John 3:16 is probably the most well-known verse of the Bible. Displayed on signs in crowds, on athletes’ eye black, and memorized widely, it has functioned as an executive summary of the Gospel, or good news.

“For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever beliefs in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

What is often missed however are the preceding verses where Jesus explains to Nicodemus the manner in which this love is shown.

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness??? What on earth is he talking about?

The story he refers to comes from Numbers 21. Immediately after God had provided the Israelites with victory over the Canaanites, the people grew impatient and started grumbling…

“‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!’”

“Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, ‘We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people.”

Ignoring for a moment the fact that God was the one who sent the venomous snakes in response to their grumbling, one would also think the removal of the snakes would be the kindest and most loving way God could respond. But instead he chooses something different.

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.^’ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.”

This is what Jesus references as being a foreshadow of the way he is going to die and how God’s love for the world can be experienced? Surely there must be better examples he could have used, right?

Following Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, death still remains. Suffering. Struggle. Pain. Loss. All still very much present in this world and within all of our lives. Just like the venomous snakes, these haven’t simply been removed from our experiences.

And the Numbers passage can show how we often make similar prayer requests to the one of the Israelites. “God, please take this suffering away from us.” Even Jesus prayed as much in the Garden of Gethsemane. And yet, when the cup was not taken from him, he was still obedient to the cross.

I think with how pervasive the use of John 3:16 is we sometimes miss the greater context. Yes, God loves the world. But his love can often be expressed in ways that confound us. Why allow the suffering? Why not just remove it?

I heard a wise pastor say that a world without suffering would be a world without caring. It doesn’t tie everything up in a neat little bow, but it does show how our trials and those of our friends and families are some of the greatest opportunities for growth and maturation, even if we wouldn’t wish the circumstances on anyone at the moment. These afflictions and struggles create opportunities to trust in God routinely but also to learn how to give and receive care from others.

God in theory could have just removed our sin, and yet he thought this was a more loving way to respond to us.

In this life, we will always struggle with trying to make sense of pain. But the Son of Man was lifted on the cross as an awe-inspiring reminder of God’s love for us. He walked directly into the shame and suffering.

And that through this act of love, although we may fade, tire and struggle, we have hope of abundant life. For we can gaze upon him and his self sacrifice on that cross and be reminded that it was for the joy set before him that he endured the cross and that we can follow in his footsteps as we face our own trials.