Mary Consoles Eve

This past Sunday, Pastor Joel explained that as a part of our celebration of Advent we have some artwork that corresponds with each candle lighting reading. The art was created by a painter named Scott Erickson. 

I thought it would be a good idea to take a closer look at my favorite painting from the series as our devotional today, because I think it points out aspects of the story of Advent in ways that we don’t typically think about.

This painting is called motherhood and features Eve after the fall, as indicated by the apple with a bite taken out and the snake wrapped around her leg. It also features a very pregnant Mary, putting her hand on Eve’s shoulder in consolation, as well as standing on the head of the snake.

Here’s what I love about the image—it tells the story of Advent perfectly. Advent is all about waiting for the Messiah to come and break the curse. The first reference to the Messiah in the entirety of Scripture is in Genesis 3, where God says to the serpent that there will be enmity between the woman and the snake and their offspring, and that eventually Eve’s offspring will crush the serpent. Eve’s offspring is Jesus. This image does an excellent job of drawing out that Christological reference in Genesis.

I also find it very profound the scripture passage that the painter chose to pair with this image. It is a recitation of the curse that happened as a result of Eve’s disobedience. Pain in childbirth. It’s almost like in the image Mary is consoling Eve because she knows she’s carrying the one who will break the curse that Eve brought into the world, but Eve is holding Mary’s belly because she knows the pain she’s going to experience in labor. It really is profound imagining what the interaction between these two would have been like when they met in eternity.

I’ll leave you with one final thought. Jesus came into the world to break the power of the curse through the very effects of that same curse. This is the incarnation. Jesus became like us in every way except sin. In fact his first experience as human was a visceral experience of the very curse he came to break. I find that comforting. Not only is Jesus the mighty risen and ascended Lord, but he is imminent, personal, and knows what it’s like to be human. That seems like Good News to me.