Effects of the venom of Sin

Scripture/Bible:  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 18 He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God. John 3:14-21

Reflection:  Some parables and texts have a valid literal meaning as well as a spiritual meaning which has equal or even more depth and verve.

In the case of the serpent (made of bronze) which Moses was asked to lift in the desert, in order that the people may be saved from the venomous bite of the desert reptiles, they had to believe first the words of Moses and then only to see.

Whereas here Jesus is calling for an ongoing belief, a living expression of trust in him, in order that we may be saved. 

We are in a way the victims of the venomous bite of the serpent; Satan. The manifestation of this poison is revealed to us in the Scriptures "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does good, not even one." Rom 3:10-12

We therefore carry in our being a sickness in which we often make every attempt to overcome the evil pulls we experience in our being; a push and pull, a struggle, which ultimately leads to death.   

Hence every one and all mortals are victims of the venomous bite of the serpent that first deceived our first parents.  They believed in the words of the serpent and subsequently disobeyed the voice of God which is life.

Though it was no perfect solution, yet the solution that God offered to them was to put in every effort and struggle with the law to help them to be on course; “for no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law.” Rom 3:20

There was no perfect solution offered by God in those days or at any time in the history of mankind except in the Cross, whereby the son of man must be lifted up on it.  Not a bronze or an image but a living victim who himself had to go through the pangs of death and enter the resurrection for our sakes.

  

"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." Acts 16:31

Prayer:  Lord, may I believe in you and all that you have given me, especially through the Church which you have founded, in order that I may enter the resurrection freed from the poison of sin.

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