tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4736427810720155529.post453784505305933700..comments2023-08-09T07:48:53.962-04:00Comments on Bear Witness to the Light: We Adore You, O Christ, And We Praise You, Because By Your Holy Cross, You Have Redeemed The World.Fr. John L. Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16167510362871783781noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4736427810720155529.post-29523202789622105932010-09-14T03:24:02.706-04:002010-09-14T03:24:02.706-04:00'For God did not send his Son into the world t...'For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,<br />but that the world might be saved through him.'<br /><br />When the snakes turned up, the Israelites could easily have seen them as just more proof of what a horrible mistake they had made in following Moses and God, but instead they understood and repented. The snakes were not sent to condemn them, but to bring them to repentence and save them from Egypt for the promised land.<br /><br />Jesus is to be sent to us as our final judge, so the possibility of condemnation is real. But that fact in itself is a call to repentance, while repentance leads to salvation, which is God's will for all humanity. Punishment and cure are intertwined as they were with the saraph snakes. Ultimately, of course, the cure prevails over the punishment (she says, hopefully!).<br /> <br />I wonder why God chose to send snakes ... Perhaps it was to remind people of the snake in the Garden of Eden. If they made this connection, they may also have realized the need to repent.<br /><br />It's very strange to have Jesus associated with a snake! But there are so many instances in the Bible of apparently bad things (like the cross itself) being revealed as good things that perhaps this is just another excellent example.Sarah in the tenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13680566205364331756noreply@blogger.com