did God really say?

Genesis 3


Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

 ² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

 ⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

***

The fascinating thing about Genesis 3 is the things it doesn't say.  When it comes to the serpent (or snake) we are told no more than it is one of the wild animals that God had made.  This can make us feel a bit uncomfortable, shifting in our seats. What? It doesn't say the serpent was actually Satan / the devil / evil?  

All we are actually told about the serpent is that he was the craftiest, of all those wild animals that Adam had previously names.  Out of that whole procession, he was the smartest and the sneakiest.  It's much later when a  link to the devil is made - that ancient serpent of Revelation 20, that great deceiver whose destiny is to be eventually thrown down. 

There are lots of different ideas about what the serpent /snake symbolises, but I'm not going to go into them all here.  

What the serpent does is cast doubt, firstly on what God says: Did God really say?  Did God actually say?  

Well, actually, Mr Snake, no - he didn't say they couldn't eat from any of the trees. Just one in particular.  

The serpent puts God in a negative light from the first, making him out to be one big kill joy.  What he says isn't actually true, but it can still plant something, a negative feeling, in the listener.

The woman replies, setting him straight, but she seems to embellish what God said.  From 'do not eat' she seems to have added 'do not touch'.  Is this an accurate report, intended to qualify God's instructions within this story?  Or is the woman really adding an extra command to God's original?  Is she over-compensating in front of her questioner, trying to fend him off?

The serpent lashes out by grasping at the last part - you will not certainly die, he tells her.  In fact, he implies, it's all a big conspiracy to keep you from knowing what God knows, to stop you being like him.  

But, he implies, slyly, if you ate the fruit, you would be like him.

What is the knowledge of good and evil?  Is it simply knowing right from wrong? That doesn't seem to make sense; it has to be more than that, surely.  Is it some kind of higher wisdom which belongs to God alone?  Does it represent a source of knowledge other than God? Is it the 'evil' aspect which is the reason for the prohibition? We're not told this either.  But although the Tree of Life is an idea that crosses culture, this other Genesis tree of the knowledge of good and evil is unique in ancient literature, as far as we can tell.  

This tree holds something humanity is not qualified to have. What is the qualification?  Oh, don't we wish the theology could be spelt out properly!! But remember God's own explanation - if you eat it, you shall die.  There seems to be a protective element here, the parental 'don't do that, you'll hurt yourself'.

But the serpent says: 'Pish.  He's just saying it so you won't eat it and be like him.'  It's God's character, his goodness, that is cast into shadow by the serpent.  He undermines God's motives and his concern and makes God out to be the one who is self seeking.  The serpent has the audacity to say that he knows what God is thinking.

There are so many tangents that could be taken here; which character to focus on, which attribute to examine?  These are just some of my ramblings, but there are many other things that could be discussed...and have been I'm sure, by people much better at it than me (thank goodness!).

if you are the Son of God

Luke 4: 1-13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."
Jesus answered, "It is written: 'People do not live on bread alone.' "
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.
If you worship me, it will all be yours."
Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.
"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
Jesus answered, "It is said: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' "

When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

What strikes me particularly about this passage and that which comes before it, is that twice the devil says, 'if you are the Son of God' (italics mine). In the previous passages, Jesus as Son of God has been traced genealogically, but is also declared publicly, at his baptism, by God the Father himself. It's as if the devil takes what has been affirmed about Jesus and throws it back at him, somewhat scathingly.

Oh, so you are the Son of God, are you? Prove it.

I hear an echo too, of Matthew's account of Jesus at his darkest hour: "Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!" (Matt 27:40b)

In Luke's account:
'The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One." ' (Luke 23:35).

So much of all this is caught up with Jesus' identity. ''Who do you say I am?'' he asks Peter (Mark 8:29).

Back to the passage in question. The devil uses various means of temptation, even quoting scripture himself (showing how scripture can be abused when taken out of context). Jesus responds with scripture himself.

Jesus is hungry. If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.
Tell this stone. If you are the Son of God, it should obey you.
The devil prompts him to satisfy his hunger, but also to prove himself.

If you worship me, it will all be yours.
The devil prompts Jesus to change his allegiance completely - no longer 'Son of God' but with a completely different master. The devil shows him everything. But Jesus refuses.

The final test. If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
The temptation to prove his identity, to others and himself.
It puts me in mind of superheroes, wanting to test out what they can do. Can I really fly? How far can I push myself?

But Jesus would not be testing himself, but God. He responds: do not put the Lord your God to the test.

And this isn't a random event. The Holy Spirit takes him into this wilderness, for 40 days (like Israel's 40 years). Where Israel builds a golden calf and continually doubts the LORD and does not comprehend what it is to be his people, Jesus passes the test. It is necessary for him to face these questions, in order to face the road ahead.


To ponder:

How often are we tempted to doubt our identity in Christ?
How would we respond to such questions?
Have there been times in our lives where a time of great affirmation is followed by one of great temptation?