a worm and no man”; Ps. 21, 6) was raised up on the Cross. Whoever was bitten by a poisonous snake was cured by turning his eyes in faith to the brazen serpent. So we, when our souls are wounded by the infernal serpent, shall be healed of our sins, if we, being full of faith, turn our eyes to our crucified Saviour.
The Israelites bitten by the fiery snakes were a type of mankind. The infernal serpent has wounded all men, and has kindled in them the flame of sinful passions, and caused them to be subject to everlasting death. It is of great significance that He who redeemed us from sin and death should be typified by a (brazen) serpent. How is it that the serpent, the very type of sin, should also be a type of the Redeemer, and a means of salvation ? Because the brazen serpent, hanging on the tree, was not poisonous, even though it had the form of a poisonous snake. Thus Jesus Christ, though free from the poison of sin, being “holy, innocent, undefiled” (Hebr. 7, 26), took the form of sinful man, loaded Himself with the sins of the world, and suffered Himself to be raised on and nailed to the Cross in order to save all men from sin and eternal death. The brazen serpent, therefore, foreshadowed the fact that the Redeemer would appear in the form of sinful man, would be raised on and nailed to a Cross, and by this very means would redeem man from the death of sin, and from eternal loss.
Jesus Christ, the source of salvation. The brazen serpent being a type of the Saviour of the world, God promised that “whosoever should look on it should be saved”. The wonderful healing power of the lifeless serpent did not lie in itself, but in the crucified Saviour, of whom it was a type.
The necessity of faith. Even as none of the mortally stricken Israelites could be cured unless, full of faith, they looked at the brazen serpent, which was set up as a sign of salvation, so no man can be saved unless, full of faith, he turns to the crucified God made Man. Only they who believe in Him will have life everlasting.
Christ the Rock. The waters which flowed from the rock in the wilderness to refresh the Israelites and slake their thirst, were emblematic of the divine graces, which flow to mankind through the Sacraments of the Church of Jesus Christ. “And all drank the same spiritual drink, and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10, 4).
APPLICATION. You have often done wrong, and said to yourself: “Oh, it is only a venial sin!” But think, even a venial sin is an offence against God, and is deserving of punishment. Ask yourself to which sin you are most prone, whether anger, lying, greediness, or so forth, and firmly resolve to overcome it.
