Views from the Ridge 8.2.22
Sunset Ridge is a church that desires to follow Jesus, reach people, and radiate God’s love and hope to all.
This week…
Tuesday, August 2:
9am— Story time on the lawn
7pm— Youth group at the Stirmans’
Wednesday, August 3 at 9am: Coffee & Games at Rose Hip Coffee
Sunday, August 7:
9:15am— The Art of Neighboring adult Bible class in the fellowship hall & Roots children’s gathering time in the Kid’s Worship Room
10:30am— Worship Service in the sanctuary
Sermon: Who do You Think You’re Talking To? (John 4.1-25)
4:30pm— Supper Church— meet in the kitchen
Upcoming…
Saturday, August 13:
9am-1pm: Back to School Market
7pm: Youth Group Pool Party
Sunday, October 2: Covenant Renewal Service
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?
Riley Stirman
John 3:16 is perhaps the most well-known Bible verse of all time. It serves as such a succinct summary of the good news of Jesus that it bears repeating on its own, but it's easy to forget it's part of a larger speech. And in that speech, actually just before this famous verse, there is this puzzling reference to the Hebrew Bible:
"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” (John 3:14-15)
This sentence is a reference to a very short story from the book of Numbers wherein the people of Israel grumble and complain against God, so God sends a plague of snakes among the people. The snakes caused many deaths, so the people asked Moses for help. God told Moses to fashion a serpent out of bronze, put it on a pole, and put it in the middle of camp. Whoever was bitten by a snake would come look at the bronze snake, and they wouldn't die.
There's a reason you don't see John 3:14 on signs at sports games. This story is weird.
So why would this, of all the stories from the Israelites in the wilderness, make it into Jesus's speech? How is Jesus like a bronze statue?
I can think of two answers, and I'll let you decide. One is significantly more nerdy than the other, so if you aren't interested in history, feel free to skip ahead.
The image of the snake on a pole became a very popular one in Judaism, but it didn't stay there. Many scholars suggest that at this point in history, the Greeks had actually adopted this Jewish image for the Greek god Asclepius, the god of medicine and healing. This may start to sound familiar. You've probably seen at a hospital the image of the caduceus, which shows two snakes intertwining on a pole. This was likely taken from Asclepius, and by extension from Judaism.
Here's where the story, I think, gets really interesting. To worship Asclepius, one went to an asclepion, a healing temple. We know of several of these scattered around the Mediterranean. But in 1964, archaeologists found the Pool of Bethesda that gets mentioned in John 5. The story tells us that angels would churn the water and heal people. This pool, oddly enough, was part of an asclepion, a temple dedicated to a Greek god. Jesus meets a man who couldn't walk and just wants to be helped into the pool. Jesus doesn't do this. Instead, Jesus himself helps the man to his feet so he can walk away healed.
The message of the story at the pool is similar to the message here in John 3, with the reference to the image of the snake. You can either trust in gods or in God. Only one will get the job done.
The second answer is similar. Every time John uses the language of "lifting up," it seems like the disciples (or whoever he's talking to) understand the message to be about glory or power. But Jesus is talking about his crucifixion. He is comparing himself to the snake on the pole, the image that saved any who looked at it. Isn't it weird that the thing that saved the Israelites was looking at the image of what had been killing them? Jesus, I believe, is saying that he is going to save all people, but he's going to have to do it by dying. And this is how he is going to be glorified, not by going to war.
In other words, Jesus will transform an image of death into a symbol of hope and of new life, just like Moses did with the bronze snake.
These two little verses led us to two pretty powerful messages, both of which I think could be correct. We could spend some time arguing about which is "right" or "true." Or we could just stop and say,
Wow. Our Gospels - and our God - are pretty amazing.
Daily Bible readings
Monday: Exodus 17.5-7
Tuesday: Romans 5.3-5
Wednesday: Revelation 14.7
Thursday: Psalm 66.1-4
Friday: Psalm 150.1-2, 6
Saturday: John 3.31
Kid’s Kits
We now have kid’s kits in the foyer for your little ones (or you!) to keep their hands busy during service. Don’t miss the gold coins at the bottom for the offering plate!
click here to register for the Walk to Emmaus!
Praises and Prayers
Out of respect for the privacy of our loved ones, we have moved the ongoing prayer request list to the Sunday morning program.
Ricky Solis (son of our custodian, Enrique Solis and his wife, Reina Amaya) graduated from Baylor University with a B.S. in Education. He majored in health science studies with a minor in biology. He will attend the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine this fall.
This past Sunday, Katie Best-Richmond, owner of Rose Hip coffee, shared her gifts with us by preaching at the Charis worship service. We are so grateful for her spirit!
Care for our people
We are putting together two teams to provide care for the people around us. Our pastoral care team will be focused on offering spiritual support and consideration for our immediate congregation. Our community care team is more outwardly-focused, concerned with the more tangible needs of our neighbors in the Charis community. If you’re interested in joining either of these teams, click the links above to connect to the team coordinators!
Covenant Renewal Process
This fall, we will go through a process of reaffirming our commitments to each other, this community, and to God. Our covenant here at Sunset Ridge is one that offers a tending of one’s soul and meaningful discipleship and asks for an intentional involvement with our vision and where we hope to grow as a church. We want to strengthen relationships with one another and explore ways of serving faithfully together in different areas of our church. This is also a season of reminding one another what we believe and why we are here in this particular place at this particular moment.
If you would like more information about this process or would like to get connected, please contact chelsea@sunsetridgechurch.org.
God, we gather in gratitude, thankful for the ways you seek to revive us! Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts work together to praise you in this hour. Grant your Spirit to move our hearts and inspire each of us to share your steadfast love with all whom we encounter. Help us to join in giving only what is good, not only today but every day. Amen
