Fairhaven Shorts 3-10-2024

Look to the Cross for Healing

Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were the two men who had the courage to ask Pilate for the body of Jesus in order to give him a proper burial. Somewhere in between that nighttime conversation and Jesus' crucifixion, Nicodemus became a believer, and he did for Jesus what no one else could have done.

For us today, just like back then, our health and our well-being depends on the man on the cross, the Son of God lifted up for us. We have all been bitten by sin. We all need to look to Jesus for our healing. Just like God said, "Look at the snake to be cured," God says, "Look at the cross to be healed."

The Bronze Serpent in the Wilderness

Instead, God says to Moses, make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole, and whoever looks at the bronze serpent will live. Now this is not idol worship. God does not say to bow down to the bronze serpent or to pray to the serpent. God just says, look at it, and you'll be healed.

Now side note, this symbol of a snake wrapped around a pole became the symbol of medicine and healing. As far back as 400 BC, you all have seen this, right? That's where this comes from. So the Greeks had this, and most likely they got the idea from the Hebrew, from the Israelites, because they were all very much aware of the culture, each other's cultures back then.