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Look And Live

January 28th, 2025

John 3:9-15        

You have to hand it to Nicodemus. Jesus dropped the hammer on him, pointing out his significant ignorance of the ways of God despite his extensive religious training and experience. Yet Nicodemus stayed in the conversation, letting Jesus be his Rabbi (teacher).

“Everyone who believes may have eternal life,” Jesus says. He explained how, using an image Nicodemus would understand. God’s people had sinned, doubting God yet again on their journey to the promised land. To get their attention, God sent poisonous snakes among them. Moses was then commanded to make a bronze snake and lift it up on a pole. Everyone who looked at the lifted-up snake survived.

The salvation that comes in Jesus works the same way. Just as God used Moses to turn the image of the snake—one of the most evil symbols in Israel’s story—into an image of life, so Jesus will be used to turn the cross—an image of torture and death at the hands of the Romans—into an image of life and salvation.

May the work of Jesus transform and redeem the negatives in our lives!

Author: Mark Hendrickson