The New Birth (part 2) - Snakes and Old Chairs (John 3:9-15)

Sometimes it amazes me how Jesus just seems to know what it will take to help us understand. We struggle with His lessons and teaching and yet here He is, loving us and meeting us where we are. As we pick up the story of Nicodemus, we come to a very interesting point. Jesus seems to be a little bit frustrated with Nicodemus' inability to understand, or sheer stubbornness. And then, almost as if He takes a deep breath and starts over, Jesus gives the following seemingly simple illustration. In John 3:14-15 we read:

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

 

For any good Pharisee like Nicodemus this simple reminder from their past would speak volumes. You see, in the time that the Israelites where in the wilderness there came a point when the people rebelled against God (again). This time God allowed "fiery serpents" to enter the camp and begin poisoning the people. Of course they cried to Moses who talked to God on their behalf. God's response is listed in Numbers 21:8.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.”

Notice the conditions. For those bitten by the serpent (a metaphor for sin) they had to not only believe God would heal them, they had to actually look at the serpent on the pole (the image of what was killing them). For us Jesus would become that serpent on a pole, a Savior on the cross. And like the Israelites of old, we must not only believe that God will save us from the poison of sin, we must act on that belief by trusting ourselves to Him. The word "believe" in John 3:15 is an action verb meaning to trust in an active way. I once used the illustration of an old chair, to help people understand. Have you ever seen a chair that you needed to sit in. You have seen that chair used by many people. You have complete belief that the chair can hold you up. But, until you actually sit in the chair you have not demonstrated faith.

Salvation, or for that matter forgiveness from any kind of sin, takes not only knowing you have been bit by the poison, or your desire to be healed of it; it takes more than just believing that God can heal you of the poison; it must involve an active faith. In Proverbs 28:13 we are told...

He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.

We cannot just lay there and let sin's poison wreak havoc on our lives. We must look to the serpent on the pole, the cross of Christ, and move from belief to active faith. Only then will we truly know the wonder of God's forgiveness and healing in our lives. May we move from snakes in the grass to the rickety old chair of faith.