Is it true that you just believe in Jesus and you are saved?
When I first became a Christian at the age of 16 and was taking confirmation classes at Cocoa Presbyterian Church, I remember Reverend Flanagan telling us that if you believe in Jesus you will be saved. Right away that statement raised so many questions for me and started me on a lifelong quest to discover what God really wants from me and what it means to “be saved.” I remember thinking there’s no way it’s that simple.
Do you ever wonder what it means to “believe?”
I’m talking about the statement we heard in the gospel reading, I’m sure you are familiar with it – it is probably the most well-known statement in the Bible – John 3:16: “For 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.”
Some say this is the summary statement of John’s Gospel – some say this is the whole Gospel message, neatly condensed into one verse. Surely the other stories about Jesus seem to all point this way, most notably the thief on the cross who had never heard of Jesus until he hung beside him on a cross - yet ended the day in Paradise based solely on the faith he expressed that day.
Here I am 34 years later still trying to answer those same questions. Because it’s not as simple as it sounds. Whatever “believe” means to God – I want to make sure my belief is the kind that ensures my salvation. So today we are going to consider what it means to “believe” by examining the passage from Numbers 21 alongside the gospel reading from John.
As I was reading the passage from Numbers today two things stuck out to me. First of all, the Lord sent poisonous serpents out among the Israelites and some died (vs. 6) and secondly, Moses made a serpent of bronze and set it up on a pole so that all who looked at it lived (vs. 9).
Okay, I know the Israelites are whiny and annoying and incredibly ungrateful, but I was shocked that God lost his cool and sent out serpents to kill them. And then instructed Moses to make a statue of a bronze serpent on a pole which kind of sounds like an idol to me.
So, I found these things a little surprising. [Plus, God sent the serpents then sent the cure.]
When I read this passage a little closer there was a surprise in the footnotes! The word translated as “poisonous” in my Bible has been translated as “fiery” in other English versions.
Come to find out that word is seraph in Hebrew and you may be familiar with the other common English translation – “seraphim.”
We learn the most about seraphim in Isaiah 6, where they appear in Isaiah’s vision attending God on the throne and singing “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty, the whole earth is full of His glory.” They are described as having 6 wings: two that cover their face, two that cover their feet and two they use to fly. This part of Isaiah’s book is where God calls Isaiah to be a prophet – to bring God’s message to Israel. Isaiah laments that his lips are unclean and thus not worthy to speak God’s words. So, one of the seraphim bring a live coal and touch it to Isaiah’s lips in an act of purification.
Seraphim are associated with fire, burning, holiness and purification. So, the translation of “fiery” is more appropriate than “poisonous.” Of course, the translators may have made the decision to use poisonous because we are all familiar with poisonous snakes here on earth but we don’t have so many fiery serpents slithering around – unless you count dragons! Yet again we see the pitfalls of translation.
Now this idea that the serpents sent by God were not ordinary snakes, not even poisonous ones, but fiery serpents - or seraphim - opens up a whole new way of seeing this encounter. God sent a wave of purifying holiness through the people and some did not survive. This is a much different view than God sent poisonous snakes out with the intention of killing the people.
Now what happens next is very interesting. The people come to Moses and confess their sin; they tell Moses that they had sinned by speaking against the Lord and ask him to pray to God to take away the serpents. Moses prays to God and God tells him to make a serpent and put it up on a pole so that the people can look at it and live.
I mentioned that I was confused about this bronze serpent that God commanded Moses to make because it seems to be an idol - much like the Golden Calf and in fact, later we read in the book of Second Kings that King Hezekiah had to destroy this bronze serpent because people had been worshipping it. We also learn that they call it Nehushtan.
Can you tell me where else in the Bible we encounter a serpent? (Garden of Eden)
Yes, in the Garden of Eden we have the serpent who appears in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. I’ve mentioned before that the serpent is a symbol of chaos. Maybe you recall that I once said that the serpent was the one spot of Chaos in God’s ordered Garden. The thing is that God is all about Order, in the cosmological sense, and Order is the opposite of Chaos.
Notice that this image is similar to that of Nehustan. The snake is wrapped around the tree trunk. The tree is like the pole. In one sense, the serpent represents Chaos and the pole is Order.
Not only is this image of a snake wrapped around a pole reminiscent of the serpent in the garden, but it has come down to us through the ages and you’ve seen it before - although you might not have noticed it.
The symbol that Moses created in the wilderness to save the Israelites thousands of years ago also came to be used in Ancient Greece and they named it the Rod of Asclepius, named after a deity associated with healing. I knew this symbol was used in the medical field which is why I investigated it, but I didn’t know it figured so prominently in many logos that I thought I knew. Maybe it will surprise you too.
I will leave it up to you to figure out the meaning of this symbol as it relates to the medical arts.
The thing about symbols is that they are like visual metaphors and so pinning down the precise meaning is not possible. This symbol of the snake around the pole is very old and through the millennia our human imaginations have attributed much significance to it otherwise it would not still be in use today.
Today, in our reading, John compares Jesus on the cross to this Nehushtan saying, “just 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” (vs. 15).
And so, it seems that there is a parallel between these two events.
As we examine these two events side by side it becomes very instructive.
John tells us that the light has come into the world in the form of Jesus but the people loved the darkness because their deeds were evil (vs. 19). They shun the light in order to avoid being exposed (vs. 20). They are afraid of being found out – their unclean thoughts and deeds on display. This is confession – to come into the light – to expose your inner self to the light of day. To show God who you really are in your heart and in return to be purified by the holiness of love. Because if you confess you will be forgiven. Maybe we don’t want to be forgiven. Maybe we just want to continue in our errant ways, afraid of change. The first step toward solving a problem is admitting there is a problem. So, confession is necessary.
Remember that the Israelites first confessed their sin and asked Moses to intervene for them with God. We also must confess our sin and admit that we need saving. As long as we think everything in our lives is okay, that this world is just fine and dandy, we have no need of God and will never seek salvation.
The Israelites in our story are deathly ill, they are in fear of their lives and the bronze serpent has been constructed, as ordered by God, to save their lives. In the same way, Jesus on the cross is an event orchestrated by God in order to save our lives.
As N.T. Wright, a famous theologian, has written: “Humankind has been smitten with a deadly disease. The only cure is to look on the Son of Man dying on the cross and find life through believing in him.”
And Paul, in our reading from Ephesians tells us, “You were dead through your trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world.”
So, we can see that we must understand that we are in dire need of saving. We must understand that we are dying…and by that, I don’t mean that these bodies will eventually die but we need to understand that without God our lives are so meaningless…. that we might as well be dead.
We are perishing and we don’t even know it.
We need Jesus, who was lifted up on the cross, in the same way that those Israelites needed Nehushtan. In an immediate way….as a matter of life or death.
The other thing to note is that if the Israelites wanted to be saved – they had to look at the bronze serpent. It is conceivable that one or two neglected to set their eyes upon their savior and thus perished by their own negligence. In the same way we are called to look at Jesus hanging on the cross. It is not a sight we can avoid.
This sight of our Savior on the cross is an invitation to compassion – for how can you see what he suffered for your sake without feeling great sorrow and remorse. You must turn to gaze upon the cross – to see the suffering of the world – you cannot avoid it – for it is in seeing and accepting the suffering that you truly begin to love and accept the love offered there.
The association of the cross with Nehushtan also makes it clear that Jesus is a healer. That somehow the death of Jesus on the cross heals us. That may be why Jesus spends so much of his ministry healing people. I suspect the healing offered by the cross is more than physical healing but goes deeper. I believe Jesus offers wholeness – a healing of the mind, body and soul – a reuniting of what has been separated.
But, after all this if we think John meant we only need to say that Jesus is our Lord, or recite a creed, follow a set of rules or believe in our minds then we are mistaken. Remember that Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
It is not enough to recite with your lips.
Think about what we mean when we say lip-service – we must not only give lip service to our faith, but it must go deeper than that. We must not only have an intellectual faith - it must also penetrate our hearts and our bodies and our souls.
Jesus must live in our hearts. We must thirst for him as we thirst for water. The prophets told us that God wishes to write his commandments on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). Our faith should not be theology to debate but a mandate for life. God must live in us and be the source of our being.
This is what it means to believe – it means to live in God. Not just going to church and being a nice person, not just saying all the right words, praying the right prayers or hanging out with the right people, but finding your meaning, your reason for being in God – opening your heart and letting God inside – opening yourself up to compassion and healing.
It means to love the light more than dark. To look at Jesus on the cross, to believe in him is to come into the light to leave the darkness. To be children of the light, to love the truth even when it hurts. To accept the healing offered. To find life where others only see death.
Remember Jesus told us that those who wish to save their life must lose it. (Matthew 10:39)
Are you thirsting for God? Do you need God like your body needs water?
Where does God fit in your needs hierarchy?
Is God your all in all – or can you take it or leave it?
Are you ready to give your whole life to Jesus? Do you truly believe?
Prayer
Oh Lord, help us believe. Draw us to your side as we gaze upon your form on the cross. Give us the courage to open ourselves up to your shining light. Give us the strength to nourish compassion in our hearts. Turn our eyes and hearts to you so that we may receive the healing you offer and the gift of salvation. AMEN
