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Somewhere in the Bible it implies that Jesus would be treated like a snake, for us. It’s a stunning thought, especially when we think about the fact that Satan is pictured in Genesis and Revelation as the great serpent and deceiver of the world.
Yet Jesus, himself, makes the connection between himself and the snake. Imagine how confused his disciples must have been when they heard him say, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
They probably had long forgotten that comment on the night in which Jesus’ prediction came to pass. As the Teacher shared a last supper with his friends, they probably didn’t even make the connection between himself and the snake when he told them that one of them was going to lift up their heel against him (John 13:18). Looking back now, he seems to have been alluding to what God had predicted way back in the Garden when he said that although the Serpent would strike the heel of a descendant of the woman, that wounded heel would come against the head of the snake (Gen 3:15).
The difference, though, is that in the original prophecy, the heel, though wounded, takes out the snake. Now, during one of the most important holidays of the Jewish calendar, Jesus tells his disciples, as they break bread together, that one of them is going to lift his heel against him, as if he was a snake.
Yet this is exactly the reversal that Jesus seems to have anticipated—when he said that, as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.”
Who could have imagined such a convergence of thoughts—so that the very next words could be, “For God so loved the world…”
Seems to me that the familiarity of John 3:16 finds fresh light when seen in the context of the story that began in Genesis (Gen 3:15), and that rises to life-changing significance in the words immediately before (John 3:14-15)… and after (John 3:17-18).
When circumstances turn against us, it is so easy to wonder if God really loves us. Could there be a better answer in those moments than to remember what he endured as he was made sin… regarded as cursed by God, and treated like a snake on a pole… to give inexpressible meaning to the words, “For God so loved the world, that…
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