WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.300 Good evening everyone. It's lovely to be with you tonight. 00:00:04.820 --> 00:00:07.780 It's also just lovely to hear everyone sing. 00:00:07.860 --> 00:00:11.040 This is the first time I've been back in a service since we've lifted the Mass. 00:00:11.179 --> 00:00:16.280 And it's just wonderful to sing together on this, the most significant of days. 00:00:17.019 --> 00:00:19.080 So here's what we're going to be thinking about tonight. 00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:25.640 According to statistics, 51% of us in this room are petrified of this thing. 00:00:25.640 --> 00:00:34.899 But it's okay because I've checked and 1972 was the last year that someone in the UK died from one of these things. 00:00:36.460 --> 00:00:40.100 What we're going to be thinking about tonight is snakes. 00:00:41.399 --> 00:00:51.260 Now before you write that off as strange, and it is strange, let me just urge you that what we're going to be thinking about tonight takes us right to the heart of who this God is. 00:00:51.259 --> 00:00:57.939 It takes us right to the heart, if you like, of Jesus Christ. 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:03.259 If you're here today and you're thinking to yourself, I don't know who this God is. 00:01:03.379 --> 00:01:07.680 Let me urge you to check in with what we're going to be thinking about tonight. 00:01:07.780 --> 00:01:12.099 Maybe you're here tonight and you've gone cold in your heart, your affection towards this Jesus. 00:01:12.340 --> 00:01:15.280 Come and soak in who he is. 00:01:17.420 --> 00:01:19.099 We're going to be thinking about snakes tonight. 00:01:19.099 --> 00:01:22.179 John chapter 2 is where we are. 00:01:22.839 --> 00:01:30.759 Having thought about what happened on Good Friday, 2,000 odd years ago, we're going to be thinking about what it means. 00:01:31.399 --> 00:01:33.479 What's the significance of it? 00:01:33.539 --> 00:01:38.379 It might surprise you to learn as you turn to John chapter 3 rather. 00:01:39.619 --> 00:01:42.939 It's just going to be one verse tonight, two verses rather, 14 and 15. 00:01:42.939 --> 00:01:48.719 It might surprise you to learn that some 2,000 odd years ago at the outset of his public ministry, 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:53.780 Jesus had a conversation with somebody that featured snakes. 00:01:54.679 --> 00:01:58.039 You can read about it right here in chapter 3 of John's gospel. 00:01:59.180 --> 00:02:06.780 Now the conversation was started by this man who we meet in John chapter 3 called Nicodemus. 00:02:06.780 --> 00:02:14.039 He's a man who, quite frankly, in the first century owned a spiritual CV to die for. 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:19.280 I mean, when you consider them, his credentials are simply outstanding. 00:02:21.060 --> 00:02:24.860 They'd have religious recruitment agencies purring after him, right? 00:02:24.900 --> 00:02:26.340 He's an Orthodox Jew. 00:02:26.340 --> 00:02:35.439 He's part of this devout group called the Pharisees, this group of people who have fully committed themselves to external purity, 00:02:36.439 --> 00:02:38.939 religious legal observance, and Bible knowledge. 00:02:39.060 --> 00:02:45.780 And to top it all, Nicodemus is part of the religious ruling council of the day called the Sanhedrin. 00:02:45.780 --> 00:02:55.340 And you total that up, it means that this man, Nicodemus, is holding in his hands the equivalent of a religious royal flush. 00:02:56.340 --> 00:02:58.920 And this is the man who comes to Jesus. 00:02:59.200 --> 00:03:07.340 I take it he's just intrigued by what he's heard about him, about who Jesus is, what people are saying about him, 00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:09.840 what he's teaching, what he's doing. 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:15.740 And I imagine probably first and foremost who he's meeting, who he's associating with. 00:03:16.759 --> 00:03:19.659 And Nicodemus comes to Jesus to suss him out. 00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:22.539 Maybe that's you here tonight. 00:03:22.539 --> 00:03:23.019 I don't know. 00:03:23.099 --> 00:03:28.639 Maybe you're here and you're thinking there's something about this man, Jesus, which is warmly intriguing. 00:03:30.799 --> 00:03:36.379 And this conversation between these two revolves around a really simple theme. 00:03:36.539 --> 00:03:42.799 And the theme, the question is, how can anyone enter the kingdom of God? 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:43.599 That's the question. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:46.019 How can anyone hope to enter the kingdom of God? 00:03:46.020 --> 00:03:52.160 And so here is a man who, if you like, represents the best that religion has to offer. 00:03:53.740 --> 00:04:01.820 And yet Jesus tells him unreservedly and unmistakably that he is spiritually dead. 00:04:01.819 --> 00:04:06.280 Now, Nicodemus is no spring chicken. 00:04:07.459 --> 00:04:10.180 He's likely an older man at this point in his life. 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:16.480 And I imagine you get into this, he's probably spent his whole life here in the exact opposite of that. 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:25.480 No doubt he's got to where he is because people have spent the entire, his entire adult life telling him 00:04:25.480 --> 00:04:28.939 that he's a man who is spiritually alive. 00:04:28.939 --> 00:04:36.100 But Jesus says, no, you need God's Holy Spirit to give you life. 00:04:36.819 --> 00:04:40.160 You need to be born again. 00:04:41.100 --> 00:04:43.100 Now, the question is, how is that going to happen? 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:45.540 It's not a biology question. 00:04:45.879 --> 00:04:47.259 It's a theology question. 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:49.720 How can one be born again? 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:52.540 And this is where the conversation about snakes comes in. 00:04:52.540 --> 00:05:00.900 Because Nicodemus takes Jesus back in time to an episode in Jewish history called the wilderness years. 00:05:00.980 --> 00:05:04.220 Now, Nicodemus is schooled in his Torah, right? 00:05:04.280 --> 00:05:05.720 He gets this episode. 00:05:07.980 --> 00:05:09.820 It's recorded for us in the book of Numbers. 00:05:09.879 --> 00:05:10.960 Now, here's the context. 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:14.019 God has saved his people out of Egypt. 00:05:15.719 --> 00:05:23.699 And he's called them out of a world of multiple earthly gods to worship and know and enjoy him alone. 00:05:24.219 --> 00:05:26.759 And enjoy living for him alone, with him alone. 00:05:27.039 --> 00:05:32.719 To follow him as he leads them, his people, towards the promised land, the place where he said he was going to take them. 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:42.460 But the journey from Egypt to the promised land exposes the rotten hearts of God's people. 00:05:42.580 --> 00:05:45.700 So often what bumps in the road do to us in life, isn't it? 00:05:46.020 --> 00:05:48.300 They reveal our true colors. 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:51.380 They reveal what we're really trusting in, what we're really all about. 00:05:52.440 --> 00:05:55.120 So they're doing the journey around the wilderness. 00:05:55.380 --> 00:05:56.180 They get impatient. 00:05:56.400 --> 00:05:57.460 They say, where's the water? 00:05:57.459 --> 00:06:01.139 Where's the food? 00:06:01.259 --> 00:06:02.859 We're bored of the same old food. 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:03.979 The people grumble. 00:06:04.339 --> 00:06:08.019 They even get to the point of despising the God who saved them. 00:06:08.539 --> 00:06:12.259 And they're saying to themselves, why on earth would you take us out of Egypt for this? 00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:19.639 And to punish them and to teach them, God sends snakes among them. 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:22.519 And those snakes bite. 00:06:24.139 --> 00:06:26.039 And the people begin to die. 00:06:27.459 --> 00:06:32.019 And the people realizing what's going on, they cry out, Moses, would you do something? 00:06:32.139 --> 00:06:33.339 Would you help us? 00:06:34.120 --> 00:06:43.120 And at this point in the story, if I were writing the script, at this point it would read something like, you made your own bed, you've got a lie in it. 00:06:43.359 --> 00:06:45.500 It would read, be careful what you wish for. 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:48.120 That's the kind of thing that I would write if I was writing this. 00:06:48.859 --> 00:06:50.219 But here's what I want you to see. 00:06:51.539 --> 00:06:53.000 That's not the God of the Bible. 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:53.060 No. 00:06:55.740 --> 00:07:02.259 Because God in his mercy says to this disobedient people who do not deserve to be saved. 00:07:02.379 --> 00:07:06.079 He says, I'm going to provide a way for you to be saved. 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:10.060 I want you to make a bronze snake. 00:07:10.060 --> 00:07:16.060 Now given the geography of where they are at this point, this is likely just a mini statue made of red copper. 00:07:17.019 --> 00:07:18.280 Clock that one for later, okay? 00:07:18.420 --> 00:07:19.139 Red copper. 00:07:19.459 --> 00:07:19.759 Red. 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:25.800 And God says, I want you to take that snake and I want you to nail it to a pole. 00:07:26.620 --> 00:07:30.139 I want you to lift it up for everybody to see. 00:07:30.139 --> 00:07:36.180 And everyone who's been bitten and is dying, tell them that this is what they need to do. 00:07:36.779 --> 00:07:42.919 And the thing to see is that people would be saved not by being in proximity to the snake. 00:07:45.399 --> 00:07:50.500 They wouldn't be healed by acknowledging the mere existence of the snake. 00:07:50.500 --> 00:07:58.800 Their only hope is to look to and trust what God has said is true about the snake. 00:08:01.420 --> 00:08:10.839 All they need to do, this bronze snake that's held up in a pole, as they sit there writhing in agony, wondering when is life going to end. 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:15.279 All they need to do is to look and live. 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:33.220 And so when trying to help Nicodemus comprehend, get his head around, how you can be born again, how you can enter the kingdom of God, how you can be right with this creator. 00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:44.620 Jesus says in John chapter 3, just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the son of man must be lifted up. 00:08:44.620 --> 00:08:49.399 That everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. 00:08:50.200 --> 00:08:52.000 And that's where the conversation ends. 00:08:53.740 --> 00:08:56.200 You know, I'd love to know more about what happened there. 00:08:57.600 --> 00:08:58.940 Talk about loose ends. 00:08:59.139 --> 00:09:04.039 Talk about a program that ended without any closure. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:09.440 Talk about a quick conversation when you come away with more questions than answers. 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:14.180 You can imagine that line and that scene bounce around Nicodemus' head for years and years. 00:09:15.460 --> 00:09:20.519 Look at that phrase in Scotland, don't be ripping my knitting, means I just, I just, I can't get my head around it. 00:09:21.100 --> 00:09:22.419 It's annoying me, it's bugging me. 00:09:22.460 --> 00:09:23.159 What's going on? 00:09:23.240 --> 00:09:26.480 You can imagine the guy, Nicodemus, can't sleep, lying awake. 00:09:26.620 --> 00:09:27.320 What did he mean? 00:09:28.299 --> 00:09:30.700 Like a crossword entry that you just can't get. 00:09:30.820 --> 00:09:32.620 Nobody likes a riddle they can't solve. 00:09:32.620 --> 00:09:37.980 And so Nicodemus is sitting here thinking for years, he's thinking, what was Jesus talking about? 00:09:41.179 --> 00:09:54.299 That is until one day, call it three years later, that first Good Friday, the penny drops. 00:09:54.299 --> 00:10:00.759 See, in chapter three, I think Nicodemus is probably on the fence about this man Jesus. 00:10:01.019 --> 00:10:02.639 Maybe again, maybe that's you here tonight. 00:10:02.719 --> 00:10:03.219 Who is he? 00:10:03.979 --> 00:10:08.019 Just wants to suss him out, wants to test the waters, wants to ask a few questions. 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:08.839 Nothing wrong with that. 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:10.019 That's a great thing to do. 00:10:10.019 --> 00:10:17.720 But you flick forward to chapter 19, and who's there as Jesus dies? 00:10:19.879 --> 00:10:20.740 Nicodemus is there. 00:10:21.980 --> 00:10:25.720 He's no longer in the dark, he's in the light. 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:32.299 As in, he is nailing his colors to the mask, saying, no, that man who died, I'm with him. 00:10:32.299 --> 00:10:41.399 Nicodemus is there, he's taking Jesus' body, along with this man called Joseph of Arimathea. 00:10:41.659 --> 00:10:47.159 He's taking Jesus' body down from the cross, and seeing that that body gets a good tomb. 00:10:49.539 --> 00:10:55.120 And I wonder, as Nicodemus looked at Jesus, as he looked at him nailed and suspended on that cross, 00:10:56.679 --> 00:11:00.959 whether this conversation finally came home to roost. 00:11:02.299 --> 00:11:13.379 As he looks at Jesus, his nail-battered, blood-stained body, and he says in his mind, and he believes in his heart, 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:16.779 there's the red snake. 00:11:18.959 --> 00:11:22.159 There's the place where I need to look and live. 00:11:22.219 --> 00:11:22.679 It's him. 00:11:23.459 --> 00:11:24.779 He's my look and live. 00:11:24.779 --> 00:11:33.259 And I take it that Paul, writing in Galatians chapter 3, and you can look at that in your own time, 00:11:34.059 --> 00:11:36.259 that's the theme that he picks up. 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:44.740 And I take it this is the place of beautiful, agonizing joy for every Christian believer 00:11:44.740 --> 00:11:51.840 as they look at their king suspended on the cross, that this is the place where salvation was won. 00:11:54.139 --> 00:11:59.240 You see, all of us, every single human being has been bitten by something far more deadly than a snake. 00:12:00.580 --> 00:12:05.639 We are running a hell-bound race because of the sin that runs deep through our souls. 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:08.500 It's way deeper than just the bad stuff that we do. 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:10.019 That's just the tip of the iceberg. 00:12:10.419 --> 00:12:16.879 It's our hearts, the very core of us that lies in rebellion against our creator. 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:17.960 What do we deserve? 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:20.659 We deserve to know his curse. 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:27.799 Curse just meaning knowing the anger and the judgment of the God who created us. 00:12:27.939 --> 00:12:31.200 And so here's what Paul writes as he contemplates the cross. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:33.440 And Jesus suspended there. 00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:34.700 He writes, 00:12:36.040 --> 00:12:40.740 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse. 00:12:40.860 --> 00:12:41.940 And here's your two words. 00:12:42.640 --> 00:12:43.560 For us. 00:12:45.460 --> 00:12:46.540 For us. 00:12:47.540 --> 00:12:48.160 For it is written, 00:12:48.580 --> 00:12:50.920 Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole. 00:12:51.180 --> 00:12:52.120 For us. 00:12:53.240 --> 00:12:54.080 That's what he did. 00:12:55.980 --> 00:12:57.420 He became sin. 00:12:58.420 --> 00:12:59.379 For us. 00:12:59.379 --> 00:13:02.320 He became the curse for us. 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:04.539 He became the snake for us. 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:06.799 And so all of us tonight, 00:13:06.899 --> 00:13:08.639 We need to look at Christ on the cross. 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:10.580 And we conclude, 00:13:11.820 --> 00:13:13.720 There is the one who took my curse. 00:13:14.600 --> 00:13:18.139 There is the one who took the penalty of my sin on the cross. 00:13:20.340 --> 00:13:24.360 You see, it wasn't so much nails that held Jesus to the cross. 00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:30.460 As it was a burning passion to carry out the will of his father. 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:35.680 And to love and to save people like you and me. 00:13:37.060 --> 00:13:38.779 That's what held Jesus to the cross. 00:13:41.580 --> 00:13:43.440 Because Jesus did that by faith. 00:13:43.580 --> 00:13:46.259 What Jesus said to Nicodemus needed to happen to him. 00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:48.940 By faith it can happen to every single one of us tonight. 00:13:48.940 --> 00:13:51.740 What is the result of Jesus' work on the cross? 00:13:51.820 --> 00:13:58.200 For all who believe the curse is absorbed by Jesus on the cross. 00:13:58.800 --> 00:14:02.740 And the blessing of the Spirit, God's very presence in us, 00:14:03.160 --> 00:14:05.660 Is poured out abundantly. 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:08.360 That we might know the love of this father. 00:14:09.760 --> 00:14:10.440 Paul writes, 00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:26.800 You see, how can we enter the kingdom of God? 00:14:29.720 --> 00:14:30.600 There's one way. 00:14:32.900 --> 00:14:34.600 And it's by looking at the red snake. 00:14:37.460 --> 00:14:39.660 By looking at the one who became a curse for us. 00:14:41.400 --> 00:14:42.460 And it's what we do, isn't it? 00:14:42.460 --> 00:14:43.820 As we take communion together. 00:14:44.420 --> 00:14:45.260 As we remember. 00:14:46.920 --> 00:14:49.720 The most significant and profound. 00:14:52.060 --> 00:14:53.080 Act in history. 00:14:53.520 --> 00:14:54.640 Spent a whole week, haven't we? 00:14:54.680 --> 00:14:56.760 Thinking about a leader who thought he was above the law. 00:14:58.400 --> 00:14:59.380 And what do we do tonight? 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:01.620 We remember a leader who had all the power in the world. 00:15:01.700 --> 00:15:02.980 To put himself under the law. 00:15:03.080 --> 00:15:04.540 And became a curse for us. 00:15:05.380 --> 00:15:06.360 And this is our king. 00:15:06.560 --> 00:15:07.440 This is who he is. 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:11.540 And by faith, believing and looking at him tonight. 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:14.040 And knowing that he's paid for our every sin. 00:15:14.360 --> 00:15:15.200 Past, present, future. 00:15:15.300 --> 00:15:16.540 Whoever you are, whatever's going on. 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:17.560 That's who he is tonight. 00:15:18.700 --> 00:15:21.620 And looking at him and declaring and believing in our hearts. 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:24.420 He's my look and live. 00:15:24.419 --> 00:15:28.319 I love how Stuart Townend captures this. 00:15:28.419 --> 00:15:32.439 And with this, we will close in just a moment. 00:15:32.500 --> 00:15:33.879 Have a moment's just reflection. 00:15:34.120 --> 00:15:36.240 But this is what he writes in his song. 00:15:36.439 --> 00:15:41.500 And I love how hymns have just got a wonderful way of poetically capturing truth. 00:15:41.599 --> 00:15:42.439 Here's what he writes. 00:15:42.440 --> 00:15:46.260 Through the kisses of a friend's betrayal. 00:15:47.340 --> 00:15:49.380 He was lifted on a cruel cross. 00:15:49.500 --> 00:15:52.720 He was punished for a world's transgressions. 00:15:52.860 --> 00:15:55.760 He was suffering to save the lost. 00:15:56.760 --> 00:15:58.140 He fights for breath. 00:15:58.220 --> 00:15:59.280 He fights for me. 00:15:59.460 --> 00:16:03.000 Loosing sinners from the claims of hell. 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:06.920 And with a shout, our joy, our souls are free. 00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:10.660 Death defeated by Emmanuel. 00:16:10.659 --> 00:16:14.339 Why don't we just be quiet for a moment. 00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:17.120 And then I'll lead us in a short prayer. 00:16:17.179 --> 00:16:18.419 But this is your king tonight. 00:16:19.059 --> 00:16:21.959 Why don't we just take a moment and just savor him. 00:16:22.860 --> 00:16:25.100 And just recall what he's done for us. 00:16:25.899 --> 00:16:28.319 And then we'll move on together. 00:16:40.659 --> 00:17:01.000 And so we've thought about John 3, 14 and 15 tonight. 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:04.299 Of course, John 3, 16. 00:17:04.299 --> 00:17:29.099 And so tonight, Heavenly Father, by wonderful grace, we can call you that. 00:17:29.099 --> 00:17:31.419 We thank you for Jesus. 00:17:32.719 --> 00:17:42.980 The one whose passion demonstrates your throbbing and loving heart devoted to saving sinners. 00:17:42.980 --> 00:17:56.539 And I just pray that by your spirit living in us, moving amongst us, that you would bring a fresh awareness of his sacrifice and his victory tonight. 00:17:56.539 --> 00:18:04.960 Maybe even some of us here for the first time, help us, Lord, to look and live. 00:18:06.500 --> 00:18:13.740 We pray you'll be with us as we journey on the rest of this service on this the most profound of days. 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:15.539 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:18:16.159 --> 00:18:16.519 Amen. 00:18:16.519 --> 00:18:16.619 Amen. 00:18:16.619 --> 00:18:16.659 Amen. 00:18:16.659 --> 00:18:16.700 Amen. 00:18:16.700 --> 00:18:16.720 Amen.