Public opinion is not kind to snakes. Nor does the Bible give them a good press. (There were no Naturschutzvereine in those days!) Snakes lurk in the fields and in the eaves of houses, at worst biting people venomously, and at best living on a diet of dust and dirt. When God gives Moses a frightening sign of power, and when Aaron demonstrates this power to the Egyptians, the power is shown by a staff which turns into a snake. And when in Numbers 21, the people complain that they are being led in circles in an arid desert, God punishes them with fiery serpents, whose force is only countered when Moses makes a bronze snake and sets it on a pole, so that anyone bitten could look at the image and live - a case where seeing and recognizing a source of suffering clearly had a healing effect.
Even worse, the Bible records a dragon-like snake, Leviathan, who in John's vision in Revelation is none other than the Devil, Satan incarnate. In the Old Testament, in Job, in Isaiah, in the Psalms, this sea-creature was a reminder of the chaos which other neighbouring cultures recalled in their myths, and which was only held at bay by God's creative power.
In the story of Adam and Eve, the snake is the most crafty, the most cunning of all the wild creatures God has made. For no obvious reason, the snake comes to Eve and persuades her to eat the fruit God has told Adam not to eat. Whether or not we believe in walking, talking snakes, the story tells us a lot about the nature of temptation and the nature of obedience (and not very much about snakes!)
The only positive thing the Bible says about snakes is Jesus' words at Matthew 10:16. "Look," he tells the Twelve, and all those who follow in their footsteps, "I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves."
The word translated "wise" is the same as the word used in the Greek Bible about the serpent in Genesis 3. It means clever, or prudent, adaptable even. It is a quality we do not often associate with Christian living. The quality crops up again in the Parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1-9): "The children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light."
We are all called to be witnesses. By standing up for what we see is right, by resisting what we see as wrong, we set an example for the world, and seek to bring others closer to God. But at the same time, we must take care not to be naïve. Often the world does not stand back in wonder, gasping: "My, how these Christians love one another!" Often we meet opposition or ridicule - and then we should act shrewdly and ask ourselves why. Often we find our beliefs misrepresented - we should ask ourselves if we could find a better way of putting them across.
Luke's and John's Gospels were shrewdly written, to stress that the New Way did not present a threat to Roman society. In the Middle Ages, church leaders shrewdly adapted their structures and their message to what was socially acceptable at the time. In this way, they won influence - which allowed room for the good news to reach people's hearts. In today's world, the old structures and the old message carry far less influence - perhaps we of today are not being shrewd enough? Perhaps we need to examine our own attitudes, and see how they fit in with the concerns of the world today.
At the same time, we are called to be as innocent as doves. (People of the time believed that doves secreted no bile, and so they became an image of peace.) When threatened, we are to remain calm. Harsh words and harsh thoughts inside the church are bad enough, but harshness towards those outside is also taboo.
We may not like to think of ourselves as sheep surrounded by wolves, but we are. And getting ourselves guns to shoot the wolves is not an option. We need to use our own skill to live and witness freely. And to remember that if we stay near him, we have Jesus the Good Shepherd to protect us.
HD