Snakebite
John 3:14-16
14-15 [Jesus said:] “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the
Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
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For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in
him should not perish but have eternal life.”
(“Hyperbole” answers the question I raised last Sunday about the kind of exaggeration
Paul used in the phrase “foolishness of God.”)
We should understand the language we speak because understanding helps us clearly
communicate. Today‟s good news from John 3 contains an approach to communication
called typology. Typology involves the use of pictures, persons or events that help us
understand things greater than the pictures, persons or events. I make frequent
references to typology because examples of it abound in the Bible. In typology, we have
two parts: the type and the antitype. The antitype is always greater than the type.
For example, when I use water and two sponges to illustrate how God fills us with his
truth and we pass his truth on, it is a picture of what is greater. God‟s Word, how he
pours it into us, how we pass it on, is greater than the physical water and the sponges.
For some of you, this typology explanation may be old information. If it is, look beyond
the explanation to the proclamation of God‟s word about:
the terribleness of sin and its results,
His love for you,
the sending of his Son,
the lifting up of Jesus on the cross where he shed his blood for you and me,
the giving of eternal life through faith in him,
and the encouragement to come to Jesus, the Light of the world.
But if you think it‟s ho hum, and you have better things to do than listen, check your
arrogance level, for can we ever listen to and learn enough of God‟s lessons in his word?
The Old Testament lesson from Numbers 21 is one of the Bible‟s clearest types, pointing
to the greater antitype. It gives us the context for the most loved and most memorized
Bible verse in the New Testament, Jesus‟ own words, John 3:16.
God’s people rebelled in stubborn impatience against God and his care of them in the
wilderness, after the exodus from Egypt. They burst out against God and Moses,
saying,
“Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For
there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food!”
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So God sent poisonous snakes among the people [to discipline them with trial and
affliction]. The snakes attacked and bit them. Many died. They confessed their sin
and begged Moses to pray to Yahweh God the Father to take the snakes away. Moses
prayed. God told him to make a bronze image of a poisonous snake and set it up on a
pole. So Moses did. God said that everyone who looked at it would not die, even
though bitten by snakes. And if anyone was bitten, he or she looked [up] at the bronze
serpent and did not die.
From John 3, Jesus used this type to point to himself as the antitype, that is, the one who
is greater than the type. The snake on the pole is the lesser picture, the type. Jesus on the
cross is the greater fulfillment, the antitype.
Jesus said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man
be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but
have eternal life.”
That‟s why we sang in our first hymn,
“My faith looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine.
Now hear me while I pray, take all my guilt away,
O let me from this day be wholly Thine!”
“And if a serpent bit anyone, he [or she] would look at the bronze serpent and live.”
Do you know anyone who is snake-bitten?... snake-bitten by sin, rebellion, impatience
with God, a nasty attitude toward Him and His Word or the church, a cursing of what he
sends our way, arrogance and boasting in self-knowledge and earthly accomplishment?
We‟re all snake-bitten, aren‟t we? We‟re all dying of sin. “The wages of sin is death”
(Rom. 6:23).
Some people are already physically dead and in the grave. Some have died but yet they
live in Christ. Some have died and will remain eternally dead in unbelief. Some live and
yet are dead in unbelief. Some live in two ways - alive in the body and alive in Christ.
Four ways you can be:
physically dead and eternally dead,
physically dead and alive in Jesus,
physically alive but dead in unbelief,
physically alive and alive in Jesus.
Which is the best? Physically gone from this life and alive with Jesus forever! 
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The poison of sin has entered everyone‟s bloodstream through the fangs of human nature,
the lusts of the world and the power of the devil. No one is exempt. The poison of sin
flows in your veins. Many poisonous snakes slither about. No one can escape their
attacks. If it isn‟t a rattlesnake of materialism, it‟s a pit viper of lust. If it isn‟t a
cottonmouth of anger, it‟s a coral snake of hatred. If it isn‟t a black mamba of vulgarity,
it‟s a cobra of gossip and slander. Their fangs sink deep. That‟s why so many cry and
rage in conflict, hatred, unbelief, shame and death in our poor, „fading away‟ world.
But Jesus said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of
Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but
have eternal life.”
The bronze serpent on the pole did not keep the snakes from attacking. But for those who
looked at it, snake venom did not kill them. Jesus‟ death on the cross does not keep the
snakes of sin from attacking, or it‟s poison from infecting us. But for those who look to
and believe in Jesus, the poison of the snakebite of sin will not kill you eternally.
That‟s the good news!  In order to look to Jesus and embrace the promise, you have to
realize that you live in a jungle of poisonous sin that can infect and kill you eternally.
You have to acknowledge, admit and confess that you‟re snake-bitten by your own fault,
not mine or someone else‟s. You have to look to and trust the shed blood of Jesus Christ
for pardon, grace and forgiveness.
Did the people make the serpent in the wilderness? Did they appeal to God? Did they
make the promise? Even Moses, in this account, is a type pointing ahead to Jesus. He
interceded for the people. He prayed. God delivered.
There‟s only one thing the people brought to God and there‟s only one thing we can bring
to God on our own. Do you know it? Sin!... the poison of an infected human nature,
corrupted by unbelief and constant rebellion against God‟s Word.
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked… But God,
being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we
were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have
been saved… so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his
grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved
through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of
works, so that no one may boast [in human conceit and arrogance]…” Ephesians 2.
Zion Lutheran Church Glenbeulah Wisconsin 4th Sun Lent 3/18/12 John 3:14-16 Donald L Johnson
Review
1. In order to clearly grasp the idea of typology, complete the following sentences:
As Moses led the people out of physical slavery in Egypt,
so Jesus leads us _____________________________________________________.
As Joshua led the people into the promised land of Canaan
so Jesus leads us _____________________________________________________.
2. After you read Numbers 21:4-9 followed immediately by John 3:14-16, you will see
that Jesus himself uses the principle of typology in his own words.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so the Son of Man must be ______________________________________________
3. You can take another phrase to say:
As the people physically looked at the bronze serpent while actual snakes bit them, and
even though bitten they lived,
so Jesus promises that whoever __________________________________________,
even while the snakes of sin keep biting us!
4. Discuss how sin has snake-bitten you in your personal life.
5. Discuss the four ways you can exist, now or eternally.
6. Make sure to read Ephesians 2:1-10 and relate it to God‟s action of grace in the face of
sinful rebellion.
7. Discuss the idea that the only thing we can bring to God on our own is sin.
8. Conclude with the wonder of God‟s patience and love toward us to send us our Savior
Jesus in whom we have the only known antidote to the poison of the snakebite of sin 
9. Parallel passage: Ephesians 1:2-10. Note the word “lavished.” 
Go your ways in peace, knowing that you are with each other in prayer and faith, that
Jesus lives in your heart by faith, that God’s promises remain true for all time, that
through the shed blood of Jesus, you have an eternity with him to which to look
forward. Praise His Name!