Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for March 15, 2015

Moses and the Brazen Serpent. Anthony Van Dyck, 1620; Museo del Prado, Madrid.

This strange account of poisonous snakes sent by God to punish an ungrateful people – and a curative bronze serpent that seems suspiciously like an idol – might strike us as an ancient legend, easily ignored. But then John’s Gospel shows Jesus citing those very verses to set the context for his famous words in John 3:16! This makes the serpent story a little more difficult to ignore. Perhaps it’s as simple as this: When we feel that we’re surrounded by serpents, look up and remember that God is with us.

Psalm: Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22

In the context of that frightening reading from Numbers, it becomes easy to hear the message that the Psalmist offers us today: Give thanks for God’s mercy. Even when we are foolish, even when we rebel; even when we sin, and even when we are afraid, when we cry out for God, God hears our prayers and showers us, God’s children, with healing and salvation.

Second Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10

We find no actual serpents in Ephesians, a letter likely written by a later follower of Paul. But there’s still plenty to fear in the image of a shadowy spirit, a “ruler of the power of the air,” who lures those who prefer passion and the flesh to life in Christ. Like those healed by gazing at Moses’ bronze serpent, we are saved by God’s mercy and raised up by God’s gift of grace through Jesus; not by anything that we can do to try to earn salvation.

Gospel: John 3:14-21

“… God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” For many Christians, this week’s lessons could start and finish right there. But wait! What is that serpent doing here? We might consider that Jesus is preaching from the Torah, with which he and his followers would have been intimately familiar, and Numbers is his text. Can we fully comprehend John 3:16 without the context of John 3:14-15? Perhaps we could read it this way: Just as God gave the Israelites a way to repent of their sins and be healed, God gives us healing grace through Jesus.