Jesus has poured out
His soul to His Father. Abba, Father, all things are possible for
You. Take this cup away from Me;
nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will (Mk. 14:36). Jesus knew the Father’s will. You may ask why? Why did the Father
knowingly send His only begotten Son
into the world to suffer? Jesus used
this story from the OT to describe the reason for His death.
Israel had wandered forty
years because of their refusal to trust God and enter the Land. Now they were again moving to a place where
they would cross the Jordan and enter Canaan.
While it was hard for Israel, God had taken care of their daily
needs. They never lacked. Yet we read the soul of the people became very discouraged (impatient) on the way. The collective,
discouraged soul of the nation detested the worthless
bread, the manna, God was giving
them.
Surely, if you have
read this story, you know this is not the first time the people grumbled about
their lot in life. They had forgotten
how painful Egypt really was and lamented that they had not stayed. And they had also forgotten how, in every
time of need, God had provided for them along the way.
The result was that
the LORD sent another plague, this one involving fiery serpents, and many people began to die. If you find this a bit harsh you need to
think again. The whole point of this
situation where a nation was born in the desert of Sinai was that God would
provide for them abundantly and they would love, trust and obey Him. Further, the rough situation they are in is
of their own making. God tested them and
they grumbled and rebuked God for His care of them. They tested God, as Paul notes (1 Cor. 10:9),
and God judged them.
What is strange is not
the harsh judgment. What is strange is
the gracious provision. When the people
confessed their sin God gave the easiest solution to the problem. Make a bronze snake (bronze symbolizes judgment), put it on a pole where it can be seen,
and tell the people to simply look at the pole.
Everyone who is bitten, when he
looks at it, shall live. And it
worked!
Moses does not explain
this; but Jesus gives us all the explanation we need. He must be lifted up like that bronze snake. Like the bronze
snake Jesus was taking judgment that deserved to be poured out on mankind.
He didn’t say look at Me; He said whoever believes in Me shall not perish but have
eternal life. But the two terms are the
same. In the desert Israel had to do
something very simple, something they did not fully understand, something that
meant no longer blaming God for their problem but rather accepting God’s grace
for a problem they brought on themselves.
That is exactly what it means to believe in Jesus. And it tells us why it was the will of the
Father that Jesus suffer for us. As He
said, even so must the Son of Man
be lifted up. Yes, it is that
easy. Confessing sin we are called to
simply look away from all other trusts
and put our confidence in One, the One bearing our sin and judgment on the
cross.
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