12-29-19 Sermon Notes
“Overwhelming – Snake Bitten and Lifted Up” John 3:1-21; Numbers 21:4-9; Isaiah 5:3-9; Matthew 27:57-60 and John 19:38-40
Last week, we focused on the prophecy of the birth of Jesus. This week we conclude our series by looking at the prophecy of the bronze snake.
Introduction
We began eleven weeks ago with Old Testament prophecies of the coming Messiah and their fulfillment in the New Testament. Among them were that He had to be a descendant of David, He would be pierced and forsaken, He would be a Nazarene, He would be born in Bethlehem, He would be betrayed by one His followers, and He would be born of a virgin.
With these prophecies in mind, we will examine yet one more prophecy and its implications for all mankind.
Before we begin, see if you can define the word “snake-bit” and then what it might have to do with the following verses.
John 3:1-21 New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
3 “Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[ gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[ must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Numbers 21:4-9 New International Version (NIV)
The Bronze Snake
4 “They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea,to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”
6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelite’s died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.”
One more prophecy.
“And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.” Isaiah 53:9
Fulfillment
“When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple: He went to Pilate, and begged the Body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.” Matthew 27:57-60
Added Note: Nicodemus appears again as noted in the following verses. It certainly seems that he became a believer.
The Burial of Jesus
38 “Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.” John 19:38-40
The preceding verses speak for themselves.
Concluding Remarks and Application
When we stop and think about it, all of us are ‘snakebitten’ by our sin nature. There is only one anti-venom for our condition and that is to call upon Jesus to heal us. It doesn’t take numerous shots or a long hospital stay to be ‘cured’ and stay ‘cured’ just as it didn’t take long for the Israelite’s to be saved. They only had to look at the bronze snake on the pole and be saved. The same thing holds true for us today by turning our eyes upon Jesus. No long tedious mind-bending, back-breaking, rule-following is necessary – only our belief in the salvation power of Jesus and our desire to turn our back on the venom of sin.
Synonyms & Antonyms for snake-bit
Synonyms
hapless, hard-luck, ill-fated, ill-starred, jinxed, luckless, star-crossed, unfortunate, unhappy, unlucky
Antonyms
fortunate, happy, lucky