A YOUNG BOY was reading in the Gospel of John, when he came to the 15th verse of the third chapter. He read the verse and read it again. Although it contains but twelve words, he could not understand it. The verse before seemed plain enough and he returned to it.
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” Again he went on with the 15th verse, “that whosoever believeth...” And again he stopped.
“I must ask Father what ‘believeth’ means. I am sure he can tell me, for I know he loves the Lord Jesus and knows a great deal about Him.”
Soon the boy’s father came home.
“Please, Father, will you tell me what ‘believeth’ means?”
Quickly the little hands turned the pages of the Bible and when the verse was found, a finger pointed to the word that so troubled Henry Moore.
“Open your Bible to the book of Numbers in the Old Testament, Henry,” his father said. “In chapter 21, verses 8 and 9, you will find the meaning of ‘believeth.’"
Henry read the two verses. “And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.”
“Now,” said Mr. Moore, “let me read John 3:1515That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:15) again but I will change the word that you don’t understand. ‘Whosoever looketh on Him should not perish, but have eternal life.’"
“But, Father,” said Henry, “the people bitten by the serpents could look on the brazen serpent lifted up on the pole, but we cannot look upon Jesus for He is in heaven.”
“Yes, my boy, we can look upon Jesus, although He is in heaven. The first three words of Hebrews 12: 2 Say, ‘Looking unto Jesus,’ only we do not look with our eyes. Do you not remember, Henry, when I was away from home on a business trip, that you said to Mother more than once, ‘O, I just see Father'?”
“Yes, I remember very well. I had been thinking so much about you and longing to see you that sometimes it seemed you were quite close to me, and then I said I could just see you.”
“But, Henry, you did not see me with your eyes, for I was in London.”
“No, Father, but I saw you with my mind, for I could not help thinking about you, because I love you so much.”
“That’s it, my boy. If you believe on Jesus, you think upon Him, you look upon Him, just as you thought upon me with your mind. Jesus died on the cross, was lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness, for any poor sinner to look upon, and all who look shall be saved.”
Perhaps like Henry Moore you have been troubled about how to believe in Jesus. I hope that this story helps you to see how simple it really is. Remember that when the Israelites were bitten by the fiery serpent it did them no good at all to look at their wounds. But if they looked at the serpent that Moses raised up then they were healed. Now, the Lord Jesus invites all sinners to come and be saved.
ML-09/08/1963