Protoevangelium
Good news, everyone!
Hello friends! This is Peregrino, a newsletter about the journey.
I started the “Adult Formation and Parish Leadership” program at the Kino Catechetical Institute in the Diocese of Phoenix in August. At the moment, I’m taking an introductory class on the Old Testament, and I wanted to share with you one of my assignments.
The assignment was, “Find out what the protoevangelium is and how it relates to Jesus.” Simple enough, right? Here’s what I came up with.
Right after the fall, in Genesis 3:15, God says, “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.” This Bible passage is known as the protoevangelium, the first time we hear about God’s plan of salvation. Let’s break it down, line by line.
I will put enmity between you [the snake] and the woman,
We know that Satan, as a snake, convinced Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. From this, we get that there is enmity between Satan and Mary, the new Eve. In Revelation 12:17, we read, “Then the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus,” which leads us to the following statement.
And between your seed and her seed;
The seed of Satan refers to the fallen angels and the souls who don’t keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus. The seed of the woman, Mary, is Jesus Christ. Since we’re adopted sons and daughters of God via baptism, and Jesus gave us Mary as our mother from the cross, this includes us.
He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
In 1 John 3:8, we read, “Whoever sins belongs to the devil, because the devil has sinned from the beginning. Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil.” Jesus bruises the snake’s head by conquering sin and death on the cross, and His heel being bruised refers to His passion and crucifixion.
Reflecting on this verse reminded me of the Exultet, which we hear at the Easter Vigil, “O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great a Redeemer!” We could’ve lived forever in Eden, in perfect union with God, but that is not the case. Thankfully, God works around our mistakes and fashions remedies that are even more wonderful. And that is good news, for sure.
Before you go
I have some questions for you
What do you think the tree of knowledge of good and evil looked like?
What do you think about the Exultet saying it was the sin of Adam and not Eve?
Would you like more posts like these (short and sweet class notes)?
How’s your week going so far?
Have you prayed today?
You're so smart...and handsome..