Wellness Truth # 4

Wellness Truth # 4: There is a Spiritual War all around us

Then the LORD God said to the snake: Because you have done this, cursed are you among all the animals, tame or wild; On your belly you shall crawl, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; They will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel. ^- Genesis 3:14-15

In Genesis 3:15 we hear what we call the “protoevangellium” which means the first gospel or first announcement of the good news. God shows love to His first children even after they sinned and broke relationship with Him by prophesying a future victory over evil and restoration of the grace that was lost through their decision to sin. God specifically mentions that He will put enmity and warfare between the serpent and the Woman, between the seed of the serpent and the Seed of the Woman with the victory going to the Seed of the Woman Who will crush the head of the serpent (20). Early Church Fathers such as St. Justin Martyr (155 AD) and St. Irenaeus (180AD) interpreted this prophecy as referring to JESUS as the seed of the woman and Mary the Mother of Jesus as the “Woman” God was referring to (14, 21) These these Church Fathers and the rest of the early Christian Church viewed Jesus as the New Adam (1 COR 15:21-22, Phil 2:8, Rom 5:19-20) as His obedience “even unto death on a cross” brought the human race back into the grace and friendship with God that the disobedience of the first Adam had lost. Likewise, Mary the Mother of Jesus is seen by the early Christians as the New Eve as she replies in humble obedience “be it done unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38) to the archangel Gabriel after announcing to her God’s plan of salvation “thus, the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. What the virgin Eve had bound in unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosed through faith” (14). Jesus confirms for us that His mother is the woman of Genesis 3:15 when He addresses her as “Woman” two separate times in the gospel of John. First He addresses her as “Woman” before fulfilling her request to help the newlywed couple at the start of His public ministry at the wedding feast at Cana before working His first public miracle (John 2:1-11) and again from the cross at the end of His public ministry when in the last moments of His agony He gives her to St. John (and us) as his and our mother in saying “Woman, behold your son” (John19:25-29). We see the fulfilment of God’s prophetic protoevangelium and yet another reference to the victory of Jesus over satan with Mary being identified as the woman of Genesis 3:15 and the mother of all Christians in Revelation 12:1-18.

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth. She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne. The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God, that there she might be taken care of for twelve hundred and sixty days. Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night. They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; love for life did not deter them from death. Therefore, rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them. But woe to you, earth and sea, for the Devil has come down to you in great fury, for he knows he has but a short time.” When the dragon saw that it had been thrown down to the earth, it pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she could fly to her place in the desert, where, far from the serpent, she was taken care of for a year, two years, and a half-year. The serpent, however, spewed a torrent of water out of his mouth after the woman to sweep her away with the current. But the earth helped the woman and opened its mouth and swallowed the flood that the dragon spewed out of its mouth. Then the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus. It took its position on the sand of the sea. -Revelation 12:1-18

This passage sums up well the enmity and the warfare that we have been involved in since the fall of Adam and Eve. We see the warfare between the Kingdom of God which Jesus came to proclaim (Mark 1:15) and the kingdom of darkness which is led by that “ancient serpent”. We see that the devil and his entire kingdom are defeated, but not without a warfare that continues on the earth. We see Jesus described as “destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne” is the King of this Kingdom and that Mary is not only described as the Queen of this Kingdom “with a crown of twelve stars” on her head, but she is described as a victorious Queen “clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet” and given the two wings of a great eagle which is a sign of divine assistance. It is also necessary to note that the Old Testament Davidic Kingdom set up in 1 Samuel 8:19-20 is a “type” or foreshadowing of the coming Kingdom of God where Jesus will reign forever. In that Davidic kingdom as described in the books of 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings and Proverbs 31 it is the Mother of the King who serves as Queen of the Kingdom serving the king in the roles of political advisor, military strategist and advocate for the people of the kingdom (22). This is not to say we as Catholics believe Mary is to be worshiped as a divinity equal to Jesus as is frequently misunderstood. We do however honor and reverence her as a powerful advocate and intercessor for our prayers and needs both physical and spiritual. As Queen of the Kingdom (Revelation 12:1) and Mother of all Christians she has a special authority from God to help us battle against the dragon who is angry with the Woman and “went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus.” (Revelation 12:17). As Queen of the Kingdom of God and Spiritual Mother she intercedes for us to her Son the King in the spiritual war that all humanity is involved in. Think about it, if we go straight to Jesus with our petitions in all our human sinfulness, weakness of nature and hardness or heart He may answer them or He may not. If His Mother who is victoriously and powerfully reigning with Him in heaven (Revelation 12:1) and the only human ever referred to as “full of grace” and “blessed among women” (Luke 1:28) who is closer to Him than we are and has an infinitely more powerful relationship with Him than we do comes along side us to ask for graces and favors how much more likely is He to grant them. The concept is no different from when we ask friends, family, prayer groups and tele-evangelists to pray for our needs of mind, body and soul except she has more power in the spiritual realm with her Son than we do here in the physical realm. As St. Paul says in his letter to the Hebrews 12:1 “we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” that is cheering us on in Heaven and praying to God for us to obtain strength in fighting the good fight in the spiritual battle.