Lifted Up in the Wilderness: Overcoming Spiritual Blindness through Jesus
Notes
Transcript
I. John 3:9-21 and Numbers 21:4-9
I. John 3:9-21 and Numbers 21:4-9
A. Opening Illustration: The Dark Tunnel of Spiritual Blindness
Imagine, if you will, a deep, dark tunnel stretching endlessly before you. This tunnel represents the vast expanse of our spiritual journey, a wilderness filled with confusion, doubt, and the constant threat of stumbling in the shadows of spiritual blindness.
In this tunnel, we find ourselves grappling with questions, much like Nicodemus did in his encounter with Jesus. We may wonder about the meaning of life, the purpose of our existence, and the reality of God's love in the midst of a chaotic world. The walls of the tunnel echo with the whispers of uncertainty, and the path ahead seems obscured, leaving us vulnerable to the pitfalls of misunderstanding and ignorance.
As we navigate this dark tunnel, we encounter the poisonous bites of sin—the consequences of our rebellion against God. Just like the Israelites in the wilderness who faced the deadly venom of serpents, our spiritual journey is marked by the wounds inflicted by our own transgressions. The venom of sin courses through our veins, threatening to lead us further into the depths of spiritual darkness.
Yet, in the midst of this spiritual wilderness, there is hope. It is in this very darkness that God offers a solution, a divine light to illuminate our path. This light is embodied in the bronze serpent lifted high in the wilderness, a symbol of healing and salvation. Similarly, in our spiritual journey, Christ is lifted up for all to see, offering a remedy for the poison of sin and a way out of the darkness.
Today, as we explore the Scriptures in John 3:9-21 and Numbers 21:4-9, let us consider the significance of being lifted up in the wilderness of our spiritual confusion. May our eyes be opened to the transformative power of Christ, the Light that guides us through the darkest tunnels of our lives, leading us to a place of clarity, purpose, and divine illumination.
B. Contextualizing the Wilderness: Our Journey in a World of Spiritual Confusion
C. Preview of John 3:9-21 and Numbers 21:4-9, pg 1130 and 164
II. The Symbolism of the Serpent in the Wilderness
II. The Symbolism of the Serpent in the Wilderness
Numbers 21:4–9 “From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against 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 loathe this worthless food.” Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”
A. Historical Background: Israel's Rebellion and God's Mercy
A. Historical Background: Israel's Rebellion and God's Mercy
As we set the context to our readings we first need to take a look at our Old Testament reading from Numbers 21. As we look at this story I have always found it interesting because it speaks to our human nature, especially in this fast paced, fast food, internet speed, fast everything world we live in. When we want something we want it fast and we want it now. This was the problem they had the people were getting impatient with not just Moses, but with God.
From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way.
And the people spoke against God and against 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 loathe this worthless food.”
What do they do when they get impatient, the spoke against God and against his servant Moses, complaining about how much better they had it in Egypt, but now they have brought them out to the wilderness to die. There’s no food, no water and they loathe this worthless food.
Couple of things first being this worthless food, this is the manna that God was providing for them in the wilderness. Jesus tells us something interesting John 6:31-35
Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
I will let you take from that what you will, but the implication seems clear. Its pointing to Jesus.
Then also several times they had run out of water in the wilderness, and yet God always seemed to provide. Even providing water from a rock.
B. The Poison of Sin: Reflecting on the Serpent's Bite
B. The Poison of Sin: Reflecting on the Serpent's Bite
The whole point of this is that God is tired of the rebellion, the lack of faith, their grumbling, and most of all their sin. The poison that is keeping them from trusting God, as he has delivered them over and over, and yet they just cannot seem to get it through their heads, the constantly keep looking back saying it was so much better under slavery that we have it now.
Sin keeps us looking backwards instead of looking forward to the promise. We think it was so much better in the past and we get so focused on that past they we cripple ourselves and grumble and complain. Why isn’t God delivering me, why isn’t it happening right now?
God sends these fiery serpents, these snake and they begin to bite the people, the sin is killing them, it is representative of the fall, back in Genesis 3, and when these serpents bite them they die. What appears quickly and now the people are afraid, and do not know what to do.
C. The Bronze Serpent: A Symbol of Healing and Salvation
C. The Bronze Serpent: A Symbol of Healing and Salvation
God then tells Moses to make a fiery serpent, an idol of the very sin that was plaguing them and put it on a pole. Moses then take and makes a serpent out of bronze and puts it on a pole, lifts it up in the wilderness, and when the people are bitten, all they have to do is look at this serpent and they are healed.
We scratch our heads at this and wonder what is this? Why would God use a symbol of the very thing that is plaguing them as the symbol to look at to be healed. Noticed God did not give some magic antidote, no pharmaceutical, no plants, or antivenom, it was the symbol of the very thing that was killing them, the sin, death itself.
D. Linking Numbers 21:4-9 to the Gospel of John
D. Linking Numbers 21:4-9 to the Gospel of John
Last week we talked about the message of the cross, this is a foreshadowing of that very cross, this is an illusion to this very message, it is what Jesus tells Nicodemus John 3:14
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
The cross is a symbol of death, it is the message and warning that was used by the Romans to show the people what would happen to them if they committed crimes, in fact they would often crucify people right at the city gates, where people were going in and coming out, so everyone had to see them.
Thus why Jesus was crucified at the place call the Golgotha or the place of the skull. It was right just outside the gates of Jerusalem, not necessarily on a hill as we get from the song.
The very symbol which was meant for death is the very thing we look at now as the symbol of the cost by which it took to heal us, from our real problem; sin. How we who were once blind, bitten by the power of sin, and sure of certain death, now have hope as we are healed by looking to the cross.
III. Spiritual Blindness and the Need for Transformation
III. Spiritual Blindness and the Need for Transformation
John 3:9–15 “Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And 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.”
A. Nicodemus' Confusion: The Struggle with Spiritual Vision
A. Nicodemus' Confusion: The Struggle with Spiritual Vision
Now to fully set the context we could have went much further back in John 3, but for the sake of time I am not going back that far. I would however encourage you later on to go back and read the entire chapter of John 3, and even further read your Bible daily, but the context of John 3 is Jesus having this conversation, at night, because Nicodemus was worried about the others leaders who did not believe Jesus. As he is having this conversation he is having a hard time understanding what Jesus is telling him, first he says you must be born again, and then he explains that which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.
Nicodemus is confused and does not understand saying John 3:9
Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”
B. Jesus as the Light: The Solution to Spiritual Darkness
B. Jesus as the Light: The Solution to Spiritual Darkness
Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?
Nicodemus thought that Jesus was teaching something different he was blind spiritually and did not understand what Jesus was meaning by this whole thing that is why he says “How can these things be?” It was challenging what Jesus was saying, he was trying to understand but because of his blindness, because of the sin blindness that all the leaders seemed to have they couldn’t see how what had been prophesied in the Old Testament, in their scriptures was playing out before their very eyes.
This is all too often what happens to people today even can happen to us as we get wrapped up in the cares of this world, in the rush of everything, in the wanting it now and not being willing to wait or trust in God, to bring it about. We turn to sin, begin to grumble, ask God how can this be? Why?
Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
C. The Comparison with the Bronze Serpent: A Foreshadowing of Christ's Sacrifice
C. The Comparison with the Bronze Serpent: A Foreshadowing of Christ's Sacrifice
When you see these things you will know. Jesus wasn’t teaching anything New, no God in his providence was bringing about all the things that had been talked about in scripture, and thus as Jesus said I did not come to abolish the Law of the Prophets, but to fulfill them.
The bronze serpent like many of the stories in the Old Testament, were type and shadows of things that were to come, are now and even some yet to come. Jesus however is the person and work for which it was all pointing, our only redeemer, our only way to God, the fulfillment of the Law and Prophecies, and most of all the true expression of God’s love for, that just as the serpent was lifted up, so would the son of man be.
Jesus being lifted up on the cross, dying for our sins, was just like that serpent in the wilderness, and to Nicodemus, being a teacher should recognize this, and see how it is all pointing to Jesus, and as we look back we have the full story see how it all played out, and yet there is still something hidden from the world, because they still are in darkness, blinded by the lies of the Devil and his minions and many still do not see.
D. Emphasizing the Crucifixion and Exaltation of Jesus
Thus we look to Jesus, that gospel message, the message of the cross, and keep preaching it to the world, hoping that their eyes will be opened that they will see and look to the cross and be healed.
IV. God's Love and the Invitation to Believe
IV. God's Love and the Invitation to Believe
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
A. The Essence of God's Love: Sacrifice for the Beloved
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
This is what the whole of scripture and this passage is all about, God’s love for us, while we were still sinners. God his son not sparing as the old hymn goes, sent him to die in our place, to bear up out sin and to be our savior. This is what true love us, that Jesus would willing die, one of the most horrific ways to die, on a cross of all things, to be the symbol of God’s love. To show what true love means.
B. Connecting God's Love to the Bronze Serpent: A Divine Remedy
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Now is where Jesus takes this all the way back, pointing out to Nicodemus that God is right in his judgments, that sin has to be dealt with, and the key to dealing with it is death. As Romans 6:23 testifies too.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
However God does not desire the death of sinners, but that they would repent and turn and believe the gospel, that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn even when he would have been right and just doing so, instead he took that punishment upon himself. Just as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness so shall the son of man be. Now whoever looks to Jesus, to the cross on which he died will be saved.
C. The Role of Faith: Believing in the One Lifted Up
Here however is where it gets difficult, Romans 6:10
For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
and John 3:18
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Now if Christ died once for all, it is dependent on faith, trusting in that promise, not universalism which would say that because Christ died for all, all will be saved. What does this passage say though, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because, there is that dependent clause, because he has not believed in the name of the only son of God.
This promise fits with Mark 16:16
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Then it is only unbelief that condemns, that is not believing in the only salvation, is the only way to not be saved. Leading us to the final part of this passage.
V. Condemnation and the Consequences of Spiritual Blindness
V. Condemnation and the Consequences of Spiritual Blindness
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
A. The Choice of Light or Darkness: Confronting Spiritual Apathy
At this point then we can only ask what is it that keeps people from believing the gospel, from believing and trusting in Jesus, well it is the love for their sin, their love for self, and most of all this all stems from spiritual blindness. That is what Jesus says right here John 3:19-20
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
It is like when you turn on the light in a darkened room, everything becomes exposed. That is the problem with darkness, the unknown, not knowing what you could run into, what you could trip on, bust your shins on, or some animal that ma be trying to attack you, like a serpent. However when you turn the light on, everything becomes visible, the light illuminates everything, reflecting that light spectrum back to your eye, in which it is refracted into a sensory that your brain process and then you see that serpent laying there on the ground ready to attack.
We talk about this all the time in my Bible studies, of why it is so important to get into God’s word, to read it for yourself, to understand it, to study it because it exposes the lies of the devil. You want to know what is really going in the world, its right here, forget CNN, forget Fox, this will tell you everything, then when you hear the stories they spin, when the world tries to sell you one of its many lies, when darkness tries to overshadow, by knowing the truth, it will shine a light, expose that darkness, and then that darkness has no place to hide.
The world however likes that darkness, it likes to hide sin, cover it up, pretend like it is isn’t there, just try harder is the biggest lie I constantly hear told to people who are caught up in sin. What does Scripture teach, confess your sins, do not hide them, confess them, and then God upon hearing that confession and repentance, will forgive your sins, and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. How through the person and work of Jesus Christ, his death, burial and resurrection. That when we look to the cross, we see and hear that message of the cross, and when we are bitten by sin, we confess, trust in the one who was lifted up in the wilderness and then we are healed, set right before God. Being healed death no longer has any power.
Finally John 3:21
But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Again we hear this final message that we are to believe, trusting in the only begotten son of God, Jesus Christ our only savior, and then because we believe, have been forgiven of our sins we shine forth as a light for others to see, sometimes we become the only light in this darkened world, and we should not be afraid, for what can man do to us, we look to the cross, see death defeated, we taste Jesus body and blood in the bread and wine, we confess our sins and the announcement is made your sins are forgiven.
There is nothing to fear, we are to go forth and shine in this world, unafraid to speak the truth, even when it is difficult, even when it is unpopular, even when it means giving up everything. God who see all, see our sin, and does not count it against us, but sets us free when we look to that cross on which Jesus died, healing us from our sins, setting us free, and giving us life eternal by simply believing in him, and trusting him beyond our own understanding.
