Three ‘strange’ analogies by Jesus

        By ‘strange’, I mean comparing himself to what I would call bad, or evil things. The first is the snake. John 3:14 says, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of man must be lifted up.”

        The Lord is referring to the plague of venomous snakes in Numbers 21:6-9. It was snakes that bit the people so Moses made a bronze snake image that they could look to for healing. The “uplifting” is on the cross, not glorification. For mankind, it is sin that destroys us. A snake is not a pretty thing—a snake is a frightening thing. And so, Jesus was made a frightening thing— “He was made sin for us”! See 2 Corinthians 5:21. The power of sin is destroyed once Jesus has been “lifted up”. Notice, too, the imperative “must be lifted up”. In both pictures, the key ingredient for healing is faith.

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        The second is the man who went to a far country to be made king, then returned and killed all those who opposed him. See Luke 19:12-27. This type of plotting included King Herod the Great, Archelaus, Herod Antipas, Herod Philip, and Herod Agrippa I. They all spent time in Rome hustling and plotting to establish their kingship back in Palestine. At the specific time Jesus told this parable, it would have been Herod the Great’s son, Archelaus, who had most recently made these moves, albeit over thirty years before. Remember that when Joseph was returning from Egypt, he was afraid to go into Judea because Archelaus was the new ruler.

        The parallel here is that Jesus left us for heaven. Sadly, there are those who don’t want him as king and have no reason except that they hate him. Because he is God, he knows they will never change and therefore he can only destroy them. His kingdom was not of this world, but one day he will return, as the true King. And we should be longing for that day.

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        The last analogy I want to look at right now is the thief. “If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming he would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready…” See Mathew 24:42-44, and Luke 12:39-40.

        There seems to be no other life situation where a person keeps their arrival time secret to keep their friends “on their toes”. The thief, of course, wants his target to be lulled to sleep. For Jesus’ return, God alone has this right to secrecy for our best interests, and our spiritual growth.