Sometime after leaving Egypt, ancient Israel became discouraged over their circumstances and began complaining about the Lord’s table (cp. Psalm 23:5), the Lord sent fiery serpents into the camp and many died (Numbers 21:4-6). After enduring the Lord’s judgment, Israel repented and asked Moses to intercede for them and have God take away the serpents. However, instead of taking them away, the Lord provided a means, whereby they would live when bitten (Numbers 21:7-9). In John 3:14 the Gospel narrator mentions Moses’ lifting up of the bronze serpent upon a stake and compared this to what would happen to Jesus.
Mankind, without Christ, is in a state of rebellion, which means we have been separated from God, the Giver of life. We are born, we live, and then we die. Left to ourselves, we cannot change the sequence of those events, so all men need to repent and ask the Lord to save us, meaning give us life. Our sins cannot be removed through our own religious efforts, which is our own sacrifices (Hebrews 10:4, 11) or through self-discipline (Colossians 2:20-23). There is absolutely nothing we are able to do that could add a single day to our lives (cp. Psalm 22:29). For all intents and purposes, mankind is dead and in need of a savior.
The serpent has always been a symbol of evil in scripture. It is put for the devil or the slanderer (2Corinthians 11:3, Revelation 12:9), the hypocrites (Matthew 23:33), the cutting tongue of the wicked (Psalm 140:3), and the mind-numbing influence of its bite (Proverbs 23:21, 32). The truth is, the only instance where the serpent symbolizes good of any kind is in Numbers 21:7-9 where it is put for a savior. The Gospel narrator compares the coming of Jesus to the influence of the brazen serpent in Moses’ day (John 3:14), and causing the influence of that serpent to reveal Christ seems to express the idea that Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3) and in no way differed in appearance from the evil, sinful race he was sent to save (cp. John 3:15; Isaiah 45:22). Thus, just as rebellion entered the world through man, resulting in death (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:6-7), which has passed on to all men (Romans 5:12), so by man, vis-à-vis Christ, life (resurrection or being born again) was brought to all men (Romans 5:17; 1Corinthians 15:21). However, although death proved to be a strong master over our race, life in Christ proves to be stronger than the death that overcame life in the Garden (Romans 5:20-21). Nevertheless, he was a Savior despised (2Kings 5:12; Isaiah 53:2-4) and unwelcome (cp. John 1:10-11).
How could all this be told to Nicodemus and expect him to understand (John 3:9-12)? If these things couldn’t be told the Twelve until after two years of walking with Jesus, before there was any hope that they would understand (cp. Matthew 16:16-21), how could there be any hope for this Jewish ruler, who, through fear of his colleagues, secretly came to Jesus under the cover of darkness (John 3:1)? How would it be possible for him to understand and perceive the Savior of the world in the despised Messiah (cp. John 7:46-52)?
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