Day 8 of 21
The Bronze Serpent: Lifted Up for Healing
Look and Live
Scripture Readings
Today's Reading
In the wilderness, Israel grumbles again, and God sends venomous serpents among the people. Many are bitten and die. When the people repent and cry out, God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole: "Everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live" (Numbers 21:8). Centuries later, Jesus points to this very event and says, "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" (John 3:14-15).
Reflection
This is one of the few Old Testament types that Jesus Himself explicitly identifies as pointing to His crucifixion. The connection is direct and authoritative: as the serpent was lifted up, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. The type and the antitype are linked by Jesus' own words.
The situation in Numbers 21 is desperate. The people are dying from serpent bites — the consequence of their own sin and rebellion. There is no natural remedy. The venom is fatal. And the solution God provides is strange and counterintuitive: He tells Moses to make a bronze image of the very thing that is killing them and to lift it high on a pole. Anyone who looks at it will be healed.
The symbolism is profound. The bronze serpent bears the image of the curse — it looks like the very thing that brings death — yet it becomes the instrument of life. In the same way, the cross bears the image of the curse. "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree" (Galatians 3:13). Jesus, who knew no sin, was made to be sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). He took on the likeness of our curse so that by looking to Him, we might live.
The means of healing is strikingly simple: look. Not perform a ritual, not achieve a standard, not undertake a pilgrimage — simply look. Spurgeon seized on this with characteristic directness: "Look to Christ and live! That is the whole gospel." The dying Israelite needed only to turn their gaze to the lifted serpent. The dying sinner needs only to turn their gaze to the lifted Christ.
Goldsworthy notes that because Jesus Himself draws the typological connection, this passage becomes one of the clearest types of the cross in the Old Testament. It is not a Christian reading imposed on the text but a reading authorized by Christ Himself.
Going Deeper
John 3:14-15 comes just before what is perhaps the most famous verse in the Bible: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). The bronze serpent narrative is the immediate context for this declaration. The image Jesus has in mind as He speaks of God's love is a dying people, a lifted-up remedy, and the simplicity of a saving look. This is the gospel in its most elemental form.
Key Quotes
“Look! That is all the dying Israelite had to do — look at the brazen serpent and live. Look to Christ and live! That is the whole gospel.”
“Jesus himself draws the typological connection between the bronze serpent and his own crucifixion, making this one of the clearest types of the cross in the Old Testament.”
Prayer Focus
Lord Jesus, You were lifted up on the cross so that everyone who looks to You in faith might live. Help me to keep my eyes fixed on You today.
Meditation
Salvation came to the dying Israelites through the simple act of looking. What does this tell you about the simplicity and accessibility of the gospel?
Question for Discussion
Why do you think we resist the simplicity of 'look and live'? What is it about human nature that wants to add conditions, rituals, or achievements to the act of simply trusting?