The brazen serpent and the image of sin

This past Tuesday (i.e., Tuesday of the 5th week of Lent), the first reading is the brazen serpent from Numbers.

Numbers 4:6-10:

Wherefore the Lord sent among the people fiery serpents, which bit them and killed many of them. Upon which they came to Moses, and said: We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and thee: pray that he may take away these serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to him: Make brazen serpent, and set it up for a sign: whosoever being struck shall look on it, shall live. Moses therefore made a brazen serpent, and set it up for a sign: which when they that were bitten looked upon, they were healed.

My pastor made two points that fascinated me. First: the people were healed by looking at the image of what made them sicken and die. Second: we are redeemed by looking at (i.e. believing in) Christ on the Cross: the very image of what makes us sicken and die: sin. 2 Corinthians 5:21: "Him, who knew no sin, he hath made sin for us, that we might be made the justice of God in him."

Christ took on all of our sins on the cross; Christ on the Cross made Himself the very image of all the sins that ever were/will be committed.

This idea clarified for me somewhat the whole question of the crucifixion. Why did Jesus have to die in that way? By making himself the image of all sin, He caused His death to become the death of all sin.

Then I took this idea in a whole new direction. If the Passion of Christ is how Christ made Himself the image of all sin, then what happened to Christ in the Passion is what happens to our souls when we sin.

Christ was mocked by the soldiers who said, "Hail the King of the Jews". All sin is rooted in pride; when we sin, we make ourselves our own king; we refuse to serve the Lord (our true King) and serve our own desires. This "kingship" over ourselves is a mockery, just as crude and shocking as the soldiers' mockery of Christ.

Christ wore a bloody crown of thorns. In sinning we crown ourselves king of our soul. This crown claws into our soul just as Christ's crown clawed into his skull.

Christ was scourged at the pillar; sin lashes our souls just as cruelly. Each sin marks our soul just as each stripe marked our Lord's flesh.

So the next time sin speaks to you (and sin does speak to all of us; in this life we will not escape temptation), remember what the Enemy wants. Our adversary doesn't want you to be like God; he doesn't want you to be happy, or experience pleasure, or be free. He wants you to be in constant torment (just like the torment he himself experiences). And even in this life, such constant torment is the natural result of sin.

So by sinning, we crucify ourselves. What do we do when we turn away from sin, beg forgiveness from the Lord, and live our lives in Him? Do we not share in His resurrection?