about what Jesus is saying here.

• The snake was lifted up on a pole
• Jesus was lifted up on a cross
• Everyone who looked at the snake and believed it would heal them was healed.

The keyword is faith. The snake didn’t heal the people; God’s grace and the people’s faith healed them.

• Everyone who looks at Jesus in faith is saved.

In this case, we are saved from our sins.

We are saved from eternal death because of our faith and what Jesus did for us. Now, we will enjoy life everlasting.

Yes, God so loved the world that He sent His only Son. And remember, God sent Jesus for one reason, to save us. Sure, he taught us, healed the sick, raised the dead, and showed love and empathy to all. But, ultimately, Jesus came to save. Not just you and me, but through faith in Jesus, everyone can be saved.

Dear Jesus. We know you came to earth for one reason, to save us. Thank you for your sacrificial love, which, combined with our faith, has freed us from eternal damnation and opened the gate of eternity for us. Amen.