Yes, let's go in this direction since it seems like it might be useful.
John 3:14, Numbers 21:4-9 and 2 Kings 18:4-6.
The easiest way to put it is that what Jesus said in John 3:14 is about the story in numbers 21:4-9, which is clarified by what is recorded in 2 Kings 18:4-6.
Follow me. The story Jesus referred to is a story about the people complaining about a plague of serpents sent as a punishment that killed anyone bitten and God responding to their complaints by telling Moses to make a bronze statue of a serpent of all things for them to look at to be healed.
This is referred to as the time of testing in the wilderness.
The very first question that arose in my mind after reading this story is why would the very same God who gave the law which forbids idolatry tell Moses to give them a statue to look at for healing unless either it was a test or it was Gods way of telling them **** you or both.
The second question was how could someone who
died when bitten look at anything at all and recover unless the death and the healing was not physical in nature.
2 Kings 18:4-6 is a story about Hezekiah, coincidentally the subject of the prophecy of the young maiden with child, who 'did what was right in Gods eyes' and destroyed the statue of the serpent Moses made.
The very first thought that arose in my mind after reading this story is that if destroying the statue of the serpent was right in Gods eyes then it was always wrong to turn to it for healing.
My conclusion is that Jesus made this comparison to the serpent being lifted up because he knew that his figurative teaching presented a test on how any given person would interpret and react to it, and that he also knew that as a consequence of their failure to comprehend, made obvious by his disciples as recorded in scripture, worship involving his name would degenerate into idolatry.
And why would the same Jesus who taught that his words give life tell his disciples to 'eat this' unless, like in the story of the serpent in the wilderness, it was also a test or Jesus' way of saying **** you or both?
Also what else did Jesus have in mind when he told his disciples to pray to be spared the test if not that he hoped that they would just comprehend the right way to interpret and respond to his words without having to wonder?