05/11/2026
There is a moment in the Old Testament that seems almost confusing the first time you read it.
The people of Israel had sinned, and poisonous serpents began biting them in the wilderness. The bites were deadly. People were dying. There was no cure, no medicine, and no human way to stop what had already entered their bodies.
Then God tells Moses to do something unexpected.
He says, “Make a bronze serpent and lift it up on a pole. Anyone who looks at it will live.”
At first glance, it feels strange.
Why a serpent?
Why bronze?
Why would healing come simply by looking?
But centuries later, Jesus reveals the meaning behind the entire story.
Speaking to Nicodemus, Jesus says,
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”
Suddenly everything changes.
This story was never just about snakes.
It was always pointing to Jesus.
The serpent represented the curse that was killing the people. Bronze throughout Scripture often symbolizes judgment. God was showing that the curse itself would be judged publicly so healing could come to everyone who looked in faith.
And that is exactly what happened at the cross.
Jesus did not become sinful.
But He became sin for us.
The full weight of guilt, shame, judgment, and death was placed upon Him so that life could be given to us.
And notice something beautiful.
The people were not told to heal themselves first.
They were not told to prove their worthiness.
They were not told to clean up before looking.
They simply had to look.
That is the Gospel.
Look and live.
Not strive and live.
Not perform and live.
Not pretend and live.
Look and live.
Religion constantly tells people to focus on themselves. Their failures. Their effort. Their ability to improve.
But grace points people somewhere else entirely.
To Jesus.
The Israelites were not healed because they looked perfectly. They were healed because of what they were looking at.
And the same is true today.
Salvation is not found in staring endlessly at your wounds. It is found in fixing your eyes on Christ.
So many people spend their lives trapped in shame because they keep looking inward instead of upward. They replay their mistakes, measure their failures, and wonder if they can ever become good enough for God.
But Jesus never said, “Fix yourself first.”
He said, “Look to Me.”
The cross was never a partial solution.
When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He meant the debt was paid in full. The curse was dealt with completely. The work was accomplished once and for all.
Just as the bronze serpent was lifted once, Jesus was lifted once for the sins of the world.
Nothing more needed to be added.
And maybe someone reading this needs to hear this today.
You do not overcome darkness by obsessing over darkness.
You overcome by beholding the Savior who defeated it.
Your past does not define you anymore.
Your failures do not get the final word.
Your wounds are not stronger than His grace.
The invitation today is the same as it was in the wilderness.
Look to Jesus.
And live.
