9Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? 11“Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept [receive] our testimony. 12“If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13“No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. 14“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
16“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20“For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21“But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
Interesting Words
testify
martureó – bear witness, testify, give evidence, testify, give a good report
• John 1:6-8, 15;
• Acts 10:43;
receive
lambanó – receive, get, take, lay hold of, “actively lay hold of to take or receive, seize”
• John 1:11-12;
• Acts 10:43;
believe
pisteuó – believe, have faith in, trust in; pass: I am entrusted with.
• John 1:11-12, 3:16;
• Acts 10:43;
Son of Man
ho huios tou anthrōpou – definite article (ho = the), son, descendent, of man, also the generic term for “mankind“; the human race
• Dan 7:13, 14;
• Matt 8:20; Luke 5:24;
serpent
ophis – a snake, a type of sly cunning or an artfully malicious person, used of the devil or Satan, 5The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.” 6The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. 8Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” 9And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
Numb_21:5-9
Cross References
• Phil 2:5-6; 7-8 – Jesus was God incarnate, God in human flesh
• Isa 49:5, 6 – Jesus, God’s servant will be instrumental in saving the nations, the gentiles.
• John 14:6 – Jesus claims to be the only way to heaven.
Discussion Questions
- Explain the reference to the wilderness experience in John 3:14-15. Also consider the original account as described in Numb_21:5-95The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.” 6The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. 8Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” 9And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived..
• Serpent is used here as an ominous warning of Satan’s ultimate end that was prophesied in Gen 3:15. This was executed at the cross, John 12:31-32, and finalized at the end of the Millennium, Rev_19:2020And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.Rev_20:1010And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
• Jesus was bruised when He died on the cross. At this same point, Jesus crushed the serpent’s head, as He was lifted up on the cross. The final step in Satan’s demise culminated in the lake of fire (described above).
• This bronze serpent, made by Moses at the command of God was carried from the wilderness on into the promised land and became a stumbling block the children of Israel under a number of kings. Finally, one king, Hezekiah, saw the problem and ground it up into dust.
• Hezekiah also took away the high places used for idol worship in 2Kings 18:4, 5, 6; - How are we in this current day similar to the Israelites as shown in Numb 21:5?
• Some are constantly complaining as a human race, constantly victims.
• Some tend to blame our leadership for things that they don’t really control.
• Some exaggerate the situation extrapolating a small subset to include everyone (like this rant), saying there is NO food when we really just don’t like the food.
• Ungrateful, they forget God’s faithfulness in the past. - How is God’s response today similar to His response to the Israelites (Numb 21:6)?
• For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, (Romans 1:18)
• For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Rom 1:21)
• Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen… Rom 1:24-25;
• BUT… some will repent and confess their sin and be saved.
• Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. (Ephesians 5:6 ESV) - What are the similarities and differences between this OT typology and the account given for Jesus in John 1:12-13 and in this section in John 3:16-17?
• Jesus was made sin for us on the cross just like the bronze serpent (representing the wrath of God in the snakes) was hung on a pole… 2Cor 5:21; Gal 3:13;
• People who responded received eternal life.
• Whoever looked on the bronze serpent was spared and so everyone who receives Jesus’ death as sacrifice for their sin is spared the wrath of God… John 3:16, 17-18;
• The bronze serpent only brought healing for this life. Jesus brings life eternal… Everyone needs a true intercessor.
• In the OT, all they had to do was to look on the serpent in faith. The NT equivalent (John 1:12) “take” or “receive” is better translated as “seize”. If faced with death from a snake bite, you may have this type of urgency. This kind of urgency would be present today, if we believe that we are already condemned (John 3:18). - What is the brutally true reality described in John 3:17-18, (consider also Jesus’ claim in John 14:6)?
• Jesus came to this world for one purpose, to save mankind from the consequences of his rebellion against God.
• That rebellion means that all of mankind has already been judged and excluded from the light of God.
• It is not like a teenager rebelling against his/her parent, but it has eternal consequences of life and death
• Paul describes this eternal battle in Rom 6:23 as a choice to accept Jesus’ gift of eternal life. - What is the best response to Jesus? Why?
• We all need to come to Jesus to experience His new birth.
• God is not interested in being manipulated. He looks into your heart and knows what you are really thinking.
• If we heed His call, we will escape the judgement to come.
• There is no sin so heinous that God has not already seen it.
• God offers complete forgiveness for all sins and transgressions.
• This allows us to live eternally in the truth and in God’s light.
• It heals our relationship with God that has been broken for many years, and which cannot be healed any other way.