"The Curse and the Cure" *a sermon for 4 Lent, 10 March 2024*

 

“Snakes!  Why does it always

have to be snakes?”

            These words, of course, come from that daring adventurer, Dr. Indiana Jones.  Going through a booby-trapped cavern– no problem!  Taking a leap of faith across a giant chasm- piece of cake!  Nothing can stop Indy . . . except for snakes!  Indy speaks for many of us.  An estimated 36% of Americans are afraid of snakes.  I know I am!  Noah could have left them off the Ark.

            So it is no wonder that a plague of poisonous snakes causes panic in the wilderness.  A pit of snakes causes sheer terror in the Israelites’ camp.  To put this scene in context a little bit, Israel is on their way to the Promised Land.  Moses has led them out of Egypt to freedom.  Then the whining begins: are we there yet?

            No, that is not really what they say.  God’s people start to complain.  Where is the food?  What about water, we need water?  With miles and miles of wilderness ahead, things take on a different perspective.  Egypt begins to look good in comparison.  At least there was plenty of food and water back there.  The fact that they were slaves is conveniently forgotten.

Time and time again, God meets their needs.  Manna rains down from heaven.  A wind brings quail to the camp.  Water comes gushing forth from a rock.  After a while, however, these provisions from God are not enough.  And not only do the people complain about Moses.  Here, God also gets the brunt of the Israelites anger.

            In response to their rebellion and hard heartedness, God sends a plague of snakes.  The snakes bite and their venom kills.  Many, many of the people die because of the snakes.  But notice God also sends the cure, a bronze snake.  A snake to cure snake bites!  Those who look up at the snake image are healed.  They live.

            Jesus tells Nicodemus that something similar is going to happen.  Moses lifted the bronze serpent for the people to see and be healed.  The Son of Man will be lifted up on a cross.  All who see and believe in Him will be saved.  Here we have the very first prediction of Jesus’ death and resurrection—and right at the outset of Jesus’ ministry.

            What is interesting is both of these- the snake and death on a cross are cursed.  In Genesis we read:

God told the serpent: “Because you’ve done this, you’re cursed, cursed beyond all cattle and wild animals, cursed to slink on your belly and eat dirt all your life.  I’m declaring war between you and the Woman, between your offspring and hers.  He’ll wound your head, you’ll wound his heel.” 

(Genesis 3:14-15; MSG)

            Deuteronomy 21:22-23 tells us:

When a man has committed a capital crime, been given the death sentence, executed and hung from a tree, don’t leave his dead body hanging overnight from the tree. Give him a decent burial that same day so that you don’t desecrate your God-given land—a hanged man is an insult to God.    (MSG)

            Yet, God uses both of these to offer healing and life.  The snake brings healing only within this lifetime.  The cross offers new and unending life with God.  An important note here—neither the snake or the Son of Man heal in and of themselves.  They are just the means God uses.  The trust and faith implied in looking at the snake statue or at the cross is what saves.

As Paul reminds the community in Ephesus:

Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish!

(2:8; MSG)

            That is how much God loves us!  How much God loves you and me!  God sent His Son as the cure for the curse of sin and death.  Jesus sums it up nicely for Nicodemus, and for us: “For God so loves the world, that He sent His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Some of us are readers of Forward Day-by-Day.  Several years ago, I recall reading these powerful words.  The writer of that day’s devotion said:

“More than seven billion people currently live on the earth.  Estimates indicate that since the emergence of the human race, around 100 billion of us have been born. . .  Perhaps the greatest miracle of all is that God loves and knows all of creation deeply, loves us more than words can say . . . “[1]


[1] Forward Day-by-Day for Monday, March 5,2018.

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