John 3:14-21. Look up and live!! 22/3/09
(14) Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, {15} that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. {16} "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. {17} For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. {18} Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. {19} This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. {20} Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. {21} But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
Here in this reading today Jesus picks up an Old Testament event to remind us of a simple basic truth that is ever so important for us. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so he himself must be lifted up so that all who believe in him may not die but have eternal life. Yes, here it is stressed again that we need to look up to Jesus: We need to trust in what is said and promised, or else we are still in trouble – big trouble. Now we have all heard this sort of message before – many times perhaps. Yet how often does it not go in one ear and probably out the other. It is nice: it is important: well sort of. That is what we have been told anyway; so we go along with it up to a point. Just enough to keep in touch, but in the meantime we will get on with life: get on with the other important things in life: we get on with doing what we want to do.
So we drop our eyes, and look around us. We think about our day to day life, and the focus shifts to us and what we do, think and say: what we would like to see happen and the way we would like things to go for us. When it doesn’t, we become impatient: we look to the greener pastures over the fence: we become dissatisfied. As the problems and hassles of life which confront us, get worse, we grumble and complain against others: the government, society; and even God gets more than his fair share. Then we lose heart and lose our way, as our life falls apart.
That being the case, we need to hear again this message from John’s Gospel. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Here we are encouraged to contemplate this in light of what happened to Moses and the people of Israel in the desert.
So with that in mind let us look at that event. Moses and the people of Israel had escaped from Egypt, miraculously with God’s help. Then God made his covenant with them at Mt Sinai, promising that he would be their God and take care of them, and they in turn would look up to him and follow his commands. Then on their further travels toward the Promised Land, they were miraculously fed and watered. They were saved from disasters again and again; and when they disobeyed him at different times, a good number were destroyed. So time and again, they had seen God Almighty’s hand at work, for them and against them. Yet time and again, they grew impatient, and grizzled and grumbled.
Now that it was taking longer to get to the Promised Land; and all they had to eat was quail and this white manna day in day out, with very little water again. They grizzled and grumbled again and spoke out against God and Moses: Despite the fact that time and again God had provided for their needs when there was nothing: despite the fact that God had punished them when they turned their backs on him and what he had commanded them.
Here it seems as though they again feel that they deserve better; and again they question God’s sovereignty and providence. They again do not trust that the Lord really can or will be true to his promises, and so they rebel.
When are they going to learn? When will they keep looking up instead of dropping their heads and their hopes? When are they going to trust God fully and be faithful to him?
Here then God sends them many deadly snakes to remind them and teach them an important lesson: To teach them first of all that the wages of sin is death. That to turn ones back on God and his promises is to bring death on themselves. It is here that they learnt an important lesson. “We have sinned against God and against you. Please pray that the Lord will take the snakes away.”
But God does not take them away, because he wants to teach them and us another important lesson. Because of their constant falling into sin, he leaves the snakes there, and even still allows them to bite people. But he tells Moses to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that when they are bitten, they can look up to that bronze snake and the God who put it there, and live. He provides a way out for them, which also reminds them of the importance of the Lord and the salvation that he brings to them despite their sinfulness.
No doubt, there would have been people back then, like they are today: People who would have yelled, grizzled and complained at their being bitten, but their pride would not have allowed them to look up and live; and so they died. Others would have philosophised about the whole situation, suggesting that how can looking up at a bronze snake help, and who would have tried all sorts of other remedies and helps and tried their best to solve the situation themselves, and who died. But others however who were bitten looked up to the bronze snake and the Lord who put it there, and lived and learnt an important lesson in the process. By God’s grace alone, they were saved. They placed their trust in the Lord and his solution and promises and were saved.
Now here in this whole event, we are reminded of some very important truths for us today. Because of our sin – our turning away from the Lord,
we bring death on ourselves. By ignoring him and seeking to live our own lives; doing our own thing, we will run into trouble, not only in earthly terms, but spiritually as well: But also that our God has provided a way out for us, so that we too can look up and live.
God puts his own Son on a pole – on a cross, and takes the punishment we deserve for our sin on himself, so that forgiveness of sins can be ours. Now too, all who look up to him, trusting that he has taken care of their sin, will live, even though they have been bitten by the tragedy of sin.
The cross then, now stands etched in life for the whole world to see and know: To see and know that we as human beings are sinful to the core and deserve to die. That punishment, agony and death, is the results of our sin: our rebellion: our selfishness. The very best we can do, still ends in that awful death. There is nothing we can do that will solve our tragic end.
Except again when we look to that cross, there we see not ourselves hanging, but the Lord Jesus Christ. We see him, innocent and perfect taking our punishment on himself, and in turn giving us his righteousness and his life with God. So now, we can keep looking up and know that we will not die, but live. Eternal life with our Lord Jesus Christ is there for us all. Whoever believes in him will not die but have eternal life.
However, Jesus also says that whoever does not believe is condemned. In fact, they are condemning themselves by their unbelief. Their light, hope and salvation has come; it is there for all on the cross. But they do not want to look up to it. They do not want to trust in him alone. Instead, they still want to focus on themselves and what they are doing or must do. They love the darkness – the sinful ways of the devil, this world and their sinful selves, rather than the right ways that God has provided. These people then bring death on themselves. They have condemned themselves because they refuse to accept the way out that God has provided for them.
That being the case, we need to learn this most important lesson, over and over again. We need to look up to the cross and our Lord Jesus Christ, so that we are continually reminded of our terrible predicament and also the wonderful way out that our Lord has provided for us. Particularly in these troublesome and difficult times; with the tragedies, recession, and the apostasy that is around about us. We too need to look up to Jesus and trust that he loves us and has taken care of us: that he has saved us and assured us of eternal life with himself.
So let us remember and remind one another, that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Look up to him alone and live. AMEN.
Pastor Roger Atze
Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish
(14) Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, {15} that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. {16} "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. {17} For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. {18} Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. {19} This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. {20} Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. {21} But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
Here in this reading today Jesus picks up an Old Testament event to remind us of a simple basic truth that is ever so important for us. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so he himself must be lifted up so that all who believe in him may not die but have eternal life. Yes, here it is stressed again that we need to look up to Jesus: We need to trust in what is said and promised, or else we are still in trouble – big trouble. Now we have all heard this sort of message before – many times perhaps. Yet how often does it not go in one ear and probably out the other. It is nice: it is important: well sort of. That is what we have been told anyway; so we go along with it up to a point. Just enough to keep in touch, but in the meantime we will get on with life: get on with the other important things in life: we get on with doing what we want to do.
So we drop our eyes, and look around us. We think about our day to day life, and the focus shifts to us and what we do, think and say: what we would like to see happen and the way we would like things to go for us. When it doesn’t, we become impatient: we look to the greener pastures over the fence: we become dissatisfied. As the problems and hassles of life which confront us, get worse, we grumble and complain against others: the government, society; and even God gets more than his fair share. Then we lose heart and lose our way, as our life falls apart.
That being the case, we need to hear again this message from John’s Gospel. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Here we are encouraged to contemplate this in light of what happened to Moses and the people of Israel in the desert.
So with that in mind let us look at that event. Moses and the people of Israel had escaped from Egypt, miraculously with God’s help. Then God made his covenant with them at Mt Sinai, promising that he would be their God and take care of them, and they in turn would look up to him and follow his commands. Then on their further travels toward the Promised Land, they were miraculously fed and watered. They were saved from disasters again and again; and when they disobeyed him at different times, a good number were destroyed. So time and again, they had seen God Almighty’s hand at work, for them and against them. Yet time and again, they grew impatient, and grizzled and grumbled.
Now that it was taking longer to get to the Promised Land; and all they had to eat was quail and this white manna day in day out, with very little water again. They grizzled and grumbled again and spoke out against God and Moses: Despite the fact that time and again God had provided for their needs when there was nothing: despite the fact that God had punished them when they turned their backs on him and what he had commanded them.
Here it seems as though they again feel that they deserve better; and again they question God’s sovereignty and providence. They again do not trust that the Lord really can or will be true to his promises, and so they rebel.
When are they going to learn? When will they keep looking up instead of dropping their heads and their hopes? When are they going to trust God fully and be faithful to him?
Here then God sends them many deadly snakes to remind them and teach them an important lesson: To teach them first of all that the wages of sin is death. That to turn ones back on God and his promises is to bring death on themselves. It is here that they learnt an important lesson. “We have sinned against God and against you. Please pray that the Lord will take the snakes away.”
But God does not take them away, because he wants to teach them and us another important lesson. Because of their constant falling into sin, he leaves the snakes there, and even still allows them to bite people. But he tells Moses to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that when they are bitten, they can look up to that bronze snake and the God who put it there, and live. He provides a way out for them, which also reminds them of the importance of the Lord and the salvation that he brings to them despite their sinfulness.
No doubt, there would have been people back then, like they are today: People who would have yelled, grizzled and complained at their being bitten, but their pride would not have allowed them to look up and live; and so they died. Others would have philosophised about the whole situation, suggesting that how can looking up at a bronze snake help, and who would have tried all sorts of other remedies and helps and tried their best to solve the situation themselves, and who died. But others however who were bitten looked up to the bronze snake and the Lord who put it there, and lived and learnt an important lesson in the process. By God’s grace alone, they were saved. They placed their trust in the Lord and his solution and promises and were saved.
Now here in this whole event, we are reminded of some very important truths for us today. Because of our sin – our turning away from the Lord,
we bring death on ourselves. By ignoring him and seeking to live our own lives; doing our own thing, we will run into trouble, not only in earthly terms, but spiritually as well: But also that our God has provided a way out for us, so that we too can look up and live.
God puts his own Son on a pole – on a cross, and takes the punishment we deserve for our sin on himself, so that forgiveness of sins can be ours. Now too, all who look up to him, trusting that he has taken care of their sin, will live, even though they have been bitten by the tragedy of sin.
The cross then, now stands etched in life for the whole world to see and know: To see and know that we as human beings are sinful to the core and deserve to die. That punishment, agony and death, is the results of our sin: our rebellion: our selfishness. The very best we can do, still ends in that awful death. There is nothing we can do that will solve our tragic end.
Except again when we look to that cross, there we see not ourselves hanging, but the Lord Jesus Christ. We see him, innocent and perfect taking our punishment on himself, and in turn giving us his righteousness and his life with God. So now, we can keep looking up and know that we will not die, but live. Eternal life with our Lord Jesus Christ is there for us all. Whoever believes in him will not die but have eternal life.
However, Jesus also says that whoever does not believe is condemned. In fact, they are condemning themselves by their unbelief. Their light, hope and salvation has come; it is there for all on the cross. But they do not want to look up to it. They do not want to trust in him alone. Instead, they still want to focus on themselves and what they are doing or must do. They love the darkness – the sinful ways of the devil, this world and their sinful selves, rather than the right ways that God has provided. These people then bring death on themselves. They have condemned themselves because they refuse to accept the way out that God has provided for them.
That being the case, we need to learn this most important lesson, over and over again. We need to look up to the cross and our Lord Jesus Christ, so that we are continually reminded of our terrible predicament and also the wonderful way out that our Lord has provided for us. Particularly in these troublesome and difficult times; with the tragedies, recession, and the apostasy that is around about us. We too need to look up to Jesus and trust that he loves us and has taken care of us: that he has saved us and assured us of eternal life with himself.
So let us remember and remind one another, that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Look up to him alone and live. AMEN.
Pastor Roger Atze
Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish
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