Look to Jesus and be saved

Text John 3:13-15 Time 14/10/12 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

We are considering John Chapter 3 and the conversation that took place one night between Jesus and Nicodemus. In verses 11 and 12 Jesus says to Nicodemus in contrast to his previous we know - I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?

It is a very confident, potentially arrogant, statement. Jesus really knows and anyone who rejects what he testifies to is guilty of sin. But how can he speak in such bold terms? What makes Jesus so confident that he can speak of both earthly and heavenly things and that those who refuse his testimony are in the wrong? The answer is found in verse 13, the first verse I want us to look at today. Jesus then goes on, in verses 14 and 15, to speak for the first time about how it is that eternal life can actually be received by faith. There are two main things to take in here then.

1. Realise that Jesus is well worth listening to

The answer the question of how Jesus is able to speak not only about earthly things but also about heavenly things is given then in verse 13.In that verse Jesus says No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven - the Son of Man. The Son of man is the term that Jesus most often used to refer to himself. It is one of the titles of Messiah, one that the Jews had rather forgotten and so one that, unlike the title Son of David, they did not instantly connect with wrong ideas.

The NIV doesn't get the verse quite right really. It sounds rather like Jesus is saying No one has ever gone into heaven but the one who came from heaven - the Son of Man has been there. Instead, he is saying that No one has ever gone into heaven but rather one has come down from heaven - the Son of Man and he is here. Jesus is not saying that he knows about heavenly things because he has risen up from earth and gone up to heaven to explore but rather, that he can speak about heavenly things because he has come down from heaven to tell us about them. In those days there were many stories around about saints, especially Moses, going up to heaven and returning. Well, Jesus says, whether these stories are true or not no-one had ever been to heaven in such a way that they were able to return and speak about heavenly things. Jesus, on the other hand, is the one who came from heaven - the Son of Man. This John makes clear right at the beginning of his Gospel when he says

(1:1, 2) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning and (1:14) The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Verse 18 says No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

Indeed the idea comes up in several places in John.

• In Chapter 6 Jesus says (38, 51, 62) I have come down from heaven ... I am the living bread that came down from heaven and talks about ascending to where he was before.
• In 8:42 he says I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me.
• In 13:3 John comments that Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God.
• In 16:28-30 he says I came from the Father and entered the world and in 17:5 asks his Father to glorify him with the glory I had with you before the world began.

So if we ever have any doubts about whether Jesus is worth listening to, those doubts should quickly be dispelled by a contemplation of who he is and where he has come from – he has come from heaven itself.

Some versions do add “who is in heaven” but it sounds like someone has added that in the margin and, as happened sometimes, later copyists have brought it into the text. Even while he spoke there was a sense in which Jesus was in heaven, of course, because he is God.

Say you want someone to show you around a place. Who do you turn to? Someone who lives there or someone who has never been there? Not difficult is it?

Think of a special lecture being announced. The subject is Buckingham Palace. On the one hand, a lecturer may speak on Buckingham Palace on the basis that he has been there perhaps many times. He may well get a good audience and be able to give an interesting and informative lecture on the subject. But what if it was announced that the Queen herself was going to speak on the subject. She actually lives there and inevitably could speak with much more authority and interest. Not only would the audience be far greater but the lecture would be fascinating.

That is the first thing this morning then. Remember who it is who teaches us in this third chapter of John. These are the words of the one who came from heaven - the Son of Man, the Messiah. He can teach you earthly things and heavenly things too. He can teach you like no other can and it is vital that you listen to what he has so say.

2. Listen to what Jesus says and see that he is well worth looking to for in him is eternal life

In verses 14 and 15 the one who came from heaven - the Son of Man speaks and he says Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life.

Now that statement is not immediately clear perhaps so let's try and make it a bit clearer.

1. Understand what happened in the case that Jesus refers to

When Jesus says Moses lifted up the snake in the desert he is referring to an incident recorded in Numbers 21:4-9. The story unfolds in three or four phases.

1 The sin and the judgement. We are told there how, while in the desert, the people grew impatient on the way and, not for the first time, spoke against God and against Moses who was leading them. They said Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food! (referring to the manna that came daily from heaven).

In response to this there was a judgement from God, The Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. When the people see what is happening they react with remorse and they say to Moses We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you which was very true. Pray they say that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.

2 The remedy provided and received. So we read Moses prayed for the people and God gave a wonderful answer. First, a remedy was provided. The LORD tells Moses to Make a snake from bronze and put it up on a pole. He is then told that anyone who simply looked at the pole would be healed and would live. So that is what Moses does – he makes a bronze snake, attaches it to a pole and holds it up. We are told, lastly, that when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.

It is only one incident from 40 years in the desert but it is full of instruction and Jesus mentions it here, knowing that Nicodemus would be familiar with the story.

2. Understand how that points to exactly what Jesus was going to do to save people.

Jesus's point is that Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man that is he himself must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life.

Now God often did this. He laid down certain patterns of judgement and deliverance so that we may know and understand how he works. Paul says (Romans 15:4) everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. They were written down for us on whom the culmination of the ages has come (1 Corinthians 10:11). Whenever you read the Old Testament you should be thinking not only of what God was doing then but also of how it points forward to what God would do through Jesus. So think of

1 The sin and the judgement. Jesus doesn't say anything about this directly but assumes it. Just as the Israelites sinned in the desert by rebelling with grumbling and dissent so we also sin against God. They sinned in one particular way, we sin in all sorts of different ways. The Ten commandments remind us of our different sins. Such sins deserve punishment. The people in the desert received the temporal punishment of sickness and in some cases death by snake bite. We must recognise that God punishes sinners. The Bible speaks often enough of the judgement to come that awaits us all and the hell that will follow for all who are not born again.

That is the first thing to grasp then. You are a sinner. Just as the Israelites rebelled against Moses and God in the desert so you rebel against your parents and against God's messengers and against God himself and his law today. Because of this you are in great danger. Vipers have entered the camp, as it were, and at any moment you could be bitten and die. If we die without coming to trust in Christ then we can expect God's judgement. We have no other prospect outside of Christ than going to hell. And so we must see ourselves not only as rebels but as dying rebels, under the judgement of a just God.

2 The remedy provided and received. How were the Israelites in the desert saved? First of all, Moses made a model of one of the very snakes that were doing all the damage. The snake was then attached to a pole and lifted up high where everybody could see it. Of course, that act in and of itself could not heal anyone but if the person who was sick and dying looked to where the snake was being held up then that person would live.

Now says Jesus, at this point, just as the snake was lifted up so he must be lifted up also. This is the first reference in John to his being lifted up. There are at least two other references. In John 8:28 he says to the Jews When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me and in John 12:31-34 he says to the crowd Now is the time for judgement on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. John specifically adds at this point that He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. The crowd seem to have got it in part but still had their questions. We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, they say so how can you say, The Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man. It clear then that Jesus is referring chiefly to his crucifixion though the other idea there is that of Jesus and his crucifixion being proclaimed. What exactly Nicodemus would have understood from what Jesus said we cannot be sure.

So here is a prophecy, one that proved to be true – that just as Moses made a bronze snake just like the poisonous snakes that were biting the Israelites and poisoning them so Jesus, who comes looking just like a sinful man, was going to be hoisted onto a pole and lifted up and there he would die. He says nothing about his resurrection at this point – the answer to the crowd's question about Messiah remaining forever – as it is not strictly relevant.

Rather he goes on to make the point that his death is in order that everyone who believes may have eternal life. Just as people looked to the bronze snake in the desert and everyone that did so was healed so today everyone must look to Jesus Christ the crucified one, in the sense of putting their trust in him. You can imagine someone dying from a snake bite in the desert but then words come that Moses is holding up a bronze snake in the distance and you are told that if you will simply look at that snake then you will be healed. Even if you had doubts you would at least look. You would at least try and get a glimpse of it so that you had some hope of being healed. And we can be sure that every person who caught even only a glimpse was healed that very moment. You did not need to go up to the snake or touch it. You only had to see it.

Now it is the same today. By nature we are all perishing. There is a poison in our system that will kill us if we do not repent from our rebellion and look to Christ. He has died on the cross and he is being proclaimed to you this morning as the one hope for you. I am preaching to you, as Paul did, Jesus Christ and him crucified. He is being placarded before you, as it were. This is where to look I am saying. Don't look at me. Don't look to yourself. Look at him! What you need to do is to fix your eyes upon him. Yes, you may have your doubts. You may tell yourself that you are not too sick and that the poison cannot harm you or you may wonder how trusting in Jesus can help you but be assured of this – if you truly look to him and to what he has done, if you put your faith in Christ and his death on the cross, then you will without doubt know the gift of eternal life. Look to him today I plead with you. If you've never looked before, look today. Don't turn your eyes away from him but look and gaze on him. If you've looked before, look again. Keep looking to him. Look ever to Jesus, he will carry you through whatever obstacles may lie in the way. Amen.