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Reading 1: Genesis 2:15-17
Reading 2: Matthew 4:1-11
The stories in Genesis and Matthew are about so much more than just what happens in them, but about what happens afterwards, and what messages they still bring to us today.
Here’s my retelling of the tale of the fruit in the garden, where Eve is clearly the hero:
The LORD God put Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden to responsibly farm it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded them both, "Eat up, but not the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil or you’ll die." The man: OK. Eve rolls her eyes, but keeps her mouth shut.
Later the crafty serpent says to the woman, "What did God say about not eating this fruit here?” Eve says to the serpent, "Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it. Here’s this tree that God put right in the middle of our garden and said don’t partake or you’ll die. My first question: What’s death? And Second, why put this tree here in the first place and then tell us all this crazy stuff?
And the serpent – or perhaps it was just Eve’s inner knowledge – said, "You won’t die, but your eyes will be opened; in fact, you’ll know good and evil, just like God does!”
So this smart woman eats, and being kind and not wanting Adam to be such a dolt, she gives some to him -- and Adam said OK, chomp chomp!
And the patriarchal morality police add that not only were their eyes opened but that their nakedness was somehow shameful.
Didn’t Eve resist God in pursuit of ethics? That’s what the knowledge of good and evil is. Shouldn’t we also resist someone else’s notions of who God is and what God wants when it flies in the face of our own lived experience?
And there’s no going back. In no possible reading of scripture was Jesus’ vision of God’s reign that we all become blissfully ignorant again of the knowledge of good and evil.
Instead, Jesus resisting temptation shows us how to properly navigate the knowledge of good and evil. The devil whispers in your ears, there’s a shortcut to making bread – just deliver these drugs for me and you’ll have all the bread you need. Jesus instructs that the right answer is that doing what’s right is more important than any amount of money we might be offered.
And the devil gets more bold and says, you are invincible! You can do whatever you want and not get hurt no matter how you treat others, because you are God’s special one and the rules don’t apply to you. Jesus instructs us not to be show-offs, not to try to test God’s favoritism towards us no matter who we are.
Finally, the devil whispers in our ears, look at all this worldly power and wealth, all yours… for the cost of your soul. And Jesus exhorts us to worship God, not money, not power; but to simply be in right relationship with a God who loves you for who you are and for who you are becoming.
When we follow the Way of Jesus, the devil leaves us. And God sends angels to come and look after you.
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