Sunday's Message - When Is the Cross Like a Snake on a Pole?

Here's the message I offered during the celebration services in the First United Presbyterian Church of Mingo Junction, Ohio on Sunday, March 14, 2020.

John 3:14-21 [Contemporary English Version]

And the Son of Man must be lifted up, just as that metal snake was lifted up by Moses in the desert. Then everyone who has faith in the Son of Man will have eternal life.

God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them! No one who has faith in God’s Son will be condemned. But everyone who doesn’t have faith in him has already been condemned for not having faith in God’s only Son.

The light has come into the world, and people who do evil things are judged guilty because they love the dark more than the light. People who do evil hate the light and won’t come to the light, because it clearly shows what they have done. But everyone who lives by the truth will come to the light, because they want others to know that God is really the one doing what they do.

When Is the Cross Like a Snake on a Pole?

When I was in 4th grade, I got what would become my favorite book of all time. As a matter of fact, I treasure it so much that I’ve kept with me for almost 55 years, and if I had a couple weeks, I’m sure I could find it in one of boxes down in my basement. Of course, given the fact that I’m up here preaching, I wish I could say it was my first Bible, but it wasn’t. Instead, it was something far more valuable to a ten-year-old boy: 101 Elephant Jokes. Man, I used to read it over and over again. Now even though it said “jokes” on the cover, they were actually riddles. And although they were all gold, as I remember, I really loved the ones that were in series. Let me give you a couple of examples. “Why do elephants paint their toenails red? So they can hide in cherry trees. Have you ever seen an elephant in a cherry tree? (they will say NO). Works, doesn't it?!” Or how about this: “How do you know there have been elephants in the fridge? There are footprints in the butter. Why do elephants paint their ears yellow? That's not paint, its butter.” Man, I thought those jokes were great. But my favorite, were these two riddles, and let me warn you, I’m only going to give you the first right now. You’ll have to wait for the second. OK, here it goes: “Why is it dangerous to walk in the jungle between 3 and 4 in the afternoon? That's when the elephants jump out of the trees.” Now trust me, I’ll give you the second one in a little bit. Let’s just say, when I was ten, these riddles were considered really groovy.

But I’ll tell you, we all know someone else who was into riddles: Jesus Christ. Man, he just loved them, and he used to tell them all the time. You see, the Greek word for riddle was παραβολή, in other words, parable. And if you’ve spent any time in the gospels, you know he taught with parables all over the place. And you know, I think we’ve sort of riddle right here at the beginning of the passage we read this morning, you know, when he said, “And the Son of Man must be lifted up, just as that metal snake was lifted up by Moses in the desert.”[John 3:14, CEV] I mean, when he compared himself being lifted up with what Moses lifted up in the desert, well, it’s like he was asking the question I used as the title of the sermon: When is the cross like a snake on a pole? You see, to understand Jesus’s point, this is the question we need to answer. And I’ll tell you, that’s exactly what we’re going to do this morning. We’re going to compare the cross with that metal snake. And you know, when we do that, I think we’re going to have a better understanding of three things: first, who we are; second, what God offers; and third, how we can respond. You see, we’re going get all that when we answer the question: When is the cross like a snake on a pole? 

Of course, coming up with any kind of answer is really impossible until we understand what Jesus was talking about. And although we might have a fairly decent understanding of the cross, especially since Jesus sort of dealt with that in the rest of the passage we read, this business about a metal snake might be a little murky. As a matter of fact, we might not realize that it’s based on a story from the Old Testament, the Book of Numbers. Now this is how it goes:

The Israelites had to go around the territory of Edom, so when they left Mount Hor, they headed south toward the Red Sea. But along the way, the people became so impatient that they complained against God and said to Moses, “Did you bring us out of Egypt, just to let us die in the desert? There’s no water out here, and we can’t stand this awful food!”

Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes that bit and killed many of them.

Some of the people went to Moses and admitted, “It was wrong of us to insult you and the Lord. Now please ask him to make these snakes go away.”

Moses prayed, and the Lord answered, “Make a snake out of bronze and place it on top of a pole. Anyone who gets bitten can look at the snake and won’t die.”

Moses obeyed the Lord. And all of those who looked at the bronze snake lived, even though they had been bitten by the poisonous snakes. [Numbers 21:4-9, CEV]

Now that’s the story about the metal snake that was lifted up by Moses in the desert, an image that Jesus compared to what will happen to him when he is lifted up on the cross.

And you know, like I said just a minute ago, when we bring these two stories together, I believe they can offer three pretty clear reminders to us. For example, first, they remind of who we are, in other words, who we are in what you could call our natural state, you know, before God opens our eyes and touches our hearts. I mean, just like we see in the two stories, left on our own, I believe we all tend to struggle with faith, you know, trusting God and I’m talking about trusting in both his power and his love. Put another way, faith is just plain hard, especially when we look at the problems that come up in our country and community and congregation and within our friendships and families and certainly within ourselves. Let’s get real, all that make faith challenging. And since a lot of what we see ain’t good, naturally, we start to wonder about  whether the problem might be with God. My gosh, why do good, innocence, righteous people suffer? Could it be that God either can’t do anything about it or chooses not to act? Maybe, or so we might think. And I’ll tell you, that might explain some of the stuff we choose to do, and this is certainly something we see in both stories. For example, because they doubted that God was concerned about their condition, man, that’s why those Israelites in the desert “...complained against God and said to Moses, ‘Did you bring us out of Egypt, just to let us die in the desert? There’s no water out here, and we can’t stand this awful food!’” [Numbers 21:5, CEV] And when people are afraid that God really doesn’t love them, naturally, they’re going to feel this way toward God: “The light has come into the world, and people who do evil things are judged guilty because they love the dark more than the light. People who do evil hate the light and won’t come to the light, because it clearly shows what they have done.” [John 3:19-20, CEV] You see, I think folks who complain about and hide from God, man, they both show a lack of faith. And that’s something we can see when we bring the two stories together. And sadly, whether it involved snakes or separation, it’s also pretty clear that folks who don’t have faith also suffer the consequences. Their lack of trust results in what you could call a spiritual sickness, a poisoned relationship with God and a sense of detachment from him. You see, I believe both the cross and the snake on a pole remind us of who we are. We are sinners. And when taken together, that’s the first thing these two images do. But of course, that’s not all. 

Because second, I think they also remind us of what God offers, and I’m talking about what God offers to all those folks who complain and hide and who doubt and fear, in other, men and women who sort of struggle with their faith and trust. I mean, just think about what God did in the wilderness. When some of the people accepted their responsibility, God acted to resolve the problem for which they were responsible. You see, right there in the desert, he gave them a tangible sign of his power and his love. Remember, after the people cried out, “Moses prayed, and the Lord answered, ‘Make a snake out of bronze and place it on top of a pole. Anyone who gets bitten can look at the snake and won't die.’” [Numbers 21:7b-8, CEV] Now that’s what happened in the wilderness. And I’ll tell you something, Jesus did the same thing for all those folks who were hiding in the dark. A little later, in the Gospel of John, “Jesus went on to say, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, you will know who I am. You will also know that I don’t do anything on my own. I say only what my Father taught me. The one who sent me is with me. I always do what pleases him, and he will never leave me.’” [John 8:28-29, CEV] And after that, he’ll say, “‘This world’s people are now being judged, and the ruler of this world is already being thrown out! If I am lifted up above the earth, I will make everyone want to come to me.’ Jesus was talking about the way he would be put to death.” [John 12:31-33, CEV] You see, in both stories, God gave his people a tangible sign of his power and authority as well as his love and grace. And these symbols are just as important for us as they were for them. In other words, they tell us that God has done all that needs to be done to address the sickness and the poison and the detachment that comes from our lack of faith. And because of that, I believe both the cross and the snake on the pole remind us of what God offers. You see, he offers healing. And when taken together, that’s the second thing these two images do.

And third, right along with reminding us of who we are and what God offers, I think both the cross and the bronze snake remind us of how we can respond. And I think this is really important, because even though God has offered everything we need to be healed right here and right now, he doesn’t force us to accept it or to believe it, does he. That decision is really up to us. And that’s certainly true in both the stories we read. I mean, as it happened to the people with Moses in the wilderness, God didn’t just miraculously heal everybody nor did he take away all the snakes. Instead, according to Numbers, “And all of those who looked at the bronze snake lived, even though they had been bitten by the poisonous snakes.” [Numbers 21:9b, CEV] You see, to experience healing, people needed to look. And according to what Jesus said, “The light has come into the world, and people who do evil things are judged guilty because they love the dark more than the light. People who do evil hate the light and won’t come to the light, because it clearly shows what they have done. But everyone who lives by the truth will come to the light, because they want others to know that God is really the one doing what they do.” [John 3:19-20, CEV] You see, to experience life, people would need to come. And I’ll tell you, I believe we can apply this to ourselves as well. And you know, even though it might not make all the snakes go away or make the darkness completely disappear, when we choose to look and to come, when we choose to believe and to trust, man, we’re going to be healed; we’re going to live. In other words, we’re going to experience a new relationship with our creator right here and right. And isn’t this exactly what God planned from the beginning. I mean, remember, according to what Jesus said in the passage we read, “God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them!” [John 3:16-17, CEV] Now that’s what Jesus said. And you know, I think it’s really interesting that the word translated “save” in that last verse is the Greek word σῴζω, which can also mean “make whole” and “heal.” You see, I believe both the cross and the snake on the pole remind us of how we can respond. And brothers and sisters, we can respond by trusting him. And when taken together, I think that’s the third thing these two images do.

Now, do you remember the riddle I gave you a little while ago from my 55-year-old book, 101 Elephant Jokes: “Why is it dangerous to walk in the jungle between 3 and 4 in the afternoon? That’s when the elephants jump out of the trees.” Well, I said that there’s a second one that sort of builds on the first, and here it is: “Why are pygmies so small? They walked in the jungle between 3 and 4 in the afternoon.” Get it. Trust me, those two riddles were a big hit back in Mrs. Davis’s fourth grade class. But I’ll tell you, I think the riddle we’ve been considering this morning is even more important, certainly to us right here and right now. You see, when we consider what Jesus said and what Moses did, I believe we can understand that we’re sinners and that God offers healing and that we can respond by trusting him. And so, when it serves as a reminder of who we are and what God offers and how we can respond, my friends, that’s when the cross is like a snake on a pole.