Church Fathers Commentary John 3:14-15

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life." — John 3:14-15 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: After mentioning the gift of baptism, He moves on to its source, that is, the cross: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so also must the Son of man be lifted up.

The Venerable Bede: He introduces this teacher of the Mosaic law to its spiritual meaning, using a passage from Old Testament history that was a figure of His Passion and of humanity’s salvation.

St. Augustine of Hippo: When many were dying in the wilderness from the bites of serpents, Moses, by the Lord's command, lifted up a bronze serpent, and those who looked at it were immediately healed.

The lifting up of the serpent represents the death of Christ, where the cause is used to signify the effect. The serpent was the cause of death because he persuaded humanity into the sin for which it deserved death.

Our Lord, however, did not transfer sin—that is, the serpent's venom—to His flesh, but rather He transferred death. This was so that in the likeness of sinful flesh, there could be punishment without sin, through which our sinful flesh could then be delivered from both punishment and sin.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Notice, then, how fitting the figure is. The bronze serpent had the appearance of a serpent but not its venom; in the same way, Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet was free from sin.

By Christ’s being “lifted up,” understand that He was suspended on high. Through this suspension, He sanctified the air, just as He had sanctified the earth by walking upon it. In this, the glory of Christ is also typified, for the height of the cross became His glory. In submitting to be judged, He judged the prince of this world.

Adam died justly because he sinned; our Lord died unjustly because He committed no sin. Thus, He overcame the one who delivered Him to death and, in doing so, delivered Adam from death.

The devil found himself defeated in this: on the cross, he could not torment our Lord into hating His murderers but instead only caused Him to love and pray for them more. In this way, the cross of Christ became His exaltation and glory.

St. John Chrysostom: For this reason, He does not say the Son of Man must be “suspended,” but “lifted up,” which is a more honorable term, yet one that relates to the figure. He uses this figure to show that the old covenant is related to the new, to show His hearers that He suffered voluntarily, and to show that His death resulted in life.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Just as in the past, whoever looked at the lifted-up serpent was healed of its venom and saved from death, so now, whoever is conformed to the likeness of Christ’s death through faith and the grace of baptism is delivered from sin by justification and from death by the resurrection. As He Himself said: That whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. What need, then, would there be for a child to be conformed to the death of Christ by baptism, if the child were not already tainted by the serpent's poisonous bite?

St. John Chrysostom: Notice, He alludes to the Passion obscurely out of consideration for His hearer, but He plainly unfolds the fruit of the Passion: namely, that those who believe in the Crucified One should not perish. And if those who believe in the Crucified One live, how much more shall the Crucified One Himself live.

St. Augustine of Hippo: But there is this difference between the figure and the reality: the figure brought recovery from temporal death, while the reality brings recovery from eternal death.