How is Jesus like a snake in John 3:14? By Jack Kettler
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” (John 3:14)
Superficially looking at this comparison, a novice may think this sounds almost blasphemous, yet Christ made the comparison. Furthermore, the comparison is perplexing because the Devil is referred to as a serpent.
Consider Barnes' Notes on the Bible to shed light on the text:
“And as Moses - Jesus proceeds in this and the following verses to state the reason why he came into the world and, in order to this, he illustrates His design, and the efficacy of his coming, by a reference to the case of the brass serpent, recorded in Numbers 21:8-9. The people were bitten by flying fiery serpents. There was no cure for the bite. Moses was directed to make an image of the serpent, and place it in sight of the people, that they might look on it and be healed. There is no evidence that this was intended to be a type of the Messiah, but it is used by Jesus as strikingly illustrating his work. Men are sinners. There is no cure by human means for the maladies of the soul; and as the people who were bitten might look on the image of the serpent and be healed, so may sinners look to the Saviour and be cured of the moral maladies of our nature.”
“Lifted up - Erected on a pole. Placed on high, so that it might be seen by the people.”
“The serpent - The image of a serpent made of brass.”
“In the wilderness - Near the land of Edom. In the desert and desolate country to the south of Mount Hor, Numbers 21:4.”
“Even so - In a similar manner and with a similar design. He here refers, doubtless, to his own death. Compare John 12:32; John 8:28. The points of resemblance between his being lifted up and that of the brass serpent seem to be these:”
“1. In each case those who are to be benefited can he aided in no other way. The bite of the serpent was deadly, and could be healed only by looking on the brass serpent; and sin is deadly in its nature, and can be removed only by looking on the cross.”
“2. The mode of their being lifted up. The brass serpent was in the sight of the people. So, Jesus was exalted from the earth raised on a tree or cross.”
“3. The design was similar. The one was to save the life, the other the soul; the one to save from temporal, the other from eternal death.”
“4. The manner of the cure was similar. The people of Israel were to look on the serpent and be healed, and so sinners are to look on the Lord Jesus that they may be saved.”
“Must - It is proper; necessary; indispensable, if men are saved. Compare Luke 24:26; Luke 22:42.”
“The Son of man - The Messiah.” (1)
Regarding the serpent, Barnes says, “There is no evidence that this was intended to be a type of the Messiah.” However, could Jesus be the anti-type of the serpent? Furthermore, other commentators disagree with Barnes and his claim about no evidence regarding the serpent being a type of Christ.
Cross-reference:
“And the LORD said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.” (Numbers 21:8-9)
The Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament does a remarkable job of explaining the symbolism of the snake in the third paragraph:
“At the command of God, Moses made a brazen serpent, and put it upon a standard.”
“Whoever then of the persons bitten by the poisonous serpents looked at the brazen serpent with faith in the promise of God, lived, i.e., recovered from the serpent's bite. The serpent was to be made of brass or copper, because the colour of this metal, when the sun was shining upon it, was most like the appearance of the fiery serpents; and thus, the symbol would be more like the thing itself.”
“Even in the book of Wis. (Numbers 16:6-7), the brazen serpent is called “a symbol of salvation; for he that turned himself toward it was not saved by the thing that he saw, but by Thee, that art the Saviour of all.” It was not merely intended, however, as Ewald supposes (Gesch. ii. p. 228), as a “sign that just as this serpent hung suspended in the air, bound and rendered harmless by the command of Jehovah, so everyone who looked at this with faith in the redeeming power of Jehovah, was secured against the evil, - a figurative sign, therefore, like that of St. George and the Dragon among ourselves;” for, according to this, there would be no internal causal link between the fiery serpents and the brazen image of a serpent. It was rather intended as a figurative representation of the poisonous serpents, rendered harmless by the mercy of God. For God did not cause a real serpent to be taken, but the image of a serpent, in which the fiery serpent was stiffened, as it were, into dead brass, as a sign that the deadly poison of the fiery serpents was overcome in this brazen serpent. This is not to be regarded as a symbol of the divine healing power; nor is the selection of such a symbol to be deduced and explained, as it is by Winer, Kurtz, Knobel, and others, from the symbolical view that was common to all the heathen religions of antiquity, that the serpent was a beneficent and health-bringing power, which led to its being exalted into a symbol of the healing power, and a representation of the gods of healing. This heathen view is not only foreign to the Old Testament, and without any foundation in the fact that, in the time of Hezekiah, the people paid a superstitious worship to the brazen serpent erected by Moses (2 Kings 18:4); but it is irreconcilably opposed to the biblical view of the serpent, as the representative of evil, which was founded upon Genesis 3:15, and is only traceable to the magical art of serpent-charming, which the Old Testament abhorred as an idolatrous abomination. To this we may add, that the thought which lies at the foundation of this explanation, viz., that poison is to be cured by poison, has no support in Hosea 13:4, but is altogether foreign to the Scriptures. God punishes sin, it is true, by sin; but He neither cures sin by sin, nor death by death. On the contrary, to conquer sin it was necessary that the Redeemer should be without sin; and to take away its power from death, it was requisite that Christ, the Prince of life, who had life in Himself, should rise again from death and the grave (John 5:26; John 11:25; Acts 3:15; 2 Timothy 1:10).”
“The brazen serpent became a symbol of salvation on the three grounds which Luther pointed out. In the first place, the serpent which Moses was to make by the command of God was to be of brass or copper, that is to say, of a reddish colour, and (although without poison) altogether like the persons who were red and burning with heat because of the bite of the fiery serpents. In the second place, the brazen serpent was to be set up upon a pole for a sign. And in the third place, those who desired to recover from the fiery serpent's bite and live, were to look at the brazen serpent upon the pole, otherwise they could not recover or live (Luther's Sermon on John 3:1-15). It was in these three points, as Luther has also clearly shown, that the typical character of this symbol lay, to which Christ referred in His conversation with Nicodemus (John 3:14). The brazen serpent had the form of a real serpent, but was “without poison, and altogether harmless.” So, God sent His Son in the form of sinful flesh, and yet without sin (Romans 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22-24). - 2. In the lifting up of the serpent as a standard. This was a δειγματίζειν ἐν παρρησίᾳ, a ́ (a “showing openly,” or “triumphing”), a triumphal exhibition of the poisonous serpents as put to death in the brazen image, just as the lifting up of Christ upon the cross was a public triumph over the evil principalities and powers below the sky (Colossians 2:14-15). - 3. In the cure effected through looking at the image of the serpent. Just as the Israelites had to turn their eyes to the brazen serpent in believing obedience to the word of the Lord, in order to be cured of the bite of the poisonous serpents, so much we look with faith at the Son of man lifted up upon the cross, if we would be delivered from the bite of the old serpent, from sin, death, the devil, and hell. “Christ is the antitype of the serpent, inasmuch as He took upon Himself the most pernicious of all pernicious potencies, viz., sin, and made a vicarious atonement for it” (Hengstenberg on John 3:14). The brazen image of the serpent was taken by the Israelites to Canaan, and preserved till the time of Hezekiah, who had it broken in pieces, because the idolatrous people had presented incense-offerings to this holy relic (2 Kings 18:4).” (2) (Underlining emphasis mine)
An aside:
It is also perplexing why the medical symbol used today is a snake on a stick.
In ancient times the snake symbolized health and healing because it could shed and regenerate its skin. The snake also produced venoms which killed many parasites in the body. The current American Medical Association logo is the Staff of Aesculapius, a single staff with one snake entwined thereon.
In Biblical symbolism, how can Jesus be both a type of the serpent and an antitype?
In Biblical symbolism, Jesus is both a type of the serpent and an antitype. The serpent symbolizes evil and temptation, while Jesus is a symbol of salvation and atonement. As a type, Jesus can be seen as a symbol of temptation, as seen in the Garden of Eden when he tempted Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. As an antitype, Jesus can also be seen as a symbol of salvation, as He was willing to take the punishment for the sins of humankind. Furthermore, Jesus' death on the cross was an act of atonement, and His resurrection symbolized a new life in which humankind could be reconciled to God.
In closing:
Not only is Jesus the antitype of the serpent, but the serpent also signified Christ, who was in the likeness of sinful flesh. Thus, the story of the bronze serpent in Numbers 21 serves as a reminder of God's faithfulness and grace. Everyone in the human race has the venomous poison of sin that separates us from God. Therefore, Jesus would be lifted up on a pole or cross. Moreover, Jesus referenced this story as a reminder of God's power to save us from sin (John 3:14-15). By looking at the bronze serpent, the Israelites were able to be rescued from their punishment, and the story serves as a reminder that we can be saved from our sins through Christ.
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
Notes:
1. Albert Barnes, THE AGES DIGITAL LIBRARYCOMMENTARY, Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, John, Vol. 1 p. 1076.
2. Keil-Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, Numbers, (Grand Rapids, Michigan, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Reprinted 1985), p. 140-141.
Mr. Kettler has previously published articles in the Chalcedon Report and Contra Mundum. He and his wife, Marea, attend the Westminster, CO, RPCNA Church. Mr. Kettler is the author of 15 books defending the Reformed Faith. Books can be ordered online at Amazon.