Jesus and the Bronze Serpent

In this sermon, we looked at how the story in Numbers 21 is more than just a strange moment in Israel's wilderness journey—it's a powerful foreshadowing of the gospel. When the Israelites were bitten by fiery serpents because of their rebellion, their only hope for healing came not through human effort, but by looking in faith at a bronze serpent lifted up on a pole. In John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that just as the Israelites looked to the bronze serpent and lived, so must every person be born again by looking to the Son of Man, who would be lifted up on the cross. The central theme of this sermon—and of God's overall redemptive story—is that salvation cannot be earned; it is a gift we receive by putting our faith in Jesus.