中了“蛇毒”，有蛇的性情
“摩西在旷野怎样举蛇，人子也必照样被举起来。”当耶稣说这话时，尼哥底母就清楚了。当以色列人怨讟神与摩西时，“耶和华使火蛇进入百姓中间，蛇就咬他们，以色列人中死了许多”（民二一6）。百姓就来见摩西，求他祷告耶和华，叫蛇离开他们。于是摩西为他们祷告，神指示摩西救法，告诉他制造一条铜蛇，将它挂在杆子上（民二一8-9）。凡中了火蛇之毒的，一望这铜蛇就必得活（民二一9）。
在约翰三章十四节，主耶稣将这幅图画应用在祂自己身上，说祂这人子，将被举起来，像摩西将铜蛇举起来一样。请注意，主在这里称自己为人子，不称神子。主告诉尼哥底母说，“尼哥底母，你看起来是一位君子，但你必须知道，你实际上是一条蛇。
不管你多温和优雅，你里面还是有蛇的性情，你已经中了毒。你在亚当里已中了毒，当亚当中了毒时，你就在那里了。你是从那有毒的性情而生的，因此你的性情也是蛇性的。”在这以前，尼哥底母从没有看见这个。照样，今天也少有人看见自己是蛇。你喜欢人这样说到你么?你若去告诉一位不信者说，他不仅是个罪人，更是一条蛇，他会大大生气。
在约翰一章二十九节，施浸者约翰说，“看哪，神的羔羊。”在三章十四节，主耶稣不是把自己比作神的羔羊，而是把自己比作铜蛇。神的羔羊对付罪，铜蛇却毁坏那古蛇。我们堕落之人的难处不单有罪，还有蛇。虽然基督徒听到好些信息说到神的羔羊，却很少听到铜蛇是基督的豫表。
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The True Condition of Man — John 3:15
Poisoned by the “Serpent’s Venom”, Having the Nature of Serpent
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” Nicodemus understood when Jesus said this,. The Israelites complained against God and Moses, “The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died” (Num. 21:6). The people came to Moses and asked him to pray to the Lord to take away the serpents. So Moses prayed for them, and God instructed him on the way of salvation — He told Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole (Num. 21:8–9). Whoever was bitten by the fiery serpents and looked at the bronze serpent would live (Numb. 21:9).
In John 3:14, the Lord Jesus applied this picture to Himself, saying that He, the Son of Man, would be lifted up just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent. Notice that here the Lord called Himself the Son of Man, not the Son of God. The Lord told Nicodemus, “Nicodemus, you appear to be a gentleman, but you must know that you are actually a serpent.
No matter how gentle or refined you may be, within you is still the nature of the serpent — you have already been poisoned. You were poisoned in Adam; when Adam was poisoned, you were there. You were born of that poisonous nature, and therefore your nature is also serpentine.” Before this, Nicodemus had never realized it. Likewise, few people today see themselves as serpents. Would you like others to say this about you? If you told an unbeliever that he is not only a sinner but also a serpent, he would be greatly offended.
In John 1:29, John the Baptist said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” In John 3:14, the Lord Jesus did not liken Himself to the Lamb of God, but to the bronze serpent. The Lamb of God deals with sin, but the bronze serpent destroys the ancient serpent. Our problem as fallen humans is not only sin but also the serpent. While Christians often hear messages about the Lamb of God, they rarely hear that the bronze serpent is also a type of Christ.