Lenten blog | March 8, 2024

Adam reversed

Throughout the year, the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ reproduces the Daily Lectionary for use by churches.  These are the suggested readings for March 8th:  Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22; Daniel 12:5-13; and Ephesians 1:7-14.  I would encourage you to read these short selections as part of your Lenten practice.

On this Lenten Friday, the lectionary leads us to one of the most hope-filled biblical passages about the cross in all the New Testament.  Ephesians 1:10 is the basis for the theology called Recapitulation.  The biblical myth of Adam’s fall postulates that God’s creation began perfectly good and holy, and then Eve and Adam fell prey to the temptation of “you will be like God.” (Genesis 3:5)  This is the idea that is found at the base of all sinfulness, that we are in a position to replace the Divine.  It is the epitome of hubris.  As humanity’s mythical first parents, their sin and its consequent punishment are passed on through all generations.  We suffer the limitations of the human condition and the separation of no longer proverbially walking with God in Eden’s paradise (Genesis 3:8) because of Adam’s fall.

Ephesians is a New Testament writing that scholars term Deutero-Pauline.  This means that it was composed by someone within the Pauline orbit of churches, and that it was highly influenced by Paul’s authentic writings (Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians and Philemon).  However, it is a second (Deutero) telling of Paul’s first writings. Its date of composition is after Paul’s lifetime.
In Romans 5:12-21, Paul sets forth his theology that Jesus is the second Adam.  Whereas Adam brought sin and thus death into the world, Jesus reverses the consequences of Adam’s fall:  “For just as by the one man’s [Adam’s] disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s [Jesus’] obedience the many will be made righteous.” (5:19)  Jesus’ obedience culminates at the cross.

The unknown author of Ephesians picks-up this thought in today’s passage.  Adam’s single offense has ongoing effect, but as Paul writes in Romans, Jesus’ single offering of the cross has even greater effect.  Jesus clears the way for humanity and creation to return to the perfection of our original creation.  Ephesians carries this thought forward:  “With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”  The Greek word for “to gather up” (ἀνακεφαλαιώσασθαι) was translated into the Vulgate’s Latin as “to recapitulate,” and thus the theological terminology based on this passage.

The early Christian writer Justin Martyr saw in this passage the revealed promise that in the fullness of time Jesus’ perfect sacrifice, God’s perfect sacrifice, would of necessity be fulfilled.  In Christ crucified, God will “gather up all things.”  Justin could not fathom that God’s will could be left unfulfilled or even partially fulfilled.  Jesus’ cross grants us “redemption” and “the forgiveness of our trespasses,” and this means all of us.  Therefore, even if it requires the “fullness of time,” the finite nature of the human transgression must cede to the infinite nature of the divine redemption.  God’s will to “gather up all things” cannot be thwarted by our trying to play God (Genesis 3:5).  We will all see eventually the blessing of life with God.  The original perfection will be restored.  We will walk with God in paradise (Genesis 3:8).

The cross in Paul, Deutero-Pauline Ephesians, and the early Christian writers such as Justin Martyr saw the cross in a positive light.  This does not deny the cruel reality of Jesus’ suffering and death, but the result of that perfect sacrifice on Golgotha is the perfection of salvation in Christ.  The cross is the beginning of boundless hope.  On this Lenten Friday, may we think and pray with this idea of the hope that Jesus makes real when He loves us enough to endure the cross.
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If you’d like, here is the link to the Southern New England Conference’s daily reading schedule:  www.sneucc.org/lectionary.