Jesus speaks of a serpent being lifted up in the wilderness, and how, by believing in Him, one can have eternal life. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14,15). Out of all the things that Jesus could choose to speak about, why did He choose a snake and eternity?

To better understand this, we need to look at the context surrounding Jesus’ statement. Nicodemus, a Pharisee (a religious leader who spent his entire life keeping the law of God given in the first five books of the Old Testament), had slipped out one night to confer privately with Jesus. In the course of their conversation, Jesus stated that, to see or understand and be part of the kingdom of God, you must be born again. Nicodemus had much trouble understanding this concept. All he could see was the idea of a physical birth, but Jesus was trying to get him to grasp that this new birth… Click or tap here to continue reading