The rod of Asclepius, with a single snake entwined upon the staff, remains a symbol used in modern medicine. Its biblical likeness as the bronze serpent lifted up on a pole is the sign of God’s saving power during the Exodus when the people of Israel had rebelled against the Lord and he sent seraph serpents among them as a punishment. In the Gospel of John the victory of God’s saving action is not a symbolic serpent, but the Son of Man who is lifted up on the cross. The self-offering of Christ is the ultimate victory over death. The Gospel reminds us: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
