Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
Parallel translations
- WEB As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
- KJV And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
- NKJV And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
- NASB And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
- NLT And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. Jesus foretells his saving death on the cross.
Overview
Recalling Numbers 21, where Israelites looked at the lifted serpent and lived, Jesus presents himself as the one who must be 'lifted up'—John's term for the crucifixion (and exaltation). Those bitten by sin find life by looking in faith to the crucified Christ. The 'must' underscores that the cross is God's necessary plan for salvation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Num 21:7–9Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so He will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses interceded for the people.
- John 8:28So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own, but speak exactly what the Father has taught Me.
- John 12:32–34And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw everyone to Myself.”
- Luke 24:26–27Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?”
- Luke 24:44–46Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”
- 2 Kgs 18:4He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.
- Ps 22:16For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.
- Acts 2:23He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.
- Matt 26:54But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?”
- Acts 4:27–28In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed.
- Luke 18:31–33Then Jesus took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything the prophets have written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
- Luke 24:20Our chief priests and rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and they crucified Him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 3:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.