I found the meanings of names fascinating. Discover the meaning of your, siblings, or children’s name(s) and it might generate nice table talk at your next family gathering or shed light on a particular personality trait. The same is true for names within the Bible. Each and every name in the Old and New Testament has a meaning whose knowledge of its enhances one’s ability to learn about the biblical story. For example, the name Jesus means “God saves”—this is key in understanding the purpose of the Gospels in telling us about God’s plan of salvation for mankind.  The name that I want to focus on today is Adam.

First mentioned in Genesis 2, Adam is created by God as the first human. Interestingly enough, the Hebrew word āḏām actually translated to “human or man”. This is an important point because as I will demonstrate today is that through a contextual reading of the Old and New Testaments God plan for all of humanity is salvation! There are three ways by which a contextual approach to Scriptures will show Adam as the Old Man and Jesus as the New Man.

1. Priest, Prophet, and King- Both Adam and Jesus exercise roles as priest, prophet, and king. I will briefly chart out evidence for all three of these roles and explain why Jesus is the perfect priest, prophet, and king. Regarding Adam, he is a priest because he is asked to tend the garden [which the Early Church Fathers commonly symbolically saw as a foreshadowing of the Temple]. Secondly, Adam had a prophetic role in being called to be a role model for his wife Eve. Thirdly, Adam exhibited kingly dominion over the garden [see Genesis 2:19-20]. In spite of these initial roles, the Old Man [Adam] is imperfect—he is expelled from the garden and blames his wife for eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.. On the other hand, Jesus is the perfection of the roles of priest, prophet , and king. Jesus offers the most perfect sacrifice—himself in the Eucharist offered to God the Father. Next Jesus’ message of God’s love shows him to be a prophet par excellence. Lastly, John 19 shows Jesus as a king and the last Sunday of the Liturgical Calendar celebrates the Kingship of Jesus as well!

 

2. Disobedience vs. Obedience- Paul juxtaposes the disobedience of Adam versus the perfect obedience of Jesus in Romans 5:15-19,

 But the gift is not like the transgression. For if by that one person’s transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one person Jesus Christ overflow for the many. 16And the gift is not like the result of the one person’s sinning. For after one sin there was the judgment that brought condemnation; but the gift, after many transgressions, brought acquittal. 17For if, by the transgression of one person, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one person Jesus Christ. 18In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all.^k 19For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous.^l

Through the eating of the fruit of a tree in an act of disobedience sin and death came into the world. Ironically, it is through eating of the fruit [Jesus’ body and blood in the sacrament of the Eucharist] of a tree [The wood of the Cross] that grants us salvation and the graces to overcome sin and death!

3. Eve and Mary’s Role- Another parallel between Adam and Jesus is the comparison of the major women figures in their lives. Eve fell into sin through the temptation posed by the serpent whereas Mary in Luke 1:38 accepts God’s will in being the Mother of Jesus. Moreover, there is a promise in Genesis 3:15 where the offspring of the woman will be at odds with the serpents offspring. I wrote in 3 Reasons Why God May Not Be the Devil’s Greatest Enemy in relation to this topic. I suggest reading this post for more information.

In sum, the New Testament is all about God’s plan of salvation coming to fulfillment in Jesus Christ. He is the perfect man and ushers in a new humanity through the sacramental system whereby we may become ADOPTED children of God. Though we are born to original sin and are connected to Adam at birth, God’s mercy allows us to wash away that original sin through Baptism and increase our family bond with Him through the other sacraments!