Near the end of the forty years, the lessons of the wandering had so far failed to teach the children of Israel trust in God, that they were again discouraged when compassing the land of Edom, and their murmuring brought the punishment of a plague of serpents, which wrought much destruction among them. The people repented and acknowledged their sin.
“And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it shall live: And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived’.”1
The serpent fixed to the pole constitute a sign, an ensign, a banner, a standard. In what way was it a sign? The answer was to come nearly 1,400 years later, but in the meantime the Lord Who had provided the Sign was, by means of the prophets, educating the people of Israel as to what it meant, that when it was repeated they would understand, and understanding, should live. Some strange things had been revealed, and although the prophets had declared that a great Deliverer should come to save Israel, there were features about the deliverance which they could not harmonise. They could understand and appreciate their being saved from their enemies, but there was another kind of salvation involved and which furthermore held the precedence.
This was a mystery, in fact, a great mystery; and even the “wise” men were baffled. Who was the man who should be despised, the one whom the nation would abhor?2 Who was the one who should come to the nation and be rejected, of no esteem, regarded as one stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God like a leper? What strange being could this be who was so unlike others, that although afflicted, oppressed, and despised, yet he would open not his mouth; he would be judged worthy of death, led like a lamb to the slaughter, be cut off from the land of the living although he had done no violence neither was there any deceit in his mouth? Stranger still, he was to bear their iniquities and their peace depended upon him; that although he would be numbered with the transgressors, he would bear the sin of many, and finally become triumphant, the pleasure of the Lord prospering in his hand.3
About seven hundred years later, Israel were in bondage to the Romans, and there prevailed an air of expectancy. Was the Deliverer due? Were there any signs? The answer is yes, but they were signs for the few. Spirituality in Israel was at a low ebb, but there were some who were devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. To them the God of Israel had respect. The angel Gabriel was sent to a virgin whose name was Mary. Her name, according to Young’s Concordance, came from a Hebrew word meaning “bitter”.
Strange that this should be so, for the first message to Mary conveyed the information that she should have a son to be named Jesus and the Lord God would give unto him the throne of his father David; that he would reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there would be no end. Although Mary was at first troubled at the saying of the angel seeing that she was a virgin, it was explained to her that the Holy Spirit, the power of God, would bring about this miraculous birth and he would be, therefore, the Son of God. Her reply was an indication of a noble character: “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to Thy word”.4 She little knew what was involved in her humble submission to the will of God.
So far, she knew that her son would be the King of Israel, but there was something that came before that could take place. She had rejoiced in the prospect of Israel’s deliverance and the fulfillment of the promises God had made to the fathers.5 The next sign came when the baby was born. Strange thing again, the one born to be the King was to be found, not in a king’s palace, but in a stable, because there was no other place available! Mary would be puzzled. She had a visit from some shepherds.
They had been visited by angels who praised the God of heaven at the birth of the baby who was the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed, the Lord; and the strange sign was given them that they would find the baby lying in a manger. When they hastened to Bethlehem and found everything as the angels had said, they told Mary what had taken place. She wondered what it all meant and pondered over what she had been told.6 But the next revelation made her more perplexed than ever. When Mary and Joseph brought the child to the Temple at Jerusalem, they were met by a devout man named Simeon who took the child in his arms and blessed God that he had been privileged to see the one who should bring salvation to Israel. Joseph and Mary marveled at the things spoken of her son, but what could be the meaning of the next revelation through Simeon?
“This child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against; yea a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed”.
They then returned to Nazareth, their own city, to ponder over what had been further revealed, for it had cast a shadow over their happiness. Whatever did it mean? The answer was to come more than thirty years later, and Mary would be left to bear a burden which she alone could bear—a mother’s burden. Was not her name “Bitter”? But what did it mean that her Son would be a Sign which should be spoken against? And what did it mean that she also should experience a sword piercing through her own soul? Was her Son going to be “pierced through” literally, to cause her to feel that she, as a mother, was experiencing the same thing? Did the thought ever cross her mind that as Moses lifted up the serpent, fixed it to the tree, that those who were bitten should live, that this Sign in the wilderness would be repeated in the crucifixion of her Son—the Sign to be spoken against?7 In the mercy of God, while her Son was being prepared for the work he had to carry out, Mary was being prepared likewise, gradually being strengthened for the trial to come of which she had little understanding. Indeed, who did understand? A crucified King? Impossible!
Time passed away and Jesus commenced his ministry. Yes, he understood that he was to be King of Israel and of the world, but he also understood fully all that Moses and the Prophets had revealed concerning his crucifixion, and the reason for it. As the serpent had been nailed to the tree in the wilderness, so he would likewise be nailed to a tree. But well he knew the difference; the brazen serpent felt nothing, but he would experience the cruelest of torture and death; and setting his face towards Jerusalem, he was determined, with his Father’s help, to fulfill what the Scriptures had written concerning his sufferings, knowing assuredly that the glory would follow.
But was that the only consideration? No: The motive power throughout his life was that of LOVE which came from his Father and permeated his whole being—LOVE for God and LOVE for his brethren, LOVE for the whole world who should live through him. The crisis came. Jesus knew all the movements which would lead up to it, for all the details had been revealed in Moses and the Prophets. His very thoughts and words had been recorded 1000 years beforehand in the Psalms. He would live through them all and die, nailed to the tree and lifted up, to be like the Sign in the wilderness.
Yet there was one difference. What was it? The tree with the impaled brazen serpent had gone, destroyed by Hezekiah because the people worshiped it thinking to obtain some magical results from so doing. The tree upon which Jesus was impaled has likewise gone—gone for ever; but there is that which has never gone and therein lies the difference.
Let us follow the record in the 24th chapter of Luke. Two of the disciples of Jesus were on their way to Emmaus, talking about the things which had happened in Jerusalem and how their hopes had been dashed to the ground when their Lord whom they trusted to redeem Israel had been crucified by their leaders, delivering him to the Roman governor for that purpose. Then a stranger joined them and listened to their grief, yet they were puzzled by reports that Jesus had been seen alive. How they enjoyed what the stranger then told them, that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer before entering upon his glory. This was indeed a heart-burning experience. They wished it to continue, so they constrained him to come home with them. It was late, but what mattered that? They had become so attached to the stranger, they would be prepared to stay up all night to listen to him; but he had other plans. He consented to enter their home,
“And it came to pass as he sat at meat with them, he took bread and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them”.
All this time it never dawned upon them who the stranger was, although his actions were strangely familiar to them. They had seen such before, but suddenly a flood of light entered their minds and hearts, and they saw something they did not expect. They saw The Sign. Their eyes had been opened, for when he broke the bread and gave to them, They saw the wounds in his Hands and they knew him, but he vanished out of their sight. This, then, was the Sign when all others had gone. The two rushed back to Jerusalem, late though it was, finding the eleven gathered together talking about their Lord’s appearance to Simon.
The two added their testimony and while they were speaking together, Jesus himself appeared in their midst with a message of peace. Strange that they were frightened and thought they had seen a spirit, but he invited them to behold his hands and his feet which had been pierced through! Still they wondered until he ate before them. That sufficed; they had seen the Sign—the proof that their Lord who had been crucified had indeed been raised to life. We recall that Thomas, one of the twelve was not with them when Jesus came. They said to him, “We have seen the Lord”. This was not good enough for Thomas.
“Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe”. The record reveals that Jesus appeared to them again and he said to Thomas, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands: and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing”.
Thomas answered and said unto him, “My Lord and my God”. “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed”. This gives us hope.
One of the most striking features represented by the “piercing through” of our Lord, was his pre-revealed knowledge that he would be set at nought.8 If it was not for our understanding of sinful man, we should be staggered that one who had done more for the people of Israel than any other man, should be treated as a nobody—of no importance. Herod and his men had set him at nought9 The leaders of Israel had set him at nought.10 After his life of sacrifice for others that he might lead them to God, he was cast off like a criminal, not fit to live, to be the object of shame, reviling, and disgrace, and had it not been for the Divine intervention foretold,11 he would have been cast into the common grave of the wicked, there to be forgotten and his history closed once and for ever.
Whatever led men to do such a terrible thing?
“A crucified king was to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness. What is there of value to others in the nailing of a Jew to a tree in a Roman province some nineteen hundred years ago? So say the scoffers of every age”.12
There are a great many people who would like to forget all about this matter. “The death of Jesus caused scarcely a ripple in Jerusalem … there is nothing to mark any of the sites, in Jerusalem, or elsewhere associated with the life of Jesus”.13 Such is a modern comment upon one of the greatest events of all time. “Nothing to mark the sites”. This is as it should be, for no value attaches to such. But there is A MARK, and the death of Jesus which “caused scarcely a ripple” Caused the mark to appear and the mark is still there: still there after nearly two thousand years. why? because it is the sign!
Today some of the people of Israel are back in the Land; there will be fewer when the Desolator strikes.14 But what of the remnant? Let us turn to Zechariah where we read,
“I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one is in bitterness for his firstborn.”15
The man who caused scarcely a ripple when he was crucified, is going to appear to the remnant in the Land, and he will cause not a ripple but an earthquake! “Behold he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him, and they which pierced him, and all the kindred’s of the earth shall wail because of him”.16 Those who pierced him through will see him. The one mainly responsible for his being “pierced through” was the Sadducean High Priest, Caiaphas. Those associated with him were the chief priests, the elders and the scribes.17 When Jesus was on trial before this great assembly he declared that they would see him seated at the right hand of power, associated with his angels. It was for this he was condemned for blasphemy.18 The time is near for this verdict to be put to the test in the presence of all concerned and who condemned him to be crucified.
When Jesus comes, he will sit upon his throne of judgement, and this time those before whom he stood nearly two thousand years ago, will then stand before him! The books will be opened and the record of those on trial will be read out. Caiaphas is the principal one concerned. Let us imagine the scene. As he looks at Jesus he is conscious that Jesus had looked at him before, with that penetrating gaze which searches the innermost depths of his mind. He cannot endure this steady, thought-revealing gaze and as his eyes drop, a shudder shakes him from head to foot. Those hands holding the book show a difference from those he had seen centuries beforehand! They are hands which had been pierced through; there are the wounds on the palms and on the back! The sign! “They shall look upon him whom they have pierced!” The whole assembly have no reply to make; they are self-condemned and judgement is entered accordingly in the Book, by the Man appointed to be the Judge of all the earth.
19 this is the man whom mankind would like to forget and put out of sight; but god has planned otherwise. he has yet to enter into his glory but will soon return to carry out that phase of his work. when he does come, the man who is stated to have scarcely caused a ripple in Jerusalem when he was hanged on the tree, will startle and shake the whole world by his commands and his actions to enforce them.20 he will be the man whom god will not allow to be forgotten. he must be acknowledged by Israel and the nations who wish to live under his rule.21
There are many lessons to be derived from this study—too many to embody in this article —THE reason for the crucifixion of Jesus and what it effected, the part of his mother Mary in the matter.22 In its application to ourselves, we cannot afford to forget Christ, much less ignore him. He has entered into our life, and we may not set him at nought.
We may think it is not possible that we can do so after he has done so much for us, but the history of the past is a record of what actually did take place and can happen again. Paul, the slave of Jesus Christ, after a life of sacrifice for others, was likewise hounded to death; and even those for whom he had suffered turned against him, becoming his enemies because he told them the truth.23 So he warns us not to set at nought our brother, a warning which we dare not “forget” but which we do forget. But the overruling lesson we derive is surely what Paul declared.
The love of Christ constrains us, for greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends; so said Paul’s Master and ours, if we forget him not. Life in the Truth, while embodying the unity of the Faith, has to be sanctified by the love of Christ. The opportunities for service are not designed for us to project our own image in public view, for we have to forget ourselves in remembering Christ, and present his image, the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and Truth. To present his image, we have to be motivated by his love; and when we as individuals are conscious that the Son of God loved us and gave himself for us, then our outlook upon the brethren and sisters of Christ after the Spirit will be exactly the same as his and nothing less.
What then, is our outlook? It is for every man and woman professing the Truth to face this searching question. We may shelve it and be self-satisfied and complacent, regarding the Truth as providing pious entertainment; we may forget Christ when we forget his brethren and sisters; but let us remember he still has the wounds in his hands as the evidence that he died for us all. He expects us to demonstrate our gratitude to him in our love for those for whom he died. The day of opportunity will soon be gone, and Christ will be here again, to complete the work appointed him by his Father. These are among the principles of belief so necessary, but their confirmation can only be achieved by those professing the Truth when it is sanctified by the love of Christ and love for Christ and his brethren and sisters. Where are they? Are they always sitting next to us? One thing is certain; the Lord knows where they are. Do we? We may forget, but he never does, for they are engraven upon his heart, and he still carries the evidence of his love: THE SIGN.
- The Gospel of John (John Carter.)
- Isa. 49: 7.
- Isa. 53.
- Luke. 1: 26-38.
- Luke. 1: 46-56.
- Luke. 2: 4-20.
- Luke. 2: 25-35.
- Mark. 9: 12.
- Luke. 23; 11.
- Acts. 4: 11.
- Isa. 53: 9, 12.
- The Gospel of John, (J. C.).
- Daily telegraph Magazine. 27th March, 1970.
- Dan. 8: 23-25; Zech. 13: 8.
- Zech. 12: 6-14.
- Rev. 1: 7.
- Matt. 26: 57; Luke 22: 66.
- Matt. 26: 63-66; Luke. 22: 67- 71.
- John. 5: 22,23; 12: 48.
- Joel. 3: 16; Isa. 2: 1-4.
- Isa. 28: 16, 53: 10; Rom. 11: 25-27; Psalm. 72.
- The Day of the Cross. W. Clow. Fine studies in the principles involved on that memorable day. Seek secondhand. Read also The Gospel of John (J.C.).
- 2 Tim. 1: 15; 2 Tim. 4: 16; Gal. 4: 16.
The Solution