Why, of all things, does Jesus talk about the episode of the fiery serpents from Numbers 21 as the example of His work? That is a very strange episode in Israel's history. It's a vulnerable time for the nation. They are all the way back to the Red Sea, back to the beginning. In the previous chapter both Miriam and Aaron, 2 of the 3 leaders, died. Moses was disqualified from leading the people into the Promised Land due to the sin of striking the rock when he had been told to speak to the rock to bring forth water. Will this wandering ever end and what will happen to us? Their sin of impatience and grumbling brought on the judgment of the fiery serpents and God's resolution was an image of a fiery serpent that they were to look on for healing. Jesus comes in the image of man to be the solution to the problem, which is us, He is lifted up on the cross and now in our proclamation of the cross, resurrection and ascension He is lifted up anew. Let us always make much of Him in order that we not be ungrateful.
