Lent 4B (Numbers 21:4-9)

In the lesson from the Book of Numbers, we hear a quite oddly interesting story. What we may find most intriguing would be the psycho-spiritual dynamics of how the Israelites make sense of their hardship and suffering, particularly on the issue of poisonous serpents biting and killing many of them. Poisonous serpents do not just show up but bite them to death. The Israelites see themselves as the cause. All because they start regretting their decision to leave Egypt for freedom, facing hunger and thirst: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” Then, God sends poisonous serpents among them and many of the Israelites died. 

To stop this tragic murderous incident, they must repent, not just to God but also to Moses who is considered a medium to exercise the power to take away the serpents. As Moses prays for them, God tells him the way to stop this: “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” If we merely take this story as a lesson for us to never complain and to remember how repentance matters, we end up simplifying the complex nature of how God works in our human minds. 

Let’s look deeper into the Israelites’ psycho-spiritual dynamics. How do they make sense of when bad things happen? How often do we try to connect the dot between bad things that happen to us and our behaviors which may have caused them? “This horrible thing is happening to me because I did this and that.” Even if the Israelites go back to Moses and confess their wrong remarks and complaints, I’m not sure if Moses would be like “I told you so.” As we know, life is not that simple. There’s no magic formula for us to find out why unfortunate (or fortunate) things happen to us. Our Christian faith doesn’t provide us with all the reasons and answers to tragedies. Rather it empowers us to move through despite our suffering. 

In today’s lesson, the Israelites do not demonstrate that they’re in charge of their decision. They play a passive-aggressive role that refuses to take responsibility for their decision. If bad things happen, first blame Moses and God, thinking they should’ve done everything for us. If nothing gets better, they try to bargain with God to make things better but again never taking charge of their decisions. They ask for forgiveness but it’s empty. They only do so to get what they want. They say they’ve sinned against God and Moses only to take away the serpents. True repentance always involves justice first. If I’m truly repenting, I’ll desire to accept the consequences of my wrongdoing. This desire to be corrected is in and of itself God’s mercy. 

The real issue here is that the Israelites don’t want any part of it when they themselves are the Exodus of liberation from oppression. They would rather be oppressed because this pioneering the way of God is far from comfortable. It’s like they would like to choose the suffering they’re familiar with for their own sakes. There’s no better future of hope considered for their next generations just like those who deny climate change in our time. It is self-serving in its very nature. No vision for themselves, their next generations, and the world that is without any forceful oppression and slavery. They just want God to “take away the serpents” and just get that suffering out of their lives. 

God’s solution to this is simple and precise. While the Israelites don’t want to face their reality of suffering, God doesn’t take away the serpents. The Israelites still get bitten by the serpents. Instead, God says, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” The Israelites are to look at the bronze serpent if they want to live after being bitten by the serpents. They’re to face their suffering. It’s always through, never around. 

St. John in the gospel lesson assigned for today connects the bronze serpent with Jesus of Nazareth who is to be lifted up (John 3:14) As we look at the suffering of the Son of Man on the cross, we look at our own suffering in which we find Jesus who suffers with us. We then move beyond our suffering but can see those in suffering. Having discovered Jesus in our suffering, we can never turn away from people who are bitten by the serpents of injustice, discrimination, and oppression but join them. 

Are we willing to see the bronze serpent on the pole in the world? If so, where to find it!?