Jesus, the New Adam
- Leah Brix
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
He Is Risen! Alleluia!
At the Easter Vigil last night, we proclaimed,
"O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the Death of Christ!
O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!"
Jesus is often referred to as the New Adam. Where Adam’s disobedience brought sin and death into our world, Jesus’ obedience and death brought forgiveness and life back.
Sometimes we think about spiritual things abstractly, but the relationship between Jesus and Adam is tangible, although often unthought of.
I wanted to take some time this Easter morning to highlight the parallels and their actual relationship to help us better understand our reason for rejoicing!
When God first created Adam, He cast him into a deep sleep. Then He opened his side and took a rib to form Eve- the mother of all the living.
Jesus tasted the sleep of death on the cross. The lance opened his side, and blood and water flowed forth, and the Second Eve—Holy Mother Church, the new mother of all the living—was formed.
When Jesus was tempted, as in the desert or the Garden of Olives, he resisted.
Adam did not resist and ate of the forbidden fruit.
These parallels are interesting to ponder.
The nerd in me is also fascinated by the significance of the physical location of events between the old and New Adams.
According to Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, Jesus spent His night in Gethsemane in a rock grotto, away from His disciples.
In her vision, she saw that this same grotto was the same place where Adam and Eve took refuge when they were driven out of Paradise after the fall. It was here that they wept and mourned everything that they had lost.
Catherine also saw that Adam and Eve were buried under Mount Calvary, under an immense depth of rocks. In fact, the cross of Jesus was placed vertically over Adam's skull.
Even before her vivid images of Jesus’ life, the Church has held this belief, which is why you often see a skull buried under the crucifix in Sacred Art.
We have looked at some parallels and significant locations, but I want to touch on my absolute favorite moment to meditate upon. The Bible doesn’t give us any details about what exactly Jesus did, but Tradition has always taught that His soul went down into the underworld and greeted the prophets and those faithful people who were waiting for His coming.
In her visions, Anne Catherine Emmerich describes the moment when Jesus finds Adam and Eve in a dark corner of Limbo. He speaks to them, and they prostrate themselves and adore Him in a perfect ecstasy of joy.
Isn’t that a wonderful thing to meditate upon? What did Jesus say to them? What emotions were they experiencing?
God sacrificed His only Son to ransom us, poor slaves. We are unworthy of such a great gift, yet He offers us His mercy and love anyway.
This Easter, I encourage you to spend a few minutes in silence, reflecting on this holiest of days and thanking Jesus for His heroic sacrifice and love.
Until next time, your sister in Christ,
Leah
*The greatest possible way for us to give thanks to God is by going to Mass.
*The visions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich are private revelations, so not approved by the Church. But we are free to read them and reflect upon them if we believe that they can help us grow spiritually. The source I used came from her book The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
