Second Day of Lent

Second Day of Lent

Thursday, March 2, 2017

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

Genesis 3:15

For some reason, we seldom mention this verse in church – though it is an extremely important one to the whole Easter story!

We all know the garden story, about that place that was so perfect that its very name has come to mean a utopian existence. We say that a place is “almost like Eden,” and believer and non-believer understand what we are saying.

But into that place, Satan came and tempted first the woman and then the man to disobey the Friend who came and walked with them in the cool of the evening. And God told them, all three of them, the consequences of their actions.

We know that the way to get rid of a snake is not to grab him by the tail, or hit him in the body. The safe way to get rid of a snake is to hit him in the head. God told that Serpent, the Devil, that someone would bruise his head. There must be an antecedent for he, but there is none. Who is going to be this bruiser?

I believe this passage refers to Jesus. Sin has occurred, and God makes first reference to the overcoming of that sin. The serpent has done this evil work of tempting the man and woman. The man and woman have yielded to the temptation. There will now always be enmity – deep seated hatred and antagonism – between the serpent and mankind. God declares that one day the serpent’s head will be bruised – that is he will be destroyed by a Man. That’s Good Friday. Easter follows.

Prayer: Thank you, Father for realizing even in the early days of creation that we were in big trouble. Thank you for Jesus, our Overcomer of that trouble! Amen

And He Set His Face toward Jerusalem. . . .

A Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2007,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator