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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - John 3:14 - 3:14
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Moses lifted up the serpent (Mōusēs hupsōsen ton ophin). Reference to Num 21:7. where Moses set the brazen serpent upon the standard that those who believed might look and live. Jesus draws a vivid parallel between the act of Moses and the Cross on which he himself (the Son of man) “must” (dei, one of the heavenly things) “be lifted up” (hupsōthēnai, first aorist passive infinitive of hupsoō, a word not used about the brazen serpent). In John hupsoō always refers to the Cross (Joh 8:28; Joh 12:32, Joh 12:34), though to the Ascension in Acts (Act 2:33; Act 5:31). Jesus is complimenting the standing and intelligence of Nicodemus as “the teacher of Israel” by telling him this great truth and fact that lies at the basis of the work of the kingdom of God (the atoning death of Christ on the Cross).