Lifted Up

Can you imagine what was going on in the mind of Nicodemus when he saw the Roman soldiers lift Jesus up to be crucified? It all came together in an instant! His mind immediately recalled the conversation he and Jesus had a few years ago as if it were yesterday. Of all the things Jesus had said that night that baffled Nicodemus, there was one statement that he seemed to at least have a partial handle on.

Jesus had made a statement that alluded to a story that Nicodemus knew well. It was when Moses was leading the Israelites to the promise land. They were whining and complaining that Moses didn't know what he was doing and that God's provision wasn't enough. So God sent poisonous serpents into their camp and many were snake bit and lie awaiting certain death. God showed great mercy however, and told Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. When those who were snake bitten gazed upon the bronze serpent, the curse was lifted and they would live. So Jesus, obviously referring to this story, told Nicodemus, "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."

It never made any sense. He knew the story but what did Jesus mean by the Son of Man must be lifted up? Now with tears flowing down his cheeks, it all came together in a moment. Then he remembered what Jesus had told him next, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

- Scott Hescht