Passion & Last SupperClear Fulfillment
The Bronze Serpent
Written: ~1400 BC→Fulfilled: ~AD 30
Jesus himself identified the bronze serpent lifted up in the wilderness as a type of his own crucifixion.
Prophecy & Fulfillment
Old Testament Prophecy
Numbers 21:8-9
"The Lord said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived."
New Testament Fulfillment
John 3:14-15
"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."
Commentary
Jesus's self-interpretation of the bronze serpent is one of the clearest typological connections in the Gospels. The serpent was lifted up on a pole (as Jesus was lifted up on the cross); those who looked at it in faith were healed (as those who look to Christ in faith receive eternal life). The paradox of the serpent (the symbol of sin) bearing the curse is fulfilled in Christ who became sin for us.