Sign and reality

In today’s first reading (Numbers 21:4-9), Moses is told by the Lord to make the image of a bronze serpent as an instrument of the Lord's healing power.

This image would later be destroyed as part of an effort to stamp out idolatry (2 Kings 18:4).

In today’s Gospel (John 8:21-30), our Lord compares Moses’ action to his own crucifixion.

The key difference between the two, of course, is that the bronze image was just a symbol and that the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was and is the most powerful demonstration and action of God’s love and salvation.

Images and other forms of conceptual representation are important to us as human beings of flesh and blood, but we must always keep our focus fixed on the ultimate reality: God’s salvation in Christ Jesus at work in the world and extending beyond the scope of this world.

Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, be merciful to me – a sinner.