The Snake is Dead!

I am going to tell a story that comes out of a missionary family’s experience while living deep within the Amazon jungle.

The missionary couple and their children lived among the tribes of the Amazon jungle, enmeshing their lives with the families of the Amazon. One night, while they were all sleeping, a huge 9-foot green snake slithered into their hut. The missionaries and their children were able to make it out safely, but the snake remained inside, thrashing about and causing massive destruction with each blow of the tail.

The people of the village came around the missionaries, expressing great fear and trepidation for what had wended its way into their village. They called for the local snake killer, a man trained and equipped to handle these situations. He came within the hour, but all the while, the snake kept unleashing its destructive power.

The snake killer entered the hut, and for the next hour, all that could be heard was chaos and devastation. Finally, the snake killer exited the hut, even as the snake continued to thrash about, and stood before the family as well as the people of the village.

He said, “I have good news and bad news. The good news is the snake is dead. I cut the head off. The bad news is the snake doesn’t know it yet.”

The missionary couple looked at each other, feeling the weight of this as a metaphor for the time we are living in. The Kingdom of God has arrived and is fully here; this was the Good News that Jesus proclaimed as he began his ministry. The Snake was defeated at the cross and in the resurrection. Yet, until Christ in all His glory arrives completely in the age to come, we live in this in-between time. The Snake, the ruler of this age, has been defeated and is dead—it just doesn’t know it yet, and it continues to thrash mercilessly, to and fro.

The snake is dead but doesn’t know it yet and continues to wreak havoc on the world. I find the snake thrashing even more violently these days.

I have been captivated by this story and have even been applying it to myself. I imagine sin in all its manifestations to be a huge snake tightly wrapped around me. It thrashes me to and fro, squeezing me continually. I am reminding myself daily that the snake is dead but doesn’t know it yet, even as it tosses me about and causes destruction. But it is truly dead! I pray for the faith to act as if it is true, trusting and believing the snake has no power over me. Even as the snake’s whippings feel so real, I have a new identity and a new place to live—within the Kingdom of God and under and with God’s glorious rule and reign.

How do you experience the thrashing of the snake in your own life?

Where do you see evidence of the snake’s activity?

What would it be like for you to pray for the faith to act as if the snake is dead, trusting and believing the snake has no power over you?