JESUS ON THE POLE

John 3:14 (NLT) And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.

Jesus went on to say more in John Chapters 8 and 12 about being lifted up, which is a reference to Him being crucified on a cross and lifted up from the Earth. We see Jesus referencing back to what Moses did during the invasion of the poison serpents in the wilderness that were biting the children of Israel, and they were dying by the thousands. When the children of Israel had a steadfast gaze of the serpent on the pole, which is a type of Christ on the cross, they would be healed. It was the only way for them to be free from the poison if they were bit because there was no other cure available to them. Jesus became sin. He didn’t just take our sin. He who knew no sin became sin that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). Our only cure for sin is Jesus. He is the only one who can save us from our sin and the death that sin always causes. While Jesus was becoming our sin, He also took upon Himself every sickness and disease; and we are told that by the stripes He took at the whipping post, we are healed (1 Peter 2:24). While Jesus was on the cross, He became a curse so that the blessings of Abraham would come upon us by faith (Galatians 3:13-14). Because Jesus was lifted up, like that serpent on the pole, you and I can be free from sin and the death that it causes; you and I can be free from every sickness and disease that harasses humanity. The key, however, is to have a steadfast gaze, first at an empty cross, remembering the work that Jesus accomplished on the cross and then, looking to the right hand of the Father in Heaven where a victorious Jesus is seated. When we set our affections on our risen Savior, all that He has done for us becomes available to us. Don’t let anything of what Jesus did for you on the cross go, not being received. Lastly, you and I have been given an assignment from the one who hung on that cross, like the serpent on the pole. Jesus wants us to proclaim what He has done to everyone who will listen. He wants us to get them saved and then, get them in the place they can be discipled and walk in the truth of the Word of God that will set them free and keep them free.