Jesus was made Sin
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. -2 Corinthians 5:21
Although Jesus never sinned in His earthly life (as the Scripture above says, he “knew no sin”) yet God made Him to be sin for us, that He might pay the penalty of sin for all mankind.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. -Isaiah 53:6
An illustrated picture
Jesus makes an interesting comparison to His work on the cross: He compares it to an instance in the Old Testament where the Israelites were being bitten and attacked (and killed) by serpents/snakes in the wilderness. God’s solution for Moses was simple:
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. -Numbers 21:9
And accordingly we see Jesus make the link to Himself in the gospel of John:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. -John 3:14-15
A picture of faith
An interesting observation can be noted about Jesus’ statement above: it gives a glimpse into faith. As the physical eye of man was to look upon the brass serpent to live, the eye of the soul is to look to Jesus in faith to live.
Moses and the Brazen Serpent by Sébastien Bourdon (1654)
Look at the above painting, and note the condition of the people in relation to the serpent. They are wounded; some are being carried to the serpent, others are looking upon it with complete faith and trust.
I believe, in a sort of hypothetical spiritual vision, the above painting represents closely how God viewed the crucifixion of Jesus. He looked down from heaven, and saw that His Son was made sin on man’s behalf: and that man’s sin was nailed to the cross. As the brass serpent of old, so too was Jesus made sin for us, who died on the cross so that our sin might be destroyed.
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. -1 John 3:8
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