Serpents
The people complained against God. Not a good thing to do at any time, I would think. God sent serpents among the people. Many were bitten and many died. When the people realized it was their sin that caused this situation they came to Moses and admitted their sin. What happens next is interesting. You would think that God would just take away the serpents, get rid of them. He does not. Instead, Moses is instructed to make a pole and mount the image of a serpent on the pole. The instruction is whoever looks at the pole will be healed. I think it would have been safer to just eliminate the serpents. But God keeps them around. Perhaps there is a sense of dependency on God to remember to ‘look up’ at the pole with the bronze serpent to be healed. Maybe God is reminding us that our sinful actions have far reaching consequences, even events that happen that we have no knowledge.
In the Gospel, Jesus reminds us that the Spirit does not condemn us but does convict us of our sins. We are not condemned because God desires all people to ‘look up’ to Him and live. He does not want us to die. We are convicted because we are called to be responsible for our sins and make restitution. The sting of the serpent’s venom burns until we are washed clean through the mercy and forgiveness of God.
May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen