Christian tradition holds that during Jesus’s days in the tomb, he embarked on what we today call the Harrowing of Hell. Described simply, we are asked to imagine Christ descending into the very pits of the Earth, proclaiming his Gospel to the dead and carrying them off into eternal freedom. One imagines Christ taking each of the faithfully departed by the hand, announcing the good news, and pulling them out of the netherworld. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, Daniel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, all of them.

Even Adam.

What I would give to be there at the moment when Jesus lovingly looks into the eyes of our earliest ancestor. As Paul so brilliantly shows us, these two figures are mirror images of each other in so many ways. By Adam’s sin, all fell; by Christ’s sinlessness, all were saved. On a tree of life, death came into the world; on the tree of death came life. Between these two humans is written all of history.

What does Adam see when he gazes into the eyes of his Savior? He sees a mirror image; he sees himself, transformed, uplifted, and shining in the radiance of God. His eyes are opened once again. He sees that he is naked, and that God will clothe him in the brilliance of His Love. Jesus is the New Adam, after all — Adam has been created anew.

What does Jesus see? I could not possibly know. God’s vision is so vastly beyond our own. If I had to guess, though, I imagine he sees himself, too. 

This is the great joy of the Christian story — that God and humanity meet definitively in the person of Jesus Christ. When Jesus grabs Adam by the hand, the Christian story is complete. A God who could not resist diving into the messy depths of creation has done the unthinkable. God has so thoroughly transformed humanity that even the most human of all things — death — no longer holds a grip over us. 

It is not yet Easter, though. It is Lent, a time for preparation. Christ will create us anew if we will only take him by the hand. It is time to do just that, and to grip on with everything we have. It is time to let go of anything else we’re holding — to drop everything and follow Jesus. 

Just like he did to Adam, Jesus will make you anew. Will you let him?