Symbolism of the Episcopal Staff

In the picture above you can see Mor Gregorious Yohanna the Archbishop of Aleppo who was kidnapped by terrorist in Syria. For this discussion, I would like to invite your attention to his Episcopal Staff. As you can see in the picture, on top of the staff there is a cross in the middle, with two snakes facing each other. We all know the what the symbol of the cross represents and can easily imagine why it is placed on the Episcopal Staff. The objective of this article is to try to explain the symbolism of the two snakes; and to understand why those two snakes are placed there.

I would like to invite you to read Numbers 21:4-9. There you can see that the people had sinned, and the were bitten by serpents and they were dying. Moses made a bronze serpent and put it upon a rod, so that everyone who is bitten by a serpent, when they looks on the bronze serpent will live. Christ himself draws the parallel between this and himself, for us in John 3: 14-15 where he says : "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." The Episcopal staff is a visual representation of Numbers 21: 4-9 and John 3:14-15 and reminds us, that "whoever believes in our Lord Jesus Christ shall have eternal life."

There is even more deeper symbolism in the Episcopal Staff.

In Numbers 21:2-9 ; we see that the serpent is both the disease and cure. The serpents caused death and looking upon the bronze serpent caused them to live. Cross is an instrument of death at the same time it is the source of eternal life, for us all. Cross is a symbol of shame where criminals find their end; but for us it is a symbol of victory over death. It is the 'snake' that ended the plague of the 'snakes' for the Israelites. It is death (death of our Lord) that crushed death. The two serpents on the Episcopal Staff points to this duality.

We see this duality in other places in the Old Testament as well. Please read Exodus 7:8-12.

Here we see Aaron cast down his rod as the Lord commanded and it turned into a serpent. The Pharaoh's sorcerers cast down their rods as well and they also turn into serpents. Then we see the serpent from Aaron's rod swallowed up the other serpents. Here also we see the serpent is used to defeat the serpent.

This also gives us context to understand '2 Corinthians 5:2' where we read: "God made Jesus Christ who knew no sin to become sin for our sake; so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God." At the Lord's command Aaron's rod became a snake so that it might swallow up the Pharaoh's snakes. Similarly Christ who was without sin, assumed the consequences of our sin—corruption and death; so that he may then swallow up (or trample down) death itself.

The very final narrative of the serpent that I would like to draw your attention to is from the Book of Genesis.

We get the picture of the serpent coiled around the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" and offering the 'forbidden fruit' of that tree, that brings death and corruption. Contrast that with the bronze serpent (Christ; based on John 3:14-15) coiled around the "Tree of Life" (the Cross) and offering the fruit of the Tree of Life (his own blood and body) that offers eternal life. Here we again see the duality of the symbolism of the serpent.

The church has placed the Holy Cross and the two serpents on the Episcopal Staff; so that when we see it, we may be reminded of this deep theology and symbolism that it represents.