La serp d'aram (Nm 21,4-9) en els Pares de l'Església del segle II i en Orígenes

The Church Fathers of the II century present the serpent of bronze of Num.21.4-9 as a ‘symbol’ (σύμβολον) or ‘type’ (τύπος), in other words as a prefigurationof the cross of Jesus, in line with the Gospel of John (3.14). The healingof fatal illness caused by the poison of the serpents prefigures the salvationof the human race – freedom from sin and death – which Jesus obtained byhis death on the cross; the healing power of the serpent of bronze anticipatesthe salvific power of the cross. Already in the Gospel of John, Num. 21.4-9 islinked with the cross of Jesus in Jn 3.14 and thus in other verses (Jn 8.28 and12.32) which speak of the raising up of crucified Jesus.The crucifixion is interpreted by the Fathers of the II century as themoment when the glorification of Jesus-Christ began. As for Origenes (IIIcentury), no specific mention of Num. 21.4-9 can be found in his work, but in his commentaries on Jn 3.14 he expresses the same thoughts as his predecessors:at one point, Origenes says that Jn 3.14 is interpreted by some exegetes,whose names he does not mention, to mean that Christ was exalted in theascension, but he distances himself from this interpretation and maintainsthat the exaltation of Christ started in the crucifixion. The Fathers after Origeneswill unanimously support this interpretation: the glory of Christ doesnot start with the resurrection but with the death on the cross; the ‘raisingup’ does not mean the ascension to heaven but the raising up of the crucifiedJesus corresponding to the vertical dimension of the instrument of torture ofthe cross.