Adam and Eve, Abraham and Isaac and the Place called Calvary

Consider the significance of the words of Saint Jerome (342-420 A.D.) who lived not far from the time of Jesus.

“The place where our Lord was crucified is called Calvary (‘The Place of the Skull’), because the skull of the primitive man [Adam] was buried there.  So it came to pass that the second Adam, that is the blood of Christ, as it dropped from the cross, washed away the sins of the buried protoplast, the first Adam.”  Saint Jerome

Contemplate for a minute the significance of what Saint Jerome is saying.  Calvary (also referred to as Golgotha) is Latin for “the place of the skull” because the skull of Adam was buried there!  But it gets even better.

Venerable Mary of Agreda (1602-1665) who was born and lived in Spain penned the book, “The Mystical City of God”.  In it she explained how she was shown in great detail the lives of Jesus and Mary.  The book recorded all that was revealed to her.  She was hailed by the Popes of her day and shortly after she died, she was declared venerable by the Church in 1673.  In this book she recorded this incredible revelation.  While describing the crucifixion event, she recorded the following:

“Our Savior then, the new and true Isaac, the Son of the eternal Father, reached the mountain of Sacrifice, which is the same one to which his prototype and figure, Isaac, was brought by the patriarch Abraham (Gen. 22, 9).”  Venerable Mary of Agreda, “The Mystical City of God”, Chapter VIII, p. 551

To what is she referring?  Remember the story in the Old Testament of Abraham and Isaac revealed in the Book of Genesis?

“Some time afterward, God put Abraham to the test and said to him: Abraham! ‘Here I am!’ he replied. Then God said: Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There offer him up as a burnt offering on one of the heights that I will point out to you. Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey, took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac, and after cutting the wood for the burnt offering, set out for the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham caught sight of the place from a distance. Abraham said to his servants: ‘Stay here with the donkey, while the boy and I go on over there. We will worship and then come back to you.’ So Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two walked on together, Isaac spoke to his father Abraham. ‘Father!’ he said. ‘Here I am,’ he replied. Isaac continued, ‘Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?’ ’My son,’ Abraham answered, ‘God will provide the sheep for the burnt offering.’ Then the two walked on together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he bound his son Isaac, and put him on top of the wood on the altar. Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he answered. ’Do not lay your hand on the boy,’ said the angel. ‘Do not do the least thing to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you did not withhold from me your son, your only one.’” Genesis 22:1-12

God instructed Abraham to sacrifice his only beloved son, Isaac, on Mount Moriah, at a spot that God would point out to Abraham.  What do we know about Mount Moriah?  Mount Moriah is where King David’s son Solomon built the great temple about 900 years later.

“Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, which had been shown to David his father, in the place David had prepared, the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.”  2 Chronicles 3:1

What is the significance?  The events leading to Jesus being condemned to death took place in and around the great Temple, a close proximity to Calvary (about 0.4 miles), where Jesus was crucified.  So we know that we are in the same general vicinity of where God told Abraham to go to sacrifice his only beloved son, Isaac.  But take note that God instructed Abraham to perform the sacrifice “on one of the heights that I will point out to you”.  So there must have been several heights that constituted Mount Moriah.  Venerable Mary of Agreda was shown that the place where Jesus was crucified (Calvary) was indeed the very same place where God instructed Abraham to bring Isaac.  Amazing!

Also notice how Abraham places the wood of the altar on the back of Isaac.  So Isaac carries the wood for the altar up the same hill that Jesus, almost 2000 years later, carries the wood of the cross.

The Abraham and Isaac event was a foreshadowing of what God himself was going to do, namely, offer his only beloved son, Jesus, as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world and thereby prove his love for us.  In Abraham’s case, God did not permit Abraham to complete the task.  However, in God’s case, he would have to allow the sacrifice of his son to complete, thereby saving the human race.  Now we can understand why Venerable Mary of Agreda would refer to Jesus as “the new and true Isaac.”

To summarize so far, we now know that the place where the skull of Adam was buried is the same place where Abraham was told to bring Isaac, and is also the very same place where Jesus was crucified!

But it gets even better!

Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774 – 1824) had very similar experiences to that of Venerable Mary of Agreda.  She recorded in her book, “The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ” the following:

“At an immense depth below the rock which constitutes Mount Calvary (which was formed in this spot by the rolling, of the waters), I saw the tomb of Adam and Eve. The head and one rib were wanting to one of the skeletons, and the remaining head was placed within the same skeleton, to which it did not belong.”  Anne Catherine Emmerich, “The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ”, Chapter LIV, p 306

Now we see that not just the skull of Adam was buried on Mount Calvary but also bones of Eve were present there as well!  But this makes perfect sense because someone else is standing on that holy ground, someone else is standing right next to the cross, Mary!

Let us recall that Jesus is referred to as the “New Adam” and Mary as the “New Eve”.

Listen to how the Catechism of the Catholic Church in paragraph 411 makes this point clear when referring to a passage in the Book of Genesis regarding the fall of man.  For clarity, the Protoevangelium means the “First Gospel” and refers to the moment when God turns to the serpent and declares that the seed of the woman will crush his head.  This is the first indication in the Bible that a Savior will be sent.

411 The Christian tradition sees in this passage an announcement of the "New Adam" who, because he "became obedient unto death, even death on a cross", makes amends superabundantly for the disobedience, of Adam.³⁰⁵ Furthermore many Fathers and Doctors of the Church have seen the woman announced in the Protoevangelium as Mary, the mother of Christ, the "new Eve". Mary benefited first of all and uniquely from Christ's victory over sin: she was preserved from all stain of original sin and by a special grace of God committed no sin of any kind during her whole earthly life.

In addition, recall that the Church declares that Mary’s suffering was added to that of Our Lord and therefore she also bears the title “Co-Redemptrix”.

So let’s put this all together.  The tomb of Adam and Eve, the two people responsible for the fall of the human race, is located at the same place where Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac and the very same place where the human race is fully restored by the New Adam and the New Eve, the Redeemer and the Co-Redemptrix, Jesus and Mary!

It just doesn’t get more perfect than that!

The point to this entire illustration is to make crystal clear the depths that God went to bring salvation to the human race.