OT: Genesis 3:1-15

Reading:
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.  And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?  And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.  And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Commentary:
This reading is beneficial for the first Sunday in the Church Year, in that we see and are reminded of the source and origin of all sin and evil in this world.  This is the fall of mankind into sin by our first parents, Adam and Eve.  "All mankind fell in Adam's fall."  Here is the original sin, which then becomes the seat or source of all actual sin.  What is original sin?  Our catechism explains, "Original sin (inherited sin) is the TOTAL corruption of our whole human nature."  Further "Man by nature is without true fear, love, and trust in God.  He is without righteousness, is inclined only to evil, and is spiritually blind, dead, and an enemy of God."  Thus when Adam and Eve yielded to the devil's temptation, they by their own free will plunged themselves into spiritual darkness which is bondage of the will.  Sin brought them into slavery, and the judgment of eternal death.  Thus we should not take lightly the gracious coming of Christ to Adam and Eve after the fall.  He came in mercy to restore spiritual life to Adam and Eve by the promise of the "Seed of the woman".  This Seed which would crush the serpents head was Christ Himself.  Galatians 3:16 proves this.  Throughout the O.T. the hope of every believing woman was to be the mother of this Seed, namely Christ the Messiah.  When Mary learned she would be the mother of Jesus she said in Luke one, "My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.  For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed."