A few years ago, I read about a hiker who was bitten by a rattlesnake. In that moment of panic, he had two choices: either try to run from the problem – or admit he needed help. The article explained something fascinating: the antivenom that saved his life actually came from the venom itself. Scientists take the poison, introduce it in small doses, and develop the cure from it. The very thing that bites you becomes the source of your healing.
In our first reading from the Book of Numbers, the Israelites were hurting. They were tired of wandering in the desert, frustrated with God, and critical of Moses. Their complaining only made things worse. And then, the snakes came – poisonous serpents that bit them. When they finally cried out for help, God told Moses to lift up a bronze serpent, and anyone who looked at it was healed. Healing did not come from their own efforts, but by turning their eyes upward to God’s saving action.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us of that story. “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” He is speaking about the cross. Sin is like venom in the human heart – it weakens us, poisons our relationships, and robs us of joy. On the cross, Jesus takes all the venom of sin, death, and human cruelty into himself. And instead of letting it destroy us, he transforms it into healing and life.
Think again of that rattlesnake antivenom: the poison itself transformed becomes the cure. In the same way, the cross – an instrument of death – becomes the instrument of life. Jesus absorbs all the venom so that we might be set free.
Healing begins when we admit the bite. The Israelites had to look up at the serpent to live – they had to acknowledge their faults. We must look up at the cross to find life. Jesus puts it plainly: “Those who want to save their life will lose it, but those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
So, what are the serpents that bite you? What are the “snaky places” in your life? Resentment, jealousy, anger, addiction, sin. We know those times when our choices, our words, our actions are going to come back to bite us. It is Newton’s third law in spiritual terms, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If we act with selfishness, it comes back, if we act with bitterness, it coils around us. The serpents are real.
Then in the gospel comes the verse we all know so well. “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.” That is the beating heart of the Gospel. God loves us, not in theory, but in action. God gave His Son.
The Israelites were saved not because they were strong or clever, but because they trusted God’s promise. We are saved not by our own strength, but by lifting our eyes to Christ. The cross is not just a reminder of suffering it is a sign of love.
So, here is the challenge. It is easy to look down – at our failures, our sins, our disappointments – or to look around at the brokenness of the world and lose hope. Today’s readings invite us to look up. Look at the cross and see there not condemnation, but mercy. Not despair, but hope. Not death, but life.
So, this week, every time you see a cross – whether in church, on a rosary, or hanging around someone’s neck – pause and say quietly, “God so loved the world…God so loved me.” Let the truth heal whatever venom is in your heart.
Because the cure is not in us – it is in Christ, lifted high on the cross.