The gospel for today includes the well known passage from John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” It also includes a perhaps not as well known passage: “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up” I think folks quickly get “Son of Man…lifted up” as a reference to Jesus’ crucifixion and death on Good Friday. But the part, “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert…” is perhaps unfamiliar and is easy to get lost in the fame of John 3:16.

The first reading today is from The Book of Numbers, the fourth book of the Old Testament. Numbers is the title of the book in English, but the Hebrew title is Bemiḏbar, “in the wilderness” which is a better description as the whole book recounts a large part of the 40 years in the wilderness between Israel’s enslavement in Egypt and reaching the Promised Land. It has not been an easy journey and the people have complained about… well, about everything. It is an ongoing litany of “what have you done for us lately.” The people even go so far as to complain to Moses:  “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!” These are not happy campers on this wilderness trek.

This is not the first round of complaints. In previous times complaints about food had brought a divine supply of manna to meet their needs, but now the response of God is to send a scourge of fiery serpents that bite everyone; people are starting to die. Again, as before, the Israelites repent and ask Moses to intercede for them with the Lord. But this time is different. When he does, God instructs Moses to construct a bronze image of one of the lethal snakes and to set it on a pole where it can be seen. To be healed and saved from the venomous bite, all they need to do is place their trust in God and look up that which has been lifted up. Simple, yes? Maybe not so much.

The people had spent several hundred years in Egypt and among a variety of deities and gods that were worshiped. Lots of the complaints had mentioned returning to Egypt – life wasn’t great there, but at least it was better than this. The people seem willing to trust themselves to slavery and the gods of Egypt. In the current circumstances, the people needed healing – so why not turn to the Egyptian god of healing – Apep (also Apophasis). Apep was the god of death, darkness and an opponent of light – and interestingly, was also the god of medicine and healing – most often portrayed as a serpent. But there was one catch: worshipers were not to look upon the image of Apep. To raise their eyes and look at the image of the snake was to receive the judgment of death from Apep and know eternal darkness. To keep one’s eyes cast down in worship was the way to be healed.

The command from Moses is a biblical go-no go moment. If you were bitten you had to decide on whom to trust. You had to decide, then and there, who is the God who saves? You are facing death by poisonous venom. Only intervention from the true God will save you. If you think it is the Egyptian snake god Apep, then keep your head down. If you trust in the Lord God to save you then look up at the symbol of the one who is no god at all. The ones who kept their eyes cast down and counted on Apep – they died. The ones who looked up as the symbol of the “god of death”, they lived.

John the Evangelist well understood that the episode in Numbers served to foreshadow Christ’s crucifixion. Think about the two scenes: in the first reading the bronze serpent is  “lifted up” and in the Gospel Jesus “lifted up” on the cross. Both scenes are about what or in whom one places their trust.

• In Numbers the people face physical death and have to choose in whom they trust. Lift up your eyes, see beyond Apep to the one true God. Place your trust in Him. Keep your eyes down and your fate is physical and spiritual death.
• The Gospel message is to lift up your eyes to the Roman sign of death and the One crucified who conquered death. Trust in Jesus and know spiritual life now and eternal life forever. Keep your eyes down, trusting in something else… it won’t end well.

The Israelites were healed – not by removing the serpents – but by trusting God’s remedy. When all was said and done, they were still in the wilderness, but they were building a treasury of experiences that the Lord God is indeed worthy of their trust and worship. And so they journey on.

In our time, we do not get to escape a broken world, but we do choose what or in whom we trust. Salvation in Christ comes by trusting in the crucified and risen Lord. On your wilderness days, need a reminder? Just lift your eyes up to the cross and remember today’s readings. In Numbers, God’s mercy interrupts judgment; in the Gospel, the cross interrupts humanity’s condemnation because of love. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17)

Remember that and journey on.

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Image credit: Moses and the Brazen Serpent | Esteban March (1610-1668) | Banco Santander Collection, Madrid | PD-US