Did you ever wonder what the universal medical symbol means? I’m thinking of the symbol that has one (or two) snakes wrapped around a staff–we see it on most ambulances and on other medical material.
This is called an asclepius–named for the god of Greek mythology who became a great healer. He carried a staff for healing. The snake around the staff has two meanings: Asclepius could disable venomous serpents, but serpents also represent healing, as they shed their skins to become a symbol of new life.
A parallel in Moses
Notice the parallel to another story that we heard at Mass this week from the book of Numbers. Venomous serpents came among the Hebrews as a judgment upon all who were complaining about God and Moses. When Moses prayed for the afflicted, God instructed him to affix a bronze serpent to a staff and lift it up–when the people looked upon the bronze serpent, they lived. So Moses’ staff and serpent are also a symbol of healing.
Full circle in Scripture
C. S. Lewis found great meaning in pagan mythology before he became a Christian. He said, “The reason was that in Pagan stories I was prepared to feel the myth as profound and suggestive of meanings beyond my grasp even tho’ I could not say in cold prose ‘what it meant’.”
On his way to becoming a Christian, he saw that these Pagan stories were shadows of a fuller meaning in Scripture. He said, “Now the story of Christ is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way as the others, but with this tremendous difference that it really happened.” So we can say Asclepius anticipated a more complete reality that came to pass through Moses.
Deeper healing in Christ
But we can go one step further. Jesus said that Moses’ staff and snake point to him.
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).
Fulton Sheen explained the connection: the bronze serpent looked just like the poisonous serpents, but no venom; when Jesus was lifted up, he looked the same as all men, but no sin.
We’ll encounter a lot of dramatic symbolism in the coming week: palms, processions, holy water, and holy fire. We experience this symbolism on many levels. Let it be our aim to embrace the full meaning of Christ behind all of the symbolism so that we can find full healing in him.