A bronze snake was made by Moses, on God’s orders and raised among a people plagued by deadly snakes. If you were bitten you only had to look at the raised image to be spared death. The bronze snake was not a graven image. It was not an idol to be worshipped. It was a sign of the deliverance God offered to a penitent people. Jesus has been placed beside a first aid box and stethoscope because in Jesus God brings healing, deliverance and life to all who truly turn to him.
(Based on “Sunday by Sunday” by Ken Taylor)
Father God, we thank you
that in the living and dying
of our Lord Jesus the Christ
you have made your nature known to us;
that what he was in a human life
you are eternally.
We thank you
that while you are a righteous God
you are also a God of love,
compassion, understanding and forgiveness;
that you are ever reaching out
to save us from ourselves.
Continue your healing work in us, we pray;
strengthen our faith
and draw us ever closer to yourself;
that, knowing ourselves held secure
in a love which will never fail us,
we may reflect some of that love to others
through our daily living in the world,
your world,
the world Jesus died to save. Amen
(from “Reaching for the Infinite” by Edmund Banyard)