Sometimes it’s the smallest of things that hurt the most. Brushing a hand along a page and getting a paper cut, feeling its sting whenever you flex your finger. Grabbing onto a piece of wood only for it to give you a splinter, leaving you sore and swollen with the possibility of infection. Hearing an unkind word from a friend that ruins your day or perhaps even ruins that relationship.

Reaching for a beautiful rose to only be pricked by a thorn.

These are all little things, but they all can leave us in significant pain, whether physical or emotional. When Adam and Eve took a bite of that forbidden fruit in the Garden, it probably seemed like such a small thing to them. After all, it was just a piece of fruit. It appeared to be delicious, something that would appease both their physical hunger and their thirst for knowledge. But their seemingly small act of disobedience brought the Fall, affecting the entire world and everything in it.

Thorns and Thistles

It took just one bite. One bite of fruit, and those first humans instantly knew what they had done was wrong. They tried to hide (Genesis 3:10). They tried to cover themselves (Genesis 3:7). But that wasn’t enough to escape the notice of the God they had just sinned against. One bite, and everything changed. It was a seemingly small act, but it carried very big consequences. In that moment, they became sinners and spiritually dead, and they could no longer stand in the presence of their holy and righteous God. They were banished from the Garden of Eden, no longer able to access the free fruit from its trees (Genesis 3:22-24). Instead, finding food to eat would require hard labor.

God emphasized to Adam how difficult it would be to grow, cultivate, and harvest their food from then on. The ground was cursed, and the process of getting food from that ground would cause sweat and pain. The land would provide the sustenance they needed, but it would also bring forth thorns and thistles (Genesis 3:17-19). Man would have to work hard, certainly harder than anything Adam or Eve had done up to that point, and it all would eventually end in their death.

Yet, even on this day, arguably the darkest day in the history of the world, there was a glimmer of hope—hope that this burden and pain would not last forever. Another man would come, a seed of the woman, who would crush the head of the serpent who had tempted them, who would defeat sin and death and save them from their sin (Genesis 3:15).

Caught in a Thicket

This promised man, this prophesied Savior did not arrive immediately. But mankind certainly wasted no time giving into the sinful natures they inherited from Adam. In the decades and centuries following the Fall, humans engaged in the most wicked and deplorable acts imaginable, their hearts and minds becoming so corrupt that God flooded the entire earth, only preserving a handful of righteous people to rebuild the population (Genesis 6). Even after that, human beings openly defied their Creator, seeking power that wasn’t theirs to have and making gods of themselves, so God dispersed them and confused their languages (Genesis 11:1-9).

Despite the utter sinfulness of man, God chose to create a nation, a people who would be set apart from the world and worship Him. To do so, He called Abram, a righteous man who lived in Ur (Genesis 12:1-3). Now, Abram was an old man, and his wife had been barren throughout their entire marriage. It seemed preposterous that they could have a child, let alone that an entire nation could come from their bloodline (Genesis 18:11-14). But the Lord was faithful to keep His promises, and they indeed bore a son, whom they named Isaac (Genesis 21:1-2).

Then, God did something unexpected. After giving Abram (now known as Abraham) the child he had so longed for, the Lord tested the righteous man’s faith, commanding him to sacrifice his only son (Genesis 22:2). Trusting in God’s faithfulness and thinking that perhaps his son would be resurrected (Hebrews 11:19), Abraham obeyed and traveled to the mountains of Moriah for the sacrifice. But before Abraham could strike Isaac, God stopped him, acknowledging his great faith and providing a substitute—a ram caught in a thicket (Genesis 22:11-13). In the same thorns and thistles that were a symptom of the sin and death that entered the world came an escape from death, a salvation, a reminder that there is still hope for us.

Crown of Thorns

Centuries later, that hope finally came in the form of a human babe, born in Bethlehem and wrapped in swaddling clothes (Luke 2:11-12). But this was no ordinary Hebrew child. This was Jesus, the Christ, the promised Savior of old, the one who would crush the serpent’s head, the only Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:16, John 3:16). He grew up like any other boy except for one major difference—He was sinless. He never sinned, not once. He was completely unaffected and unmarred by the sin of Adam (2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:22, Hebrews 4:15).

And it was because of this complete sinlessness that Jesus was able to accomplish the mission He was sent to do (Luke 19:10). Like the ram caught in the thicket that acted as a substitute for Isaac, Jesus would act as our substitute (Romans 5:6-11). The rightful punishment for our sinful rebellion against our Creator is death, but Jesus would die in our place to save us and that we might escape the death we deserve (Romans 6:23). Despite never having done anything wrong in His entire life, Jesus was executed on a Roman cross, a crown of thorns upon His head, and He died (John 19:1-30).

But that was not the end! On the third day after His brutal death, Jesus reversed the curse and rose from the grave, defeating sin and death, crushing the head of that ancient snake, and restoring our broken fellowship with the God who created us (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 54-57). And He ascended to heaven, to the right hand of His Father (Luke 24:50-51, Ephesians 1:20), promising to prepare a place for us (John 14:3) and to return to make all things new (Revelation 21:5), to destroy this earth that was broken by sin and to usher in a new earth, a new Eden where there will be no more sin, no more sorrow, no more death (Revelation 21:4).

Jesus was pierced for our transgressions so that we may not be. This world is full of thorns and thistles, hardships and calamities that are a result of our human depravity. But Jesus came as our ram in the thicket to bring us salvation and spiritual healing, and He is coming again soon to cleanse the world and rid it of all unrighteousness. If you have not repented of your sin and believed in Jesus as your Savior and substitute, consider doing so today and let Jesus take away all your iniquity.

“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5, ESV