Sunday, March 18: John 3:14-21
Arguably, the most well-known verse in the scriptures, at least to sports and music fans, would have to be John 3:16. How many times have we seen it on a piece of poster board held high? Lifted up, so to speak? We are all familiar with it. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that we may believe and have eternal life.” Doesn’t that just about sum up our faith as Christians?
But what, exactly, does it mean when it says that “He gave His only Son”? We get a clue in verse 14: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
In Numbers 21:9, Moses was commanded to lift up a bronze snake, and all of the Israelites who had been bitten could look upon the snake and be healed.
In much this same way, Jesus was lifted up, on the cross, so that we could all be healed. Three days later, Jesus was raised from the dead, another “lifting up”. Our challenge is to “lift up” Christ in our lives. What can we do today, to remind us and those around us that our Lord, whom we serve above all others, is still at work in today’s world?