As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. (John 3:14–15)
Through the Lord raised on the cross, one can see the Father. Only through him, and only when we look up to him, can we see the Father. The cross is viewed here in its elevation and splendor, not as a place of suffering. By looking in faith to the exalted Lord, our sin is taken away, just as the sickness was taken away from the believing Jews when they looked up to the serpent. For sin is never destroyed by our gaze upon it, but by the gaze upon purity that draws us upward. This is the simple mystery of faith, at least regardless of the mystery of confession. Contemplation of purity is what cleanses, specifically purity as the way to love. Purity is never self-serving. Liberation from sin is never a place where we can stop, but always a path we must move along toward leaving ourselves behind: it is the path from our being bitten to the healing God.
(Adrienne von Speyr; The Word Becomes Flesh)
