The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up

I didn't go to church last night but I did hear a wonderful sermon by John Piper that compared John 3:14-15 to Numbers 31:4-9. The former is the encounter of Jesus and Nicodemus and the latter is the story of Moses raising the bronze serpent that allowed healing to those who had been bitten. I had never really considered the analogies and foreshadowing between the two and definitely came away enriched for having been shown the connection. Consider the following from the Numbers account:

1) The serpent on the pole is not preventative. It is for bitten people (verse 8). The poison is in them, and without divine intervention they will die.

2) The snakes in the camp are from the Lord. He sent them (verse 6). The wrath of God is on this people for their sin of ingratitude and murmuring and rebellion.

3) The means God chooses to rescue the people from his own curse is a picture of the curse itself.

4) All they have to do in order to be saved from God’s wrath is look at his provision hanging on a pole.

I think you can draw the proper connections to Christ's death on the cross. My heart aches for my Jewish friends who will not even consider the New Testament as remotely divine. It's like hearing the first part of the story and never getting to experience the amazing fulfillment and joy of the end of the journey - that which the first part of the story continually points and hints.

Piper also went into the story of G.K. Chesterton's conversion at the age of 16. This is the verse that did it: Isaiah 45:22 - "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else." (King James) The minister was snowed in at home that day and one of the 12-15 people in the congregation went up to the pulpit and offered the following in part:

“But then the text says, ‘Look unto Me’. . . . Many of ye are lookin’ to yourselves, but it’s no use lookin’ there. Ye will never find any comfort in yourselves. Some look to God the father. No, look to him by-and-by. Jesus Christ says, ‘Look unto Me.’ Some of ye say, ‘We must wait for the Spirit’s workin’.’ You have no business with that just now. Look to Christ. The text says, ‘Look unto Me.’”

Then the good man followed up his text in this way: “Look unto Me; I am sweatin’ and great drops of blood. Look unto Me; I am hangin’ on the cross. Look unto Me; I am dead and buried. Look unto Me; I rise again. Look unto Me; I ascend to heaven. Look unto Me; I am sittin’ at the Father’s right hand. O poor sinner, look unto Me! Look unto Me!”

Was there a better way to end that message on Good Friday then by listening to "Watch the Lamb"? I think not.

Here is the link to the sermon if you have an interest:
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/2009/3790_The_Son_of_Man_Must_Be_Lifted_UpLike_the_Serpent/