the cross and the snake

On this Good Friday, I am thinking of Nebo.

When one approaches the top of Mount Nebo on the edge of the Dead Sea on the Jordan side, the predominant figure that rises above the horizon is the outline of a cross. It seems like an odd symbol for the place that Moses once stood to look into the promised land.

What is the meaning of this?

After all, this is the place that Moses led his people to the edge of Canaan, it is not the place of calvary. It was not the place of the cross, instead it this was the place that Moses was able to look, but not cross. It was the place that God took him, but no further. Moses had disobeyed God and therefore was not able to cross into the land of promise. Nebo is where it all ended for him. It represents both the place where he finally saw the land of promise and the place where his journey ended.

So why a cross?

As one gets closer to the figure, it becomes obvious that although the outline of the symbol is indeed a cross, there is another important and obvious meaning. At close observation, you can see that the figure that has been erected above Nebo is not just a cross, but a snake winding around the figure of a staff made in the shape of a cross.

The church that resides on top of the famous place of Moses' view of Canaan has chosen as it's predominant symbol both the snake that Moses raised in the wilderness to save the people of Israel from the venomous curse of snake bite (Numbers 21), and the cross on which Jesus was raised to save us from the poison of our sin.

Upon reflection, I can't think of a better symbol for the life of Moses. After all, Moses, who represents the law, pointed us to Christ just as the law reminds us that all that follow the law are under the curse (Galatians 3:1-16) - for the law does not save us, it only reminds us that we have broken His covenant and fall short of His glory (Romans 3:23). Moses pointed to a better day as the law points us to a better way. Moses, just as the law has done, has taken us to the edge of the promise but no further.

In the words of Jesus, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3:15).

There are some very important lessons here:

1. The people of Israel did not DO anything to find salvation from the poison of the snake bite, other than LOOK at the symbol of the snake. They did not have to walk to it, climb it or touch it- they only had to look. In the same way, our salvation only comes from LOOKING to the cross and taking it in. It is not because of our righteousness or our good works- it is not because of anything we DO, but because of what He has done.

2. Just as the people of Israel were saved from the poison of death by looking at the snake, so too are we saved from the poison of our sin by looking to Christ. The poison of sin that first entered the bloodstream of Adam has infected our hearts and has blinded us. The essence of our sin is that we put ourselves in the place of God. The essence of our salvation is that God has put Himself in the place of man.

3. Just as the people of Israel had to look at the snake, the very thing that poisoned them, so too Christ BECAME our sin- He became the covenant curse so that we could become the covenant blessing. As the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Christ is not just our example, He is our substitute.

No one says it better than John R.W. Stott in his book, "The Cross of Christ":

"The concept of substitution is then to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation. This is the essence of the Christian religion. The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God while the essence of salvation is God substituting Himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be, God sacrifices Himself and puts Himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives that belong to God only, and God accepts penalties which belong to man only."

So this Easter weekend I am not just thinking of the cross as a symbol of my salvation- I am also thinking of the snake raised in the wilderness as a symbol of my substitution.