Debbie
Cato
Numbers
21:4-9 and John 3:14-21
The
Way of the Cross –Week 4
Peace
Presbyterian Church
March
15, 2015
“Oh,
No! It's that Four-Letter Word!”
This
is the fourth Sunday of Lent. The fourth Sunday that we have been
focusing on what it means to go “The
Way of the Cross.”
What it means to follow Jesus all the way to the cross. It is a
walk intended to deepen our faith; to change us.
We've
talked about temptation; about self-denial and repentance. Not
necessarily “happy, pick-me up and feel good” topics, but
disciplines that we need to foster if we are going to call ourselves
disciples of Christ; call ourselves Christians. These are difficult
practices that don't come naturally. We aren't good with temptation.
We do not like to deny ourselves and put others first. Repentance
takes too much honesty and humbleness. But these are the ways of
Jesus. So, they must be our way too. And now, on this fourth Sunday
of Lent; as we get ever so closer to the cross; it's time to talk
about a four-letter word! Obey. As we follow Jesus to the cross, we
are called to obey.
This
morning, our Old Testament passage is from Numbers; the fourth book
in the Bible and part of the Pentateuch or the Torah – Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The term Pentateuch”
comes from a Greek word that means “five-volumed book”, or as the
Jews have designated it, “the five-fifths of the law.” These
first five books; the Pentateuch, have traditionally been credited to
Moses. They have been called the Law of Moses.
Numbers
covers 38 of the 40 years that the Israelites wandered in the
wilderness. It relates the story of Israel's journey from Mount
Sinai (where God gave Moses the Commandments), to the plains of Moab
on the border of Canaan. Numbers tells of the murmuring and
rebellion of God's people and of their subsequent judgment. The very
people God had freed from slavery in Egypt responded with unbelief,
ingratitude, and repeated acts of rebellion.
It's
been about 2 years since the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. Two
years since
God
miraculously saved the Israelites from Pharaoh. He parted the Red
Sea so they could safely cross and when Pharaoh's army was almost on
top of them, God closed up the gap and the army disappeared in the
sea. But the people forgot how miserable they were as captives in
Egypt. They forgot how excited they were to leave that land; how
grateful. Our memories do that, don’t they?
“The
people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God
and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt
to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we
detest this miserable food!” (Numbers 21:4-5)
and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt
to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we
detest this miserable food!” (Numbers 21:4-5)
Can't
you just hear them? Grumbling and complaining while they walk? They
sound like a bunch of kids! But wait! Can’t you just hear us?
How often do we grumble about what we have; wanting something else;
something better? How often are we disobedient in our walk?
Eventually
God has enough of their whining and he sends a pack of poisonous
snakes into their midst. Many of the people die from the snake bites
before the “Let's go back to Egypt” committee convinces Moses to
change God's mind. We have heard this story of a serpent getting the
best of God's people before – back in the Garden of Eden. No
wonder the Israelites were terrified!1
The
drama turns when Moses crafts a poisonous serpent make of bronze and
lifts it high on a pole. All the Israelites who had died were given
new life, and every time an Israelite was bitten by a snake, all he
or she had to do was look to the serpent on the pole and be healed.2
God got the people’s attention. He certainly would have gotten
mine! I am terrified of snakes.
Think
for a minute about when you go to the hospital to have a procedure or
to have surgery. Sometimes, when you go to the hospital, they have
to hurt you before
they can heal you. Danger frequently paves the way to new life.
Often an
image of ugliness and death can be the means to wholeness.
In
this story in Numbers echoes the larger story of salvation. Jesus'
violent death on the cross is the moment of God's redemption and the
reconciliation between God and creation. Still, whether it is Moses
raising up a dead serpent or Jesus bleeding on the cross, it is an
odd way for God to show His love and mercy to his disobedient people.
It is an odd way for God to grant healing through pain and lifting
high and image of ugliness and death to bring about new life.3
The
Apostle John tells us that when Jesus explains to Nicodemus why faith
based on signs and wonders is inadequate, he refers to this passage
in Numbers. Jesus says,
“And
just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes
in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in
him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes
in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in
him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
The
Son of Man does not just offer life;
the Son of Man offers eternal
life. But
as Nicodemus learns, it is not enough to look
at the Son of Man; we must believe
in him. In John's Gospel, “believe” is an action verb. It is
something you do, and it must not be reduced to merely giving
intellectual affirmation to certain statements – like Jesus is the
Son of God, that he was raised from the dead. Affirming these things
is certainly part of believing, but for John, believing is much more
than this. In verse 36, John writes: Whoever
believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will
not see life, but must endure God's wrath.”
For John, the opposite of belief is not unbelief but disobedience.
To believe,
therefore, is to obey.4
There's that four-letter word! Obey.
The
verses that follow are a little confusing; a little hard to
understand. Jesus uses
language about light and darkness. Judgment is based on our response
to the light that reveals a person's true identity. Jesus is the
true light. Those who believe – those who are obedient to God's
revelation of himself in Jesus, do what is true; they come into the
light. To love darkness rather than light is disobedience, which
results in the evil deeds that the light exposes.
In
love, God sent Jesus to save the world, but each person must decide
whether to believe; to obey and live in the light or disobey and
continue to live in the darkness. We must decide. Obey or disobey?
Light or darkness?
Lent
is the perfect time to consider our response to the decision that
Jesus brings on. It is a perfect time to consider the nature of our
obedience in the light of the images of Jesus' obedience. During his
forty days in the wilderness, Jesus rejected Satan's temptations to
be another kind of messiah. After feeding the multitude, Jesus
rejected the people's efforts to make him king. In the Garden, Jesus
turned back his own desire to have it any other way. Even on the
cross, Jesus rejected the temptation to “save” himself. Jesus
became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.”
(Phil.
2:8)
5
If
believing is more than giving mental agreement to certain faith
statements; if believing really means obedience; then during Lent, as
we remember the obedience of Jesus, we must ask: “Do we really
believe?”6
Do we? Will we obey?
Let
us pray: Holy
and loving God. Thank you for the gift of your Son and through our
faith in Him, the gift of eternal life. Help us to stop just
believing in our heads and help us to believe with every fiber of our
being. Show us areas in our life that are getting in the way of our
relationship with you and help us to have the courage and strength to
let go. Give us the wisdom and the courage to be obedient to your
unique call in our own lives. We offer ourselves to you, O God. In
Christ’s name we pray. AMEN.
2Ibid
6Ibid.
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