Lifted Up
"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
— John 3:14-16
Jesus is talking with Nicodemus, a respected Jewish teacher. He points him to a story Nicodemus knew from Scripture. In Numbers 21, snakes were biting people in the wilderness, and many died. God told Moses to make a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Anyone who was bitten and looked at it stayed alive. Jesus says the Son of Man must be lifted up in the same way. Later, in chapter 12, he speaks of being lifted up again, and John adds that he was showing what kind of death he would die. Looking to the one lifted up means believing, trusting him. Then comes the reason: God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son. Whoever trusts in him will not perish but have eternal life. Many churches read this passage today, on Holy Cross Day.