Fourth Sunday in Lent

John 3:14-21

Rev. Neli Miranda

 

Today we are celebrating the fourth Sunday in Lent, and as we approach Holy Week, John’s Gospel brings us an advance of the moving image of Jesus on the cross.  In the preceding verses, we learn that Jesus was talking with a Pharisee called Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews and teacher of the people. Nicodemus was seeking a deeper knowledge of God, and he knew that Jesus could enlighten him. 

Jesus has explained to Nicodemus the imperative of being born again to enter the Kingdom of God. Now, Jesus gives a great revelation about himself to Nicodemus. Jesus compares himself to the serpent lifted up by Moses in the wilderness, “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (3, 14-15). Jesus is recalling an incident in the Book of Numbers (21) when the people of Israel were afflicted by poisonous serpents when the Israelites were journeying in the wilderness after their liberation from Egypt. During their journey, God had taken care of them providing bread and water, yet they were dissatisfied and spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food” (21,4). Their rebellious attitude revealed their ungratefulness, impatience, and lack of trust in God.  As a result, a plague of poisonous serpents came among them, and many died. Then, assuming their fault, the people came to Moses to confess their sin and ask him to pray for them. So, God instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent and lift it up on a pole; and those who were bitten by the serpents, looked at the serpent of bronze and lived. How did this work? 

In the midst of suffering, the people were forced to look at the serpent because by looking at it, the people directly faced their sin and reflected on what caused all the suffering among them. Their penitent attitude and their faith turned them back to God and they were healed! The poisonous serpents, a source of death, were turned into a source of life through a gaze of faith! Was this not a dose of antidote!! Only when the people dared to look at their sin, they found God’s healing, God’s salvation.

Jesus uses the image of the serpent in the wilderness as a metaphor for his own impending crucifixion. He foretells that just as the serpent represented healing and deliverance in the wilderness, he, as the Son of Man, will be lifted up on the cross, bringing salvation and eternal life to all who believe in him.  Like in the wilderness, looking at the cross is an act of faith. When we look at Jesus up on the cross, we can see the pain and suffering in the world and its causes. When we see Jesus on the cross, we realize how much pain humans can inflict on others; we see ourselves, and we realize we are the serpents biting each other. 

Looking at Jesus up on the cross is painful but it is also a gaze of faith that saves us. Looking at the crucified One leads us to encounter our sins and then receive God’s grace. When we turn our eyes to the cross, we see the suffering Son of Man, the humanity; we see the pain and suffering we humans cause; we also see ourselves, so we are transformed into humans committed to Life. Looking at Jesus on the cross converts us into humans. Thus, the cross, a sign of death, is transformed by Jesus into a sign of salvation. There is life in a look at the crucified One!!

Dear sisters and brothers may this Lenten path guide us to look up at Jesus on the cross so we may be transformed through this gaze of faith.

Amen