Christ Lifted Up
Articles offered on this website are presented with the sincere hope every one that reads them goes away with something that will engender more and deeper thought about The Lord God, His Son Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. They are certainly entered upon with a sincere prayer that God will be glorified. It is also the hope of the authors that each person will use the scripture references to validate the veracity of the material and encourage the reader to delve deeper into a search for the things of God and thereby self edification. Each one who seeks God will surely find Him and each day that passes each seeker after truth will be more filled with the joy and peace of the Lord.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” (John 3:14).
Jesus referred here to His crucifixion. In the Temple worship procedure Moses received from God on Mt. Sinai morning and evening a lamb without spot or blemish (Leviticus 1: 10-14) was offered on the altar. That was a prophetic “type” of God’s promised Mediator/Messiah. The golden thread woven throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelations is the prophetic promise, its unfolding fulfillment, and the birth, death and resurrection of Christ.
All things necessary have been “spoken by the prophets” there are some things yet to be fulfilled. Canon was closed after the ascension of Christ. He ascended with the promise He would return to claim His own, with that, completion of canon was accomplished.
The “letters” written that have found their way into New Testament canon are directions and explanations for the edification of the church and those called of God to shepherd and perpetuate the “body of Christ,” under Jesus its head, until He comes again. They are the words of the Christ given to men before His ascension, written down for posterity.
There was or is no new prophet or new prophecy to enter upon the scene after Christ ascended. Though from time to time God may give individuals knowledge or visions and from time to time He may choose to speak to His own through certain persons, the need for a revealing of future events is no more. All of history has been written, from beginning to end.
John in Revelations called Jesus “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelations 13:8). He also said of Jesus, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing” (Revelation of John 5:12).
“Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things” (John 8:28).
To the Christian these words recorded in the Gospel according to the Apostle John were spoken of the same one the Apostle Paul referred to saying, “in him [Jesus] dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). Peter also said of this God/man, “you are the Christ” (Mark 8: 29). John said of Him, “we believe and are sure that you are that Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:69).
Jesus told the Pharisees, Scribes and Temple rulers “I came from God” and to His disciples he said “I go to my Father.” “[Jesus] shows the reason he descended from heaven, [it was] that he might be lifted up, i.e. crucified, for the salvation of man. kind, and be, by the appointment of God, as certain a remedy for sinful souls as the brazen serpent elevated on a pole, Numbers 21:9 , was for the bodies of the Israelites, which had been bitten by the fiery serpents in the wilderness. It does not appear that the brazen serpent was ever intended to be considered as a “type” of Christ. It is possible to draw likenesses and resemblances out of any thing; but, in such matters as these, we should take heed that we go no farther than we can say, “Thus it is written.”
Among the Jews, the brazen serpent was considered a type of the resurrection—through it the dying lived; and so, by the voice of God, they that were dead shall be raised to life. As the serpent was raised up, so shall Christ be lifted up: as they who were stung by the fiery serpents were restored by looking up to the brazen serpent, so those who are infected with and dying through sin are healed and saved, by looking up to and believing in Christ crucified.
These are all the analogies which we can legitimately trace between the lifting up of the brazen serpent, and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The lifting up of the Son of man may refer to his mediatorial office at the right hand of God” (Adam Clarke’s Commentary)
- In a courtroom this would be the same as “eyewitness” evidence by the disciples who followed Him in His earthly ministry. Those who credit historic characters with this veracity and deny the Apostles the same kind of respect are hypocritical.
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