This week I've been pondering the relationship between the days of creation and holy
week, and due to recent debates, I've also been thinking a bunch about the atonement, as well as going to my first easter vigil. This has all come together in a perfect storm which I will now attempt to put into words as best as I am able. Day 1: Light
This is one of the more obvious ones. On the first day of creation, our Lord spoke light into creation, banishing the darkness by His omnipotent Word. This is fulfilled in the triumphal entry, where Christ, who is both Word and Light, marches into the darkness of Jerusalem, whose hearts were hardened. This darkness in the great city of Jerusalem is also foreshadowed (pun intended) earlier when our Lord casts out demons from synagogues. Thus, we see our Lord pierce the darkness and expose evil but bring sight to the blindness of the world. Much more could be said about this, but I'll hold off since I already did a big post about the feast.
Day 2: Sea and Sky
For this one, we'll have to get a bit more creative. On this first Monday, the Lord separated the waters from the air, and on this holiest of Mondays, Christ drove out the money changers and other corrupt salesmen from the temple. We see in the creation an image of our Lord's making His space holy. Just as our Lord separated heaven from the chaotic waters, so our Lord separated His holy temple from the wickedness of the Sadducees, and in our baptism, He does this once more, condemning our old Adam to a watery grave but setting the new man apart to be His temple and dwell with Him in heavenly places.
Day 3: Land and Vegetation
On this day, our Lord separated the waters to create land and also put vegetation, specifically those with edible fruit and seeds, and on holy Tuesday, Our Lord curses a fig tree and gives His olivet discourse. Initially, forgetting the order, I had thought that the creation of vegetation happened in tandem with Maundy Thursday, since grapes and grain, the two ingredients necessary for the holy supper, would have been created this day. Instead we see the creation of vegetation mirroring the preparation for the passover and its fulfillment, the Eucharist. Just as our Lord was preparing for the institution of this sacred meal, our Lord created vegetation on this day to prepare for the creation He was going to make. This is also emphasized when He gives the parable of the wedding feast, which is related to the Eucharist. There are also other relevant symbols here to connect with this day of creation. Our Lord cursed the fig tree because it did not bear fruit like He ordained it to, and He urges us to bear fruit for the garden of God. It is also notable that our Lord gave this great discourse in a fertile mountain full of the same plants that He would have gardened on the first day, and He emphasized this with His parables of the two sons and the tenants, both of which involve vineyards as well. He also preaches heavily on the end times, so that on the same day of the week that the land was created, He prophesies its inevitable destruction and renewal.
Day 4: Heavenly Bodies
This one is also a bit creative of me, but I think that it is relevant that we don't know what Christ was doing on Wednesday, the same day He created the sun, moon, and stars. In this way, we see the mysteries hidden in the stars which are forbidden to peer too deeply into as we humbly submit to Christ and plead for God's mercy even in our human ignorance.
Day 5: Birds and Fish
Even though it may look distant at first, it's notable that our Lord instituted His supper on the same day as the creation of birds and fish. Fish is the easiest: on the same day that He instituted the Church around this unity meal of His own flesh and blood, He created the fish, which is one of the most common symbols for Christians in history. In addition, He even involved the dunking of water on the feet of the fishes that He fed with Life itself. That's not where it ends, however. We also see birds, and this is because these Christians are bound for heavenly realities and do not embrace the world but strive to depart and be with Christ until the consummation of the age. In addition, we also know that we are in the image of God, who takes the likeness of a dove at our Lord's passion and who declares peace to our neighbor and carry the wood of the cross with us wherever we go, just as Noah's dove declared peace to his family and brought with him this small piece of wood.
Day 6: Man
It is true that land animals were made on this day, but man is the pinnacle of the created world. Thus, it is fitting that it was the day that man was created on which Christ chose to lay down His life. Some church fathers (Cyril of Alexandria, if memory serves) say that Adam and Eve ate the fruit on the first day of their creation, and thus when our Lord said that "on the day that you eat of it, you shall die," He fulfilled this in Christ, who suffered death on man's behalf, taking the curse which God laid against Him on that very same day. In addition, we also see this day as the day that man was born again from the blood and water in Christ's side, so that the day man was created is the same day that we were recreated in the image of God once more.
Day 7: Rest
As many are apt to point out, Christ fulfilled this great Sabbath by resting in the tomb on the seventh day of the week. Thus God, who is Spirit, is nonetheless able to rest on the sabbath because the Word became flesh. However, I would say that there is even more to it. There was another who rested: Satan. In the parable of the strong man, our Lord tells us that Satan, the strong man, rests securely with his treasure, our very souls. However, on holy Saturday, our Lord, the stronger man, binds Him and steals the faithful as His great treasure so that we may reign with Christ in heavenly places and it may be in Him that we find rest.
Day 8: ???
This is the one that breaks the pattern. The prophets constantly tell of a new song that the Church will sing, and it is because the song which, by the Lord's will, uphold's creation, is replaced with a new one. The harmonic seven notes are fulfilled by the eigth, which is the day of our Lord's resurrection, the eternal life with God in the mansions of the new heavens and the new earth. Oh may we come to see that day by the grace of God.
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