Death Itself Turned Backwards
And the curse was reversed
"If a willing victim that has committed no treachery is killed in a traitor's stead, the Stone Table will crack; and even death itself would turn backwards."
C.S. Lewis, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”
Even death itself would turn backwards. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus leading up to this Easter Sunday. I’ve looked into various atonement theories and reevaluated my own beliefs once again. The cross of Jesus Christ is still at the core of my Christian faith. I still believe that his death provided forgiveness of sins for the world. But as I’ve pondered, I’ve decided that the cross is even more than that.
People struggle with the evil and torture surrounding the cross. Was this God putting his wrath on Jesus? Was this the brutality what humanity deserved because of their sin? Or was Jesus experiencing the full force of evil that entered the world when Adam and Eve chose to disobey? Was Jesus willingly taking everything evil could give and then triumphing over it?
wrote a beautiful, thought provoking article earlier this month that I’ve been mulling over all week. You can read it here.“The cross doesn’t tell the story of a God hating humanity because of our sin; it’s about God hating sin because it hurts humanity. It’s not about defeating evil humans; it’s about defeating the evil that hurts humans.”
Zach W. Lambert
What if the death and resurrection of Jesus is complicated and multifaceted? What if there isn’t just one simple answer? What if it was about more than one thing? As I’ve pondered, I’ve come to believe that yes, it was for the forgiveness of sins. And it was about overcoming evil. And also Jesus died and came back to life to reverse the original curse and defeat death once and for all. And probably there is more that I will discover along the way.
A note by
started this Easter Sunday post as I considered some parallels between Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and Jesus in his gardens during the first holy weekend. It made me think of the part in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe where Aslan explains to Lucy how he could come back to life because of a deeper magic. “Death itself would turn backwards,” Aslan says.Looking at the parallels between when sin, evil, and death entered the world compared to when their power was destroyed, I found myself teary eyed and smiling. I hope these death to life moments make you smile as well.
The parallels start simply. Adam and Eve chose to disobey God in the Garden of Eden and eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus chose to obey God as he prayed, “not my will but yours be done,” despite the agony of knowing what would happen next.
Evil personified lied to Adam and Eve. They chose to listen to the enemy’s lies, and evil freely entered the world. Jesus refused to listen to evil, rejected the lies of the enemy, and in his death and resurrection, he destroyed the power of evil.
After disobeying and eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve knew they were naked, felt the sting of shame, and hid themselves from God among the trees of the garden. Jesus hung naked on a tree, embraced the shame, and reconnected us with God.
Adam received a curse of thistles and thorns as a consequence for his disobedience. Jesus wore a crown of thorns, experienced curses from the crowd, and became a curse for us.
Adam and Even began in paradise but were forced outside of the garden because of their disobedience. Jesus was killed outside of the city and ended up in paradise. “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
God put Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and placed a barrier on the east side so that they could no long enter to eat of the tree of life. At Jesus’ death, the veil separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies tore from top to bottom. Since the temple faced east, anyone could now come all the way west into the Presence of God.
Adam and Eve began their lives walking with God in a garden. After his death, Jesus was placed in a garden tomb. Early in the morning after he rose from the dead, Jesus walked and talked with his friend Mary in the garden. New life began in a garden!
I love how God planned these parallels. I’m in awe of the way Jesus chose to come and give us life. God’s patient and loving pursuit of people who want nothing to do with him, constantly misunderstand and misrepresent him, and reject his gentle, outstretched hands amazes me.
He doesn’t give up. He is relentless. Thank you, Jesus!
Let’s celebrate this beautiful, resurrection day. Because He is risen indeed.
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Love this! Thank you. The empty tomb meant that death now works backwards. In the New Heaven and Earth, suffering does too. It returns to us as joy many times over.
I also see another parallel: Jesus first appeared to Mary whom I believe is representative of Eve who was first to eat the forbidden fruit. In this, Jesus said to all women everywhere who look to Him: the curse is reversed. In Him, there is no longer a hierarchy. As it was in the beginning, male and female, equal in authority, so it is now in the Kingdom…in the New Covenant cut and ratified by His blood.