The Head of the Serpent

My family recently had a scary experience in our yard. My brother was loading some items in his car and preparing to leave shortly, when he almost stepped barefoot on a snake. He saw part of a brown snake’s body, while the head and part of the snake’s body were buried in the ground. 

We thought this was a harmless snake, so we tried to move it, but then we saw the snake’s head. Lo and behold, it was a copperhead! The “Hershey kiss” pattern was plainly evident once we saw the whole snake. It coiled and hissed menacingly, rearing back its ugly head, and we jumped back in fear. 

Nobody was harmed by these events, but we were a little rattled (no snake pun intended). I realized afterwards that we did not realize what we were dealing with until we saw the head of the snake. This got me thinking, perhaps this is why Genesis 3:15 is worded the way that it is. 

After the Fall, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sin entered the world, God spoke to the serpent (who we understand to be the devil). He told the serpent that He would put enmity between him and the woman, and between his offspring and her offspring. Then God made a truly interesting declaration: “he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” 

Many Christians interpret this verse as pointing to Jesus. He is the offspring of the woman who would bruise the serpent’s head, and His heel would be bruised by this serpent. 

Sure, Satan may have bruised Jesus’ heel. When Jesus suffered and died on the cross, this was no small thing. All the sin of the world was placed on Him, even though He had done no wrong. He was tortured, mocked, and publicly humiliated. The Son of God died. But this was only the bruising of His heel, because three days later, Jesus rose from the dead, and He delivered the crushing blow to the serpent’s head. 

See, the dangerous part of a snake is its head. That’s how snakes bite. The tail and the body can be scary, but it is the head of the snake that holds the power and can inflict damage. Snakes bite and inject venom using their head. When we stumbled across that copperhead, we didn’t know what we were dealing with until we saw its head. 

Getting bruised on the heel hurts, but if a snake’s head is bruised, that’s a mortal blow. It will end the life of the snake, and that is exactly what Jesus’ resurrection did to the devil. 

When Jesus rose from the dead, He proved that He is victorious over death. He showed once and for all that He has silenced the enemies of sin, death, and Hell. Death’s sting and the grave’s victory are no longer anywhere to be found (1 Corinthians 15:55)! Though Satan may have thought he won, his “victory” was short-lived. He only bruised the heel of the Messiah, but Jesus has rendered our enemy powerless by the cross.