"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up...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 NIV).

If we change the definition of "believe," then we're in a lot of trouble when we tell people to believe in Jesus. What does the word mean? Even in Scripture, the word has more than one definition. John 2:23-25 says that many "believed" in Jesus because of the miracles He had performed, but Jesus would not entrust Himself to them. James 2:19 says that the demons "believe" and shudder. Are the demons saved? No! So what does the word "believe" mean in John 3:16? The answer is found in John 3:14.

In this verse, Jesus was reminding Nicodemus, a Pharisee who would've known the Old Testament very well, about something that had occurred when the Israelites were wandering in the desert. The story can be found in Numbers 21:4-9. The Israelites had been in the desert for more than thirty years and they were tired of eating manna every day - manna pancakes, manna burgers, bamanna bread, mannacotti. They complained often and each time they complained, the Lord sent some sort of plague among them which caused many Israelites died.

This time the plague was deadly snakes. Many times the snakes referred to in Scripture were sand vipers. The venom of these nasty snakes turns someone's blood into gelatin and will not allow the blood to flow through the capillaries. After several hours the person violently dies from internal bleeding.

Something phenomenal resulted from this plague that had not happened with the Israelites before. They realized their complaining had hurt God. They said, "We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you [Moses]" (Numbers 21:7). The sorrow they showed is called godly sorrow. 2 Corinthians 7:10 says that "Godly sorrow leads to repentance which leads to salvation." Jesus and Nicodemus would have understood the importance of the Israelites' realization that their sins had hurt God. Unless you have come to the place in your life where you realize that your sins have hurt God, you have not been born again.

In response to the Israelites' godly sorrow, the Lord told Moses to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole. God said that anyone who had been bitten by the deadly snakes looks up at the bronze serpent, he will be healed. The intensity with which the Israelites would have sought out the snake on the pole after being bitten parallels how Jesus says that we are to believe in Him as He was lifted up on the cross.

Look back to John 3:14. The phrase "lifted up" means crucified in the book of John. Now we know what Jesus meant when He said to believe in Him. 

Do you believe?

-Adrian Despres

With the same intensity as a man drowning cries out for a life jacket so we must cry out to the One who was crucified for us.