That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Jesus told Nicodemus at night that as Moses lifted the bronze serpent in the wilderness, He Himself would be lifted on the cross, and everyone who looks to Him in faith will be healed of sin's deadly sting and live forever instead of perishing. Believing is simply looking away from self, sin and feelings to receive Christ as personal Saviour, trusting His blood and righteousness to pardon even the vilest sinner without first becoming good or understanding how it works. This life is God's free gift through giving His Son to save not condemn, not earned by law-keeping, rites or merit, for only Christ's infinite sacrifice could atone and cleanse from sin. The uplifted Saviour draws hearts to repentance, gives new birth by the Spirit, heals body and soul, and changes beholders into His likeness to bear fruit and lead others to look and live.
Words and Setting
The saying belongs to a nighttime private and secret interview with Nicodemus, a wealthy, cultured Pharisee and ruler who had watched the healing work and heard the teaching and had come to believe the Teacher was sent by God. Jesus used that personal meeting to reach even a rich and influential man, seeking his acquaintance, entering into his interests and occupations to gain access to his heart, and offering him imperishable riches by teaching suited to the hearer. The vital teaching on the way of life given there began a faith that Nicodemus afterward held firmly even through danger and loss. The same truth was declared by John the Baptist, who irrespective of personal interest and above all worldly considerations stood in defense of Jesus as the superior Promised One of Israel whose way he came to prepare, identifying himself fully with the cause of Christ and finding his greatest joy in its success, so that his testimony that he that believes on the Son has everlasting life is almost the counterpart of what was given to Nicodemus.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man and Son of God must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal and everlasting life. Those words were an early telling of His sufferings and death on the wooden cross and of His resurrection, to be raised the third day. The disciples did not hear this word, and if they had heard they would not have understood it. Only after they had been with Jesus, heard His words and seen His works, and could join Peter in confessing Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God, did the time come to withdraw the veil and show them openly that He must suffer and be killed and be raised.
Whosoever is a universal gospel invitation to be given to all the world, to people of every nation and condition, so that all who would look to Him in faith should live and not perish but receive eternal life. Through Israel and through the teaching of the sacrificial service Christ was to be lifted up before the nations, the uplifted cross made known to all peoples, and when people of every nation are enlightened by the Word to see Jesus as the living Saviour and as God's gift who gave His life as a sacrifice for the world, they can look to Him and live. That whosoever embraces Gentiles who turn from idolatry to worship the true God, like Rahab the Canaanite and Ruth the Moabitess, who were to unite with His chosen people under His merciful rule of joy and peace, until as Israel increased its borders enlarged till the kingdom embraced the world. It is a message of hope to people in sin and distress who feel forgotten or believe their sins leave them beyond help, that Christ can deliver and restore them through His grace, for life is God's gift to those who look to Christ.
The life promised is eternal, unlike the present physical life that people strive to preserve, an unending life that measures with God's life and continues alongside the life of Jehovah. It is received by knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent, and by looking to Christ the uplifted Saviour with genuine, living faith that takes hold of infinite power, personally accepts Him as Saviour, connects the believer with God, and trusts Him to take away sin. That sacrifice on the cross purchased immortality for all who look to Him, and accepting Him as a personal Saviour brings a person into close relation with God and His favor, with life hidden in Christ. In the light of Jesus lifted up, sinners see their impurity, turn from sin, and live; looking to Christ heals the wound of sin pictured by the serpent's sting, and beholding Him changes people into His image as faith, love, and holiness grow in them, for His purity and holiness have power to transform the character. When Christ is in the heart, love cannot be kept from expressing itself in words, and this promise gives the soul joy.
Serpent Foreshadows Christ
The bronze serpent lifted on a pole in the wilderness was a symbol of Jesus lifted up on the cross, and the wilderness event with the sacrificial service, the Passover, and other Old Testament ceremonies pointed to the revealed Saviour who is the key to understanding them. As those bitten who looked to the serpent were healed, those who believe in Christ lifted up receive life and do not perish, and this salvation rests on God's love in giving His only begotten Son. The two thieves on the cross illustrate the two responses of looking in faith and living or refusing to look and perishing. His crucifixion at a Jewish yearly gathering before representatives from many nations made the saving message known widely. Christ came in humanity to rescue people from sin and their lost condition, and the new birth transforms character for harmony with God's holy kingdom.
That serpent itself was inert and lifeless with no healing power in itself, and God alone healed those who looked in faith at His provision. So also offerings and works and the sacrificial service and religious rites have no saving virtue or power in themselves to pardon sin, but point to God's gift. Unlike that symbol, Christ has power and virtue in Himself to heal the suffering, repentant, bleeding sinner, to pardon sin, cleanse, and give eternal life. Faith therefore trusts God's word and receives what Christ provides rather than trusting human effort.
The serpent's venom represents sin and the deadly sting of that old serpent the devil, whose fatal effects all people have felt. As a living Saviour and Advocate Christ heals the deadly wound and poison of sin and can deliver from Satan's power. The effects of sin can be removed only by the provision God has made, where alone hope and salvation are found.
When Israel journeyed the Lord protected them, but stubbornness and transgression caused restraint to be removed so many were bitten by fiery serpents and died. The remedy was proclaimed openly with trumpet and tribal leaders, that every dying person who looked at the uplifted serpent in obedient faith instantly lived. The look implied faith, believing God's word and using His provision by simple obedience in doing just as God says, resting on the ample atonement and the veracity of God's word without demanding scientific explanation. Those who refused to look, stopped to argue, demanded reasons, questioned how it could save, or distrusted the simple provision died. No one is compelled, but all may look and live or disbelieve and die, and no one who comes in penitence and faith has ever been turned away.
The strange serpent likeness means Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh as the Sin-bearer lifted on the shameful cross to call the attention of all people, though without sin Himself. He took human nature, was tempted, bore the guilt of the whole world, and came in human form to rescue humanity from its lost condition. Through a human agent cooperating with God He gives unmistakable evidence that fallen man can be brought into close fellowship and union with divinity and share the divine nature with power to overcome. God has done everything He could do to reclaim the race as lost sheep returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of the soul, uniting to Himself every soul who permits Him in infinite love.
Promise of Eternal Life
Whoever trusts in the Son of Man lifted up just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness will not perish but will have eternal life. Looking to Him in faith brings escape from perishing into life, with healing, pardon and salvation through His atoning sacrifice, for He is still calling sinners to look and live as the Healer of both body and soul. That looking turns the sinner from dwelling on personal sin, misery, wounds and wretchedness to the Saviour, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and as long as sinners look at and talk of their own wounds they remain unhealed, but when they look to Him their souls find hope and peace. Salvation and eternal life come through living faith that lays hold of the merits of the crucified and risen Saviour, Christ our righteousness, bringing a decisive change in which God's truth sanctifies life and character and produces fruits of righteousness. This rich promise gives assurance grounded in God's word and grasped by living faith, not in changeable feelings or emotions, for God sent His Son out of love not to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.
Christ alone is the remedy and ransom for sin, and those who reject the salvation He offers and refuse to look and believe will perish in their sins and die without hope. Whoever does not believe will not see life, and wrath remains on that person, left lost to God and heaven. As those bitten who looked at the bronze serpent lived and those who refused to look died, so all people affected by sin's poison live forever by looking to and believing in Jesus lifted up on the cross. The two thieves on the cross illustrate these two responses to the lifted-up Saviour.
The verse lays out the terms of salvation in distinct lines so plain that alone it would guide the soul, and it is good news to be rung throughout the world. Fallen humanity through sin and subject to death has no hope apart from Christ, who is lifted up for the nations as pictured through the sacrificial service so that all who look to Him live. It belongs to every soul, and especially to counselors and those dealing with minds, and to rulers in Israel today such as presidents of conferences, elders of churches, and those in official positions in institutions, who must like Nicodemus be born again before leading, become as a little child, make understanding regeneration their first duty, keep this truth as a bright shining light, and have the Holy Spirit daily molding the heart to give divine insight. The one who catches its meaning becomes a true believer, submits to the leading of the Holy Spirit, begins to see the kingdom, searches the Scriptures in a new way with old things gone and all things new, and shows the change in open action for Christ, as Nicodemus did when he opposed the council seeking Christ's death.
Believing Means Looking
Believing is looking to the uplifted Son of Man in faith, just as dying Israelites looked to the serpent lifted in the wilderness and lived. That look is faith itself, by which the sinner uses God's provision and receives Christ as a personal Saviour who heals both body and soul. It is a simple act of obedience and taking God at His word, doing just as God says without delay. Old and young are saved in the same way, look and live, resting on the ample atonement made by the Saviour and the veracity of God's word that Jesus died to redeem sinners and God means His promise to receive all who come, and no one who comes to Christ in penitence and faith has ever been turned away. The uplifted Saviour still calls sinners to look and live.
Looking means turning the eyes away from self and fastening them upon Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The sinner stops dwelling on personal sin and misery, wretchedness, wounds, guilt, helplessness and feelings, and beholds Jesus instead. As long as sinners look at and talk of their own wounds as hopeless they remain unhealed, but when they look to Him their souls find hope and peace and forgiveness and healing of soul and body. Whoever comes to Him in faith is not cast out but is made free and sheltered under the sure refuge of His atoning sacrifice, because He has borne the sin laid upon Him. To refuse to look, to ask what good it will do and keep talking of dreadful wounds, is to die.
Faith is trust in God's promise and in Christ's merits, blood, righteousness and sacrifice, grasped from God's word and not from changeable feelings or emotions. Salvation rests on believing that He saves, not on feeling that He is one's Saviour and not on first making oneself good or better, and not on waiting to understand the mystery. It does not come by reasoning, questioning, demanding scientific explanation, or gathering evidence before looking, for those who stopped to argue about the wilderness remedy died while those who looked lived. The first duty is to look at once and live without stopping to doubt and question, with eternity to study the mysteries of redemption. Assurance grounded in God's word honors His faithfulness, while doubt dishonors Him.
Believing is laying hold by faith upon the merits of the crucified and risen Saviour, Christ our righteousness, and claiming what is offered despite unworthiness. It makes beholding Him the life business, confessing every sin with contrite heart to have it removed, rolling sins at the foot of the cross, with prayer ascending fragrant through His merits. The contrite sinner may trust Him to remove sin and to give pardon, cleansing, deliverance, peace, assurance, victory and present salvation, even the vilest sinner with sins ever so grievous, for His atoning blood has power to take away sin and without shedding of blood no one can be saved. This includes surrendering the will, coming to Him in prayer and faith for His saving care, and placing entire dependence on Him, as the dying thief looked in faith, confessed Him and received the promise to be with Christ in Paradise. Without beholding Jesus and accepting His merits no sinner can be saved, just as Peter could not walk on the water unless he kept his eyes fixed steadily upon Jesus, and Satan's determined purpose is to eclipse the view of Jesus and lead people to look to and trust in man, so the efficacy of Christ's blood must be presented with freshness and power that faith may grasp it.
Grace Not Human Merit
Salvation rests on God's love in giving His only-begotten Son, not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved, and whoever believes in Him lifted up as the serpent was lifted up will not perish but have eternal life. Jesus is God's great gift to humanity, and keeping Him uplifted means presenting this hope of life through faith rather than through human effort. As the bitten Israelites had only to look at the bronze serpent in faith to live, so those who believe in Christ receive life, healing, pardon from sin, and eternal life. The serpent itself had no healing power in itself, just as religious rites and the sacrificial service have no power in themselves to pardon sin; both pointed to God's provision, for Christ alone gives life and people cannot save themselves. Faith therefore earns nothing and is only the means of laying hold of Christ and His merits, trusting God's word and receiving what He provides, whether healing from the serpent's sting or pardon from sin, and refusing to look means perishing, while questioning or demanding explanation cannot replace faith.
Only Christ could be lifted up to save a rebellious world under condemnation of broken law, for no angel and no man was sufficient. Only an infinite nature could undertake the redemptive work, so He joined Himself to disloyal and sinful humanity, partook of man's nature, gave His own blood and life, made His soul an offering for sin, and bore retribution in place of sinners. In doing this He holds out the hope of eternal life to everyone who believes, healing spiritual maladies as the Balm in Gilead and the great Physician, and uniting believing souls to Himself as grafted branches knit vein by vein and fiber by fiber into the living Vine.
The cross is the great truth of Christ's atonement for sin, the foundation around which all other Bible truths are understood, displaying mercy, regeneration, salvation, and redemption. His death is a full and ample atonement sufficient to save from sin, His blood is a cleansing stream washing every spot and stain of sin, and through His merits believers are accepted; without shedding of blood no one can be saved. He alone bears the sins of each person and of the whole world, for no human is another's sin-bearer, and looking to Him gives life because He died that the believer might live, while remaining in the shadow of the cross is hopeless despair and condemnation. When the sinner by faith reaches the foot of the cross and looks to Him he has pardon and may rejoice, as the dying thief received peace and assurance, for the cross brings believers nigh to God by reconciling man to God. Without it there is no connection with the Father, no unity with the Lamb in the midst of the throne, no welcome for the wandering who would return to righteousness and truth, no hope for the transgressor in the day of judgment, and no means to overcome the strong foe, so every hope of the race hangs upon it, yet in full view its light shines amid darkness and prostration at its foot is the highest elevation man can attain. Seen in the light of Calvary, the Father's love in giving His dear Son to die for a fallen world fills with wonder, joining mercy, tenderness and forgiveness with justice, dignity and power, bridging the gulf of perdition with a found ransom, laying sins and sorrows on One merciful to pardon and mighty to save, to be fully accepted by faith and trusted to save to the uttermost.
The lifted-up Saviour draws sinners to Himself and reveals God's love, and that love moves them to repentance with forgiveness following. Seeing Jesus dying for him makes the sinner realize something of the enormity of sin and long for pardon for all transgressions and for God's favor, and as the Holy Spirit impresses his mind he prays earnestly, believes he will receive, and rejoices in pardoning love. Beholding His self-sacrifice, goodness, compassion, humiliation and suffering melts and subdues hearts, breaks down barriers, awakens gratitude and worship, and through faith people may share the divine nature and receive moral power to form characters like God's. Through faith the Spirit creates new life, renews heart and mind, brings obedience to God's law, forms Christ within as the hope of glory, and proves conversion real by vigorous endeavor to obey all God's commandments, renouncing every evil work, ceasing to do evil and learning to do well.
New Life and Proclamation
Believing brings the new birth and the new heart needed to see God's kingdom, for whoever looks in faith to the Son of Man lifted up is saved and receives eternal life. As those bitten by fiery serpents lived when they looked at the bronze serpent Moses lifted up, so sinners must look to Christ come in human form to rescue them from their lost condition, and without faith the act brings no benefit. This saving faith takes hold of God's love, escapes perishing, and is joined to a changed life and changed character. The terms of salvation are laid out in distinct lines so plain that this verse alone would guide the soul, and it is good news to be rung throughout the world and belonging to every soul. The one who catches its meaning becomes a true believer, submits to the leading of the Holy Spirit, begins to see the kingdom, searches the Scriptures in a new way with old things gone and all things new, and shows the change in open action. Through faith the Spirit creates new life, renews heart and mind, opens the eyes, justifies, heals sin's deadly sting, and brings obedience to God's law, for genuine faith works by love, purifies the soul, and bears fruits of righteousness.
Counselors and those dealing with souls, and rulers in Israel today such as presidents of conferences, elders of churches, and those in official positions in institutions, must like Nicodemus be born again before leading, become as a little child, make understanding regeneration their first duty, keep this truth as a bright shining light, and have the Holy Spirit daily molding the heart to give divine insight. The third chapter of John is urged on those who have not been born again, calling them to humble themselves before God and walk in the light they have received.
The uplifted Saviour still calls sinners to look and live, and He is the Healer of both body and soul. Believing is like looking to the raised serpent for healing: the sinner turns from dwelling on personal sin and misery, takes the eyes off self and off sins and wretchedness, and fastens them upon Christ the Lamb of God, finding hope and peace. As long as sinners look at and talk of their own wounds they remain unhealed, but when they look to Him their souls find hope and peace and are healed of spiritual maladies, for He is the Balm in Gilead and the great Physician. God sent His Son out of love not to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved and hold out the hope of eternal life to everyone who believes. Looking to Jesus, who gave His life on Calvary to make that life possible, is the answer for sin-sick men and women and for the sick and suffering discouraged by disease of body and soul, who are to be encouraged to look to Jesus and live by placing themselves in His care. Pointing sufferers, including the sick, discouraged, intemperate, and tempted, to Him and telling His love and power to save is central to the work of healing and care, for Christ is touched with the feeling of human infirmities and can heal both physical and spiritual disease.
Salvation and eternal life come through living faith in Christ, meaning laying hold of the merits of the crucified and risen Savior, Christ our righteousness. This faith brings a decisive change: God's truth sanctifies life and character, producing fruits of righteousness. Genuine faith looks to the Savior, takes hold of infinite power, and works to bind people to Jesus, uniting believing souls to Himself as grafted branches are knit vein by vein and fiber by fiber into the living Vine. Looking to Christ heals the wound of sin pictured by the serpent's sting, and beholding Him changes people into His image as faith, love, and holiness grow in them. In the light of Jesus lifted up on the cross, sinners see their impurity, turn from sin, and live, for the purity and holiness of Jesus have power to transform the character, bringing the believer into close relation with God and His favor, with life hidden in Christ. The life Christ gives is eternal, unlike the present physical life people strive to preserve, and knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent is eternal life. When Christ is in the heart, love cannot be kept from expressing itself in words. Seeing need and the Saviour's sufficiency and claims, sinners follow Him and are born again to new life, and conversion may come without violent conviction, soul-rending remorse, or terror, yet still be genuine and lead to decided religious life, vigorous obedience, and telling others what Christ has done.
Nicodemus received the lesson and became a true believer, submitting to the leading of the Holy Spirit. When he saw Jesus on the cross he remembered these words and understood them more clearly, recognizing Him as the world's Redeemer. The events of Calvary established his faith in Jesus, and the truth first heard in private led him to faith and courageous service for Christ. His belief was proved when his voice was heard in the Sanhedrin council opposing their measures to kill Christ by insisting that the law must hear a man before judging him.
The uplifted Saviour is to be presented to people in all lands and in all places, in every church, and in the time of confusion and trouble such as never was since there was a nation, so that all who look to Him in repentance and faith may live. If a person had no other text in the Bible this verse alone would be a guide to the soul, and especially to every man who accepts responsibilities as a counselor and to everyone dealing with human minds this grand, beautiful truth is to be a bright and shining light. It is no credit to one who has the word of God in his possession to say he has no experience and does not understand these things, and he will never be wiser until he becomes of much less consequence in his own estimation and diligently searches the Word to obtain knowledge. Because every person is His purchased possession, He identifies His interests with suffering people, and reverence and love for Christ must therefore be shown through practical love and tender care for others, not words alone. Counselors, soul-winners, physicians, and rulers must first be born again and then lead perishing souls to Him by direct personal appeal.
Eternal life comes through believing in Christ, whose life was poured out on Calvary, and this life is received by accepting His word and obeying His commands. In holy communion, faith in His sacrifice nourishes the believer's spiritual life and binds the believer to Christ and, through Him, to the Father. Christ's death is also the source of physical life: daily bread and water are provided through His broken body and spilled blood, and the communion emblems teach that even ordinary nourishment points to His sacrifice. There is no union between souls and God except through Christ, and the love between brothers is made lasting and eternal by the love of Jesus. Nothing less than the death of Christ could make His love effective, and only because of His death can His second coming be looked to with joy, for His sacrifice is the center of hope upon which faith must be fixed.
Jesus told Nicodemus at night that as Moses lifted the bronze serpent in the wilderness, He Himself would be lifted on the cross, and everyone who looks to Him in faith will be healed of sin's deadly sting and live forever instead of perishing. Believing is simply looking away from self, sin and feelings to receive Christ as personal Saviour, trusting His blood and righteousness to pardon even the vilest sinner without first becoming good or understanding how it works. This life is God's free gift through giving His Son to save not condemn, not earned by law-keeping, rites or merit, for only Christ's infinite sacrifice could atone and cleanse from sin. The uplifted Saviour draws hearts to repentance, gives new birth by the Spirit, heals body and soul, and changes beholders into His likeness to bear fruit and lead others to look and live.
Words and Setting
The saying belongs to a nighttime private and secret interview with Nicodemus, a wealthy, cultured Pharisee and ruler who had watched the healing work and heard the teaching and had come to believe the Teacher was sent by God. Jesus used that personal meeting to reach even a rich and influential man, seeking his acquaintance, entering into his interests and occupations to gain access to his heart, and offering him imperishable riches by teaching suited to the hearer. The vital teaching on the way of life given there began a faith that Nicodemus afterward held firmly even through danger and loss. The same truth was declared by John the Baptist, who irrespective of personal interest and above all worldly considerations stood in defense of Jesus as the superior Promised One of Israel whose way he came to prepare, identifying himself fully with the cause of Christ and finding his greatest joy in its success, so that his testimony that he that believes on the Son has everlasting life is almost the counterpart of what was given to Nicodemus.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man and Son of God must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal and everlasting life. Those words were an early telling of His sufferings and death on the wooden cross and of His resurrection, to be raised the third day. The disciples did not hear this word, and if they had heard they would not have understood it. Only after they had been with Jesus, heard His words and seen His works, and could join Peter in confessing Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God, did the time come to withdraw the veil and show them openly that He must suffer and be killed and be raised.
Whosoever is a universal gospel invitation to be given to all the world, to people of every nation and condition, so that all who would look to Him in faith should live and not perish but receive eternal life. Through Israel and through the teaching of the sacrificial service Christ was to be lifted up before the nations, the uplifted cross made known to all peoples, and when people of every nation are enlightened by the Word to see Jesus as the living Saviour and as God's gift who gave His life as a sacrifice for the world, they can look to Him and live. That whosoever embraces Gentiles who turn from idolatry to worship the true God, like Rahab the Canaanite and Ruth the Moabitess, who were to unite with His chosen people under His merciful rule of joy and peace, until as Israel increased its borders enlarged till the kingdom embraced the world. It is a message of hope to people in sin and distress who feel forgotten or believe their sins leave them beyond help, that Christ can deliver and restore them through His grace, for life is God's gift to those who look to Christ.
The life promised is eternal, unlike the present physical life that people strive to preserve, an unending life that measures with God's life and continues alongside the life of Jehovah. It is received by knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent, and by looking to Christ the uplifted Saviour with genuine, living faith that takes hold of infinite power, personally accepts Him as Saviour, connects the believer with God, and trusts Him to take away sin. That sacrifice on the cross purchased immortality for all who look to Him, and accepting Him as a personal Saviour brings a person into close relation with God and His favor, with life hidden in Christ. In the light of Jesus lifted up, sinners see their impurity, turn from sin, and live; looking to Christ heals the wound of sin pictured by the serpent's sting, and beholding Him changes people into His image as faith, love, and holiness grow in them, for His purity and holiness have power to transform the character. When Christ is in the heart, love cannot be kept from expressing itself in words, and this promise gives the soul joy.
Serpent Foreshadows Christ
The bronze serpent lifted on a pole in the wilderness was a symbol of Jesus lifted up on the cross, and the wilderness event with the sacrificial service, the Passover, and other Old Testament ceremonies pointed to the revealed Saviour who is the key to understanding them. As those bitten who looked to the serpent were healed, those who believe in Christ lifted up receive life and do not perish, and this salvation rests on God's love in giving His only begotten Son. The two thieves on the cross illustrate the two responses of looking in faith and living or refusing to look and perishing. His crucifixion at a Jewish yearly gathering before representatives from many nations made the saving message known widely. Christ came in humanity to rescue people from sin and their lost condition, and the new birth transforms character for harmony with God's holy kingdom.
That serpent itself was inert and lifeless with no healing power in itself, and God alone healed those who looked in faith at His provision. So also offerings and works and the sacrificial service and religious rites have no saving virtue or power in themselves to pardon sin, but point to God's gift. Unlike that symbol, Christ has power and virtue in Himself to heal the suffering, repentant, bleeding sinner, to pardon sin, cleanse, and give eternal life. Faith therefore trusts God's word and receives what Christ provides rather than trusting human effort.
The serpent's venom represents sin and the deadly sting of that old serpent the devil, whose fatal effects all people have felt. As a living Saviour and Advocate Christ heals the deadly wound and poison of sin and can deliver from Satan's power. The effects of sin can be removed only by the provision God has made, where alone hope and salvation are found.
When Israel journeyed the Lord protected them, but stubbornness and transgression caused restraint to be removed so many were bitten by fiery serpents and died. The remedy was proclaimed openly with trumpet and tribal leaders, that every dying person who looked at the uplifted serpent in obedient faith instantly lived. The look implied faith, believing God's word and using His provision by simple obedience in doing just as God says, resting on the ample atonement and the veracity of God's word without demanding scientific explanation. Those who refused to look, stopped to argue, demanded reasons, questioned how it could save, or distrusted the simple provision died. No one is compelled, but all may look and live or disbelieve and die, and no one who comes in penitence and faith has ever been turned away.
The strange serpent likeness means Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh as the Sin-bearer lifted on the shameful cross to call the attention of all people, though without sin Himself. He took human nature, was tempted, bore the guilt of the whole world, and came in human form to rescue humanity from its lost condition. Through a human agent cooperating with God He gives unmistakable evidence that fallen man can be brought into close fellowship and union with divinity and share the divine nature with power to overcome. God has done everything He could do to reclaim the race as lost sheep returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of the soul, uniting to Himself every soul who permits Him in infinite love.
Promise of Eternal Life
Whoever trusts in the Son of Man lifted up just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness will not perish but will have eternal life. Looking to Him in faith brings escape from perishing into life, with healing, pardon and salvation through His atoning sacrifice, for He is still calling sinners to look and live as the Healer of both body and soul. That looking turns the sinner from dwelling on personal sin, misery, wounds and wretchedness to the Saviour, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and as long as sinners look at and talk of their own wounds they remain unhealed, but when they look to Him their souls find hope and peace. Salvation and eternal life come through living faith that lays hold of the merits of the crucified and risen Saviour, Christ our righteousness, bringing a decisive change in which God's truth sanctifies life and character and produces fruits of righteousness. This rich promise gives assurance grounded in God's word and grasped by living faith, not in changeable feelings or emotions, for God sent His Son out of love not to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.
Christ alone is the remedy and ransom for sin, and those who reject the salvation He offers and refuse to look and believe will perish in their sins and die without hope. Whoever does not believe will not see life, and wrath remains on that person, left lost to God and heaven. As those bitten who looked at the bronze serpent lived and those who refused to look died, so all people affected by sin's poison live forever by looking to and believing in Jesus lifted up on the cross. The two thieves on the cross illustrate these two responses to the lifted-up Saviour.
The verse lays out the terms of salvation in distinct lines so plain that alone it would guide the soul, and it is good news to be rung throughout the world. Fallen humanity through sin and subject to death has no hope apart from Christ, who is lifted up for the nations as pictured through the sacrificial service so that all who look to Him live. It belongs to every soul, and especially to counselors and those dealing with minds, and to rulers in Israel today such as presidents of conferences, elders of churches, and those in official positions in institutions, who must like Nicodemus be born again before leading, become as a little child, make understanding regeneration their first duty, keep this truth as a bright shining light, and have the Holy Spirit daily molding the heart to give divine insight. The one who catches its meaning becomes a true believer, submits to the leading of the Holy Spirit, begins to see the kingdom, searches the Scriptures in a new way with old things gone and all things new, and shows the change in open action for Christ, as Nicodemus did when he opposed the council seeking Christ's death.
Believing Means Looking
Believing is looking to the uplifted Son of Man in faith, just as dying Israelites looked to the serpent lifted in the wilderness and lived. That look is faith itself, by which the sinner uses God's provision and receives Christ as a personal Saviour who heals both body and soul. It is a simple act of obedience and taking God at His word, doing just as God says without delay. Old and young are saved in the same way, look and live, resting on the ample atonement made by the Saviour and the veracity of God's word that Jesus died to redeem sinners and God means His promise to receive all who come, and no one who comes to Christ in penitence and faith has ever been turned away. The uplifted Saviour still calls sinners to look and live.
Looking means turning the eyes away from self and fastening them upon Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The sinner stops dwelling on personal sin and misery, wretchedness, wounds, guilt, helplessness and feelings, and beholds Jesus instead. As long as sinners look at and talk of their own wounds as hopeless they remain unhealed, but when they look to Him their souls find hope and peace and forgiveness and healing of soul and body. Whoever comes to Him in faith is not cast out but is made free and sheltered under the sure refuge of His atoning sacrifice, because He has borne the sin laid upon Him. To refuse to look, to ask what good it will do and keep talking of dreadful wounds, is to die.
Faith is trust in God's promise and in Christ's merits, blood, righteousness and sacrifice, grasped from God's word and not from changeable feelings or emotions. Salvation rests on believing that He saves, not on feeling that He is one's Saviour and not on first making oneself good or better, and not on waiting to understand the mystery. It does not come by reasoning, questioning, demanding scientific explanation, or gathering evidence before looking, for those who stopped to argue about the wilderness remedy died while those who looked lived. The first duty is to look at once and live without stopping to doubt and question, with eternity to study the mysteries of redemption. Assurance grounded in God's word honors His faithfulness, while doubt dishonors Him.
Believing is laying hold by faith upon the merits of the crucified and risen Saviour, Christ our righteousness, and claiming what is offered despite unworthiness. It makes beholding Him the life business, confessing every sin with contrite heart to have it removed, rolling sins at the foot of the cross, with prayer ascending fragrant through His merits. The contrite sinner may trust Him to remove sin and to give pardon, cleansing, deliverance, peace, assurance, victory and present salvation, even the vilest sinner with sins ever so grievous, for His atoning blood has power to take away sin and without shedding of blood no one can be saved. This includes surrendering the will, coming to Him in prayer and faith for His saving care, and placing entire dependence on Him, as the dying thief looked in faith, confessed Him and received the promise to be with Christ in Paradise. Without beholding Jesus and accepting His merits no sinner can be saved, just as Peter could not walk on the water unless he kept his eyes fixed steadily upon Jesus, and Satan's determined purpose is to eclipse the view of Jesus and lead people to look to and trust in man, so the efficacy of Christ's blood must be presented with freshness and power that faith may grasp it.
Grace Not Human Merit
Salvation rests on God's love in giving His only-begotten Son, not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved, and whoever believes in Him lifted up as the serpent was lifted up will not perish but have eternal life. Jesus is God's great gift to humanity, and keeping Him uplifted means presenting this hope of life through faith rather than through human effort. As the bitten Israelites had only to look at the bronze serpent in faith to live, so those who believe in Christ receive life, healing, pardon from sin, and eternal life. The serpent itself had no healing power in itself, just as religious rites and the sacrificial service have no power in themselves to pardon sin; both pointed to God's provision, for Christ alone gives life and people cannot save themselves. Faith therefore earns nothing and is only the means of laying hold of Christ and His merits, trusting God's word and receiving what He provides, whether healing from the serpent's sting or pardon from sin, and refusing to look means perishing, while questioning or demanding explanation cannot replace faith.
Only Christ could be lifted up to save a rebellious world under condemnation of broken law, for no angel and no man was sufficient. Only an infinite nature could undertake the redemptive work, so He joined Himself to disloyal and sinful humanity, partook of man's nature, gave His own blood and life, made His soul an offering for sin, and bore retribution in place of sinners. In doing this He holds out the hope of eternal life to everyone who believes, healing spiritual maladies as the Balm in Gilead and the great Physician, and uniting believing souls to Himself as grafted branches knit vein by vein and fiber by fiber into the living Vine.
The cross is the great truth of Christ's atonement for sin, the foundation around which all other Bible truths are understood, displaying mercy, regeneration, salvation, and redemption. His death is a full and ample atonement sufficient to save from sin, His blood is a cleansing stream washing every spot and stain of sin, and through His merits believers are accepted; without shedding of blood no one can be saved. He alone bears the sins of each person and of the whole world, for no human is another's sin-bearer, and looking to Him gives life because He died that the believer might live, while remaining in the shadow of the cross is hopeless despair and condemnation. When the sinner by faith reaches the foot of the cross and looks to Him he has pardon and may rejoice, as the dying thief received peace and assurance, for the cross brings believers nigh to God by reconciling man to God. Without it there is no connection with the Father, no unity with the Lamb in the midst of the throne, no welcome for the wandering who would return to righteousness and truth, no hope for the transgressor in the day of judgment, and no means to overcome the strong foe, so every hope of the race hangs upon it, yet in full view its light shines amid darkness and prostration at its foot is the highest elevation man can attain. Seen in the light of Calvary, the Father's love in giving His dear Son to die for a fallen world fills with wonder, joining mercy, tenderness and forgiveness with justice, dignity and power, bridging the gulf of perdition with a found ransom, laying sins and sorrows on One merciful to pardon and mighty to save, to be fully accepted by faith and trusted to save to the uttermost.
The lifted-up Saviour draws sinners to Himself and reveals God's love, and that love moves them to repentance with forgiveness following. Seeing Jesus dying for him makes the sinner realize something of the enormity of sin and long for pardon for all transgressions and for God's favor, and as the Holy Spirit impresses his mind he prays earnestly, believes he will receive, and rejoices in pardoning love. Beholding His self-sacrifice, goodness, compassion, humiliation and suffering melts and subdues hearts, breaks down barriers, awakens gratitude and worship, and through faith people may share the divine nature and receive moral power to form characters like God's. Through faith the Spirit creates new life, renews heart and mind, brings obedience to God's law, forms Christ within as the hope of glory, and proves conversion real by vigorous endeavor to obey all God's commandments, renouncing every evil work, ceasing to do evil and learning to do well.
New Life and Proclamation
Believing brings the new birth and the new heart needed to see God's kingdom, for whoever looks in faith to the Son of Man lifted up is saved and receives eternal life. As those bitten by fiery serpents lived when they looked at the bronze serpent Moses lifted up, so sinners must look to Christ come in human form to rescue them from their lost condition, and without faith the act brings no benefit. This saving faith takes hold of God's love, escapes perishing, and is joined to a changed life and changed character. The terms of salvation are laid out in distinct lines so plain that this verse alone would guide the soul, and it is good news to be rung throughout the world and belonging to every soul. The one who catches its meaning becomes a true believer, submits to the leading of the Holy Spirit, begins to see the kingdom, searches the Scriptures in a new way with old things gone and all things new, and shows the change in open action. Through faith the Spirit creates new life, renews heart and mind, opens the eyes, justifies, heals sin's deadly sting, and brings obedience to God's law, for genuine faith works by love, purifies the soul, and bears fruits of righteousness.
Counselors and those dealing with souls, and rulers in Israel today such as presidents of conferences, elders of churches, and those in official positions in institutions, must like Nicodemus be born again before leading, become as a little child, make understanding regeneration their first duty, keep this truth as a bright shining light, and have the Holy Spirit daily molding the heart to give divine insight. The third chapter of John is urged on those who have not been born again, calling them to humble themselves before God and walk in the light they have received.
The uplifted Saviour still calls sinners to look and live, and He is the Healer of both body and soul. Believing is like looking to the raised serpent for healing: the sinner turns from dwelling on personal sin and misery, takes the eyes off self and off sins and wretchedness, and fastens them upon Christ the Lamb of God, finding hope and peace. As long as sinners look at and talk of their own wounds they remain unhealed, but when they look to Him their souls find hope and peace and are healed of spiritual maladies, for He is the Balm in Gilead and the great Physician. God sent His Son out of love not to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved and hold out the hope of eternal life to everyone who believes. Looking to Jesus, who gave His life on Calvary to make that life possible, is the answer for sin-sick men and women and for the sick and suffering discouraged by disease of body and soul, who are to be encouraged to look to Jesus and live by placing themselves in His care. Pointing sufferers, including the sick, discouraged, intemperate, and tempted, to Him and telling His love and power to save is central to the work of healing and care, for Christ is touched with the feeling of human infirmities and can heal both physical and spiritual disease.
Salvation and eternal life come through living faith in Christ, meaning laying hold of the merits of the crucified and risen Savior, Christ our righteousness. This faith brings a decisive change: God's truth sanctifies life and character, producing fruits of righteousness. Genuine faith looks to the Savior, takes hold of infinite power, and works to bind people to Jesus, uniting believing souls to Himself as grafted branches are knit vein by vein and fiber by fiber into the living Vine. Looking to Christ heals the wound of sin pictured by the serpent's sting, and beholding Him changes people into His image as faith, love, and holiness grow in them. In the light of Jesus lifted up on the cross, sinners see their impurity, turn from sin, and live, for the purity and holiness of Jesus have power to transform the character, bringing the believer into close relation with God and His favor, with life hidden in Christ. The life Christ gives is eternal, unlike the present physical life people strive to preserve, and knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent is eternal life. When Christ is in the heart, love cannot be kept from expressing itself in words. Seeing need and the Saviour's sufficiency and claims, sinners follow Him and are born again to new life, and conversion may come without violent conviction, soul-rending remorse, or terror, yet still be genuine and lead to decided religious life, vigorous obedience, and telling others what Christ has done.
Nicodemus received the lesson and became a true believer, submitting to the leading of the Holy Spirit. When he saw Jesus on the cross he remembered these words and understood them more clearly, recognizing Him as the world's Redeemer. The events of Calvary established his faith in Jesus, and the truth first heard in private led him to faith and courageous service for Christ. His belief was proved when his voice was heard in the Sanhedrin council opposing their measures to kill Christ by insisting that the law must hear a man before judging him.
The uplifted Saviour is to be presented to people in all lands and in all places, in every church, and in the time of confusion and trouble such as never was since there was a nation, so that all who look to Him in repentance and faith may live. If a person had no other text in the Bible this verse alone would be a guide to the soul, and especially to every man who accepts responsibilities as a counselor and to everyone dealing with human minds this grand, beautiful truth is to be a bright and shining light. It is no credit to one who has the word of God in his possession to say he has no experience and does not understand these things, and he will never be wiser until he becomes of much less consequence in his own estimation and diligently searches the Word to obtain knowledge. Because every person is His purchased possession, He identifies His interests with suffering people, and reverence and love for Christ must therefore be shown through practical love and tender care for others, not words alone. Counselors, soul-winners, physicians, and rulers must first be born again and then lead perishing souls to Him by direct personal appeal.
Eternal life comes through believing in Christ, whose life was poured out on Calvary, and this life is received by accepting His word and obeying His commands. In holy communion, faith in His sacrifice nourishes the believer's spiritual life and binds the believer to Christ and, through Him, to the Father. Christ's death is also the source of physical life: daily bread and water are provided through His broken body and spilled blood, and the communion emblems teach that even ordinary nourishment points to His sacrifice. There is no union between souls and God except through Christ, and the love between brothers is made lasting and eternal by the love of Jesus. Nothing less than the death of Christ could make His love effective, and only because of His death can His second coming be looked to with joy, for His sacrifice is the center of hope upon which faith must be fixed.