B Lent 4. 2009                                                             Christ Church , York

To my mind it is one of the classic movie scenes of all time. There he is, the great Indiana Jones, a macho man if ever there was one, someone not afraid of anything or anybody, someone willing to tackle the bad guys and enter into danger in order to achieve his goals. And in this scene Indiana is about to be lowered into a pyramid in order to find the greatest treasure ever in the history of the world, the lost Ark of the Covenant! But as he looks down into the darkness inside the tomb, he thinks he sees the floor of the pyramid moving. So he throws down a flaming torch and, to his horror, he discovers that it is covered with snakes – hundreds, perhaps even thousands of them. He is appalled and utters his famous line, “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes? I hate snakes.” And most of sitting here this morning would probably agree with Indiana Jones. Snakes are not my favorite among God’s creatures and perhaps not yours either. There is probably no other creature on the face of the earth which brings forth in us such a sense of revulsion and disgust, and yes even fear, as a snake. 

It is strange therefore that snakes or serpents have played such an important part in the history of our faith of which today’s story from the Book of Numbers is just one example. Here are the people of Israel , wandering in the wilderness. They have escaped from slavery; they have been given the law which was to bind them forever to their God; they were on their way to the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Yet they are not satisfied; they are not even happy. Instead they are grumbling, complaining and yes let’s say it, even whining about their situation! Indeed 40 years was a long time to be wandering in the desert. And even though God had provided for their every need, they were getting just a little sick of manna and quail as the main staple of their diet. And so they begin to say among themselves that they can no longer trust in God and the promises He has made to them. After a while, even slavery seems to have more appeal to them than this aimless wandering in the desert.

Now it must be said that whining and complaining always seem to have been a part of the way the people of faith have acted toward their God and each other. People complain when they don’t get their way and others grumble when they don’t agree with the way things are going or when they thought that they could do better. And to make matters worse, the people of God wandering in the desert were not complaining about anything specific; they were simply speaking against God and Moses in general, disrupting the harmony of the community and making life difficult for just about everybody.

So God sends poisonous serpents among the people with the result that many are bitten and some die. We cannot deny that this text raises questions for us about whether God does indeed punish in such a manner or whether He sends this type of death upon His people. And is this not too extreme a punishment for violating what is only, after all, a misuse of the name of the Lord? But there is no doubt that with the snakes among them, the people are afraid and so they call upon Moses to act as their intercessor before God, to plead for relief from this terrible punishment. And in turn God tells Moses to make a bronze image of a snake and set it upon a staff which, when people look at it, will heal them.

This is obviously a better situation but the matter is not completely closed. Presumably there are still poisonous serpents around the camp, still biting people even as Moses lifts up his life giving sign. But then the snake or serpent is that most ancient of symbols for evil in our Scripture and remains for the Israelites, a sign of that which separates them from the God who is the source of life itself. For it is always sin which separates us from God and evil, symbolized by the snakes, remain with Israelites and us to remind us of our sins. And with those snakes around, perhaps the people will learn to concentrate not upon their whining and complaining but instead to look up to that place where they would be saved, at that image of a snake upon the pole.

Yet there is a contradiction here - that while the snake kills, it is also the image of the snake that heals. The serpents continue to bite the Israelites; evil continues in their lives. The only difference now is that they have a promise that they will not die because of that snake which heals them. And this contradiction continues even into our day. Those of you in the medical profession know that it is the Cadeceus, that symbol of the snake wrapped around the pole which doctors and others in the medical field have as the symbol of their profession. Taken from Scripture and ancient tradition they too hold up this image of a deadly creature which can bring healing and wholeness, thereby resolving the contradiction.

And there is another contradiction resolved here today, especially for us as Christians and especially during this season of Lent. For in our Gospel this morning we hear Jesus Himself quoting the story of Moses holding up the snake which gives life and then applying that image to His own situation on the cross upon which He will be lifted up so that all the world will look upon Him and have life. As in the Old Testament lesson wherein the snake both kills and gives life, so in the Gospel we have the cross, an instrument of the most gruesome of deaths but still a sign that gives us life beyond anything we could imagine.

For the Israelites then the problem was snakes on the ground and the solution was a serpent hung upon a pole. For Christians down through the ages, the problem is humans on the ground, who have continued to live in their sin-filled human way and the solution is another human, but this time the very Word of God made flesh, who is hung upon a tree. It is precisely because of our evil in the world that this man Jesus comes to be lifted up on a cross, so that this same world may look upon Him and live.

 But that requires of us that we are ready and willing to admit that we are the problem. And in this regard my favorite commentator on the human condition is not some great theologian or philosopher but rather my good friend Lucy from the Peanuts cartoon strip. In one such strip Lucy says to Charlie Brown “You know what the whole trouble is, Charlie Brown? The whole trouble with you, is you!” Instead of admitting the fact of our sinfulness, our brokenness and our failings, we try to brush them off. We make salvation a matter of doing a few good things while at the same time avoiding most of the bad things. But such a solution doesn’t need Jesus or the cross which gives us life. But if we are willing to admit that the problem is us, that we are sinful human beings, then we will be driven to the cross which is the only thing that can give us life. In that Old Testament lesson, the snakes do not disappear but rather God provides a way for those who are bitten to live. So it is for us. We do have sin and evil among us and we are bitten by it almost every day. But Jesus has been lifted up and exalted on the cross and God has given us a promise that in and through that cross and the redemptive suffering and death of Jesus, we will live and live eternally. Indeed this is our great promise from God this Lenten season and for every season of our lives. So do not look down in fear like Indiana Jones did, fear of snakes and the evil that moves on the floor below you. Instead look up and see the glory of the cross and know that there, hung upon a tree, is the salvation, the hope and the life that has been promised to you in Christ Jesus Our Lord. For just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, says Jesus, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. Amen