The Innocent for the Guilty:
Adam Accuses; Jesus Forgives
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Your Son, that we who were guilty of our sins, might be forgiven and made heirs of Your Kingdom. Grant that the Holy Spirit works through the Word to humble our pride, that we might repent of our sins and cling to Christ, who alone can lead us to paradise with You. Amen.
Genesis 3:8-13
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
St. Luke 23:32-34
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with Him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on His right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Dear Fellow Redeemed,
King Solomon wrote, “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Wise words from a wise man. Although we have had over 7,000 years, we have not improved from Adam’s argument for why we sin. As soon as there was sin, there was blame and accusation. “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree, and I ate.” No personal responsibility. No regret. No remorse. Just blame. Surely, “There is nothing new under the sun.”
Adam’s response is shocking. Here we see the audacity and shameful boldness sin creates, even attacking God. The woman “whom you gave” me, she caused me to sin. Adam was clearly in no position to pass the blame. The Lord had commanded him not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The Lord had placed him as the spiritual leader of his household including teaching and defending his wife, but he failed. While it is easy for us to see how absurd it was for Adam to blame anyone one but himself, it is often more difficult to see it in ourselves.
If you have a pulse, you understand the impulse to blame others. A spouse says in a marriage confrontation, “If you wouldn’t have done that or been more considerate, I wouldn’t have done that to hurt you.” A child says to his parent, “I wouldn’t have done that if you would have listened to me!” A neighbor complains, “I wouldn’t have done that if you would just pick up your own leaves!” A politician blames the members of the other party, the citizen blames the politician… No personal responsibility. No regret. No remorse. Adam blamed the woman whom God gave him; Eve blamed the serpent, and it has continued ever since. “There is nothing new under the sun.”
When we try to show someone they are wrong, we may, even unconsciously, feel a boost in our pride. We often have secret motives. But that is not how God works. When God shows us our sins, he does it to save us. Consider the tender and fatherly way the Lord called out to Adam after they had sinned: “Where are you?” No harsh words. No attack. A simple question, giving Adam the opportunity to come forward to confess. We see this same patience from Jesus on the cross when he prays, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He was not just praying for the soldiers or the two criminals who mocked him. Jesus was praying for all people—for those who don’t recognize their sin, who fail to see the consequences that their sin deserves. God wants us to repent.
The Lenten season, especially Ash Wednesday, is a time for repentance. By nature, we try to justify our behaviors and sin. We might blame it on someone or something else and think that it is okay. The Greek word for repentance literally means, “think differently afterwards.” God causes us to see the truth, to think differently about our sins, by using the mirror of the Law. When you look in the mirror, who do you see? Yourself. God shows us that we have sinned against God. He sees all your sins, do you? Or do you choose to only see the sins others?
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (I John 1:8). The ashes on Ash Wednesday remind us that we are sinners and that the wages of sin is death. God said to Adam after he sinned: “Dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). We are acknowledging what God says about us.
Yet, God doesn’t show us our sin to push us down and leave us in despair. He shows us our sin to lead us to Jesus. We learn in the Catechism that Confession, has two parts. First, we confess our sins. Then, “We receive absolution, or forgiveness, from the pastor or confessor as from God himself, and in no way doubt, but firmly believe that our sins are thereby forgiven before God in heaven.”
At the very moment God shows us the severity of our sin, he shows us his love. The fact that it took the only begotten Son of God to pay for our sins, shows us how terrible and hopeless we were on our own. Yet, when we see Jesus on the cross, we also see the love of God—that he would suffer and die for you and me. He doesn’t blame us, he prays for us, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Consider this—at the very worst time in history, God attested his love for us. Adam and Eve fell into sin. Sin ruined creation and brought death—Adams even blames God. But what does God do? He promises the Seed of the woman, who will crush Satan’s head. What love! Jesus, the very Son of God, is beaten, mocked, and crucified. But what does he do? He prays for us. He prays for our forgiveness, showing that is exactly what he was accomplishing with his death. What love!
There should be no doubt that our sins are forgiven. Jesus accomplished it all on the cross—it is finished. Yet, as the devil tempted Eve, he still tempts us—“Did God really say that?” Do you really think he is going to forgive you? The devil always tempts us into sin and tries to make it seem like no big deal, but after we sin or are near death, he attacks us—he accuses and blames us so that we might despair and lose hope.
This is why Lent is so important. While some Christians feel uncomfortable during Lent, we all need to meditate on it. Certainly, it reminds us about the seriousness of our sin. Yet, even more importantly it points us to Jesus who has paid for our sins. The season of Lent gives us the greatest ammunition against the devil’s attacks to doubt God’s forgiveness. Jesus lived for you. He suffered for your sins. When he was on the cross, did he blame you for putting him there? No. He uses his last words to pray for us and our forgiveness. The only innocent man to ever live, pled guilty for you. You are now free. Your sins are forgiven. God the Father declares you innocent for Jesus’ sake!
Permit me to quote at length, an excerpt from Martin Luther’s commentary on Galatians. Here he gives us advice on what we should do, when the devil accuses us of our sins:
“When the devil accuses us and says, ‘You are a sinner and therefore damned,’ we should answer, ‘Because you say I am a sinner, I will be righteous and saved.’ ‘No,’ says the devil, ‘you will be damned.’ And I reply, ‘No, for I fly to Christ, who gave himself for my sins. Satan, you will not prevail against me when you try to terrify me by setting forth the greatness of my sins and try to bring me into heaviness, distrust, despair, hatred, contempt and blasphemy against God. On the contrary, when you say I am a sinner, you give me armor and weapons against yourself, so that with your own sword I may cut your throat and tread you under my feet, for Christ died for sinners. . . . As often as you object that I am a sinner, so often you remind me of the benefit of Christ my Redeemer, on whose shoulders, and not on mine, lie all my sins. So when you say I am a sinner, you do not terrify me but comfort me immeasurably.’”
You are a sinner, but you are a sinner for whom Christ died. He has taken the blame—all your guilt, your sin, every careless thought and word—to the cross. You can repent with hope. Hope of forgiveness. Hope for this life and the life to come. You are dust, but from the dust you shall arise… “And shall meet Him in the skies, death itself is transitory, I shall lift my head in glory.” Amen.