Bible Text: Genesis 3:1-7, Matthew 4:1-11 | Preacher: Rev. Jenn Geddes |
Now that I have lived on the West Coast for nearly 11 years I have adjusted fairly well to the seasons on this island. I expect rainy winters and I anticipate dry summers. It is a rather strange place to live where there are floods in January and fires in August. As someone who has tried their hand at gardening this is all too familiar too. We go from lush greens, even super soaked soil, to dried up browns, with dry dusty soil, in about a 4 month period. Right now we are in the midst of boasting about all of our spring flowers coming so much earlier than the rest of Canada but I know that come July I will be hand watering my garden every day for fear that I will loose what little crops I have tried to grow. Gardens and deserts are a part of west coast living. Today’s passages contrast a lush garden and desolate desert. Yet, what we will find is that while growth happens in both, transformation takes place in the wild.
I think when many of us hear the story of the temptation in the Garden of Eden we are brought back to an image from our Sunday School days of Adam and Eve standing by a single tree, the serpent wound up around the trunk, an apple in Eve’s hand and twigs or leaves placed in appropriate places. Like Lucas Cranach The Elder’s painting from 1526 (PICTURE ON SLIDE). Despite the fact that Cranach was a very close friend of Martin Luther’s I would argue that there a few deeply theological and even anthropological inaccuracies in this painting. For example, what we didn’t hear in our reading this morning is that there were in fact two trees, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as well as every other tree you can imagine. These two vital trees are referenced in Genesis 2:9. God did not say they could not eat the fruit of the tree of life but warns them that eating of the tree of knowledge would bring death. You see, both of these trees represent that which can only be God’s, immortality and morality. God allows humanity to eat from one of the two trees, as well as all the other fruit bearing trees in the garden, but not both. Adam and Eve have an abundance of fruits to pick from. Yet, every parent knows, the one sure fire way to ensure a child does something they shouldn’t is by telling them they can’t.
But this isn’t just about a painting this is also about the pre-conceived notions we tend to have about this story. This story is often called, “The Fall of Man” or the “Original Sin”, for centuries theologians and thinkers have interpreted this story using that language but do you know what words do not appear at all in this text? Sin, punishment, disobedience or fall, nor does the name of the serpent, its just a snake. Speaking of which, when the serpent tempts Eve it is tempting her to be like God. And because both the tree of life and the tree of knowledge are God’s alone when they choose to eat from the one tree they loose the right to the other. As a result, according to this creation parable, humanity looses the ability to have eternal life in the garden but gains access to ethical awareness. Many would argue that it is indeed our conscience rather than instinct that separates us from the rest of God’s creation.
However, here’s the thing that really nags at me about this story. If we gained access to ethical awareness shouldn’t we be better people? I can think of a whole bunch of situations in which clearly people are self-serving, self-centred, self-involved, power hungry and greedy and I’m not just talking about certain politicians. I not only see it everyday but admittedly I live it everyday, consistently balancing whether an action will benefit me or not. By trying to play God we lost both the access to life in this abundant garden and our ability to be moral. We are often tempted, not by snakes, but by power or money or success.
By contrasting the story of the Garden of Eden with the story of Jesus’ temptation in the desert we learn both a lot more about what temptation truly is and who Jesus truly is. In fact the word “temptation” in the Gospel passage does not mean what we often think about when we think of temptation. When I am tempted it often means that I have been lured into eating, drinking, or doing something that will weaken me-the kind of temptation referred to in the Garden of Eden. However the Greek word in the Gospel passage is peirazein and it literally means “to be tested.” Often when we are “put to the test” it is not meant to weaken us but to strengthen us and that is certainly the case for Jesus. For this reason I like to use the term tested when talking about Jesus’ temptation.
Jesus is tested three times. First he is tested with regards to physical needs. He is hungry and the devil, who is certainly named in this story, encourages him to turn the stones into bread. Jesus passes this test by placing God above everything else. We talked a few weeks ago about fasting and I mentioned that the purpose of fasting was to ensure that God, not food or anything else, was the focal point of our lives. Jesus essentially says the same by implying that true satisfaction comes not from bread but from complete reliance on God. In the second test the devil tried to get Jesus to prove himself by performing a miracle and Jesus successfully passes this test by again placing God first stating that God should not be tested. The last test is different, in that the first two were about miracles, either stone into bread or falling from a pinnacle without getting hurt but this time the devil offers Jesus all the earthly kingdoms so long as the devil is worshipped. Once again Jesus passes the test by clearly stating that only God is worthy of worship.
Before I come back to the images of the garden and the desert I want to point out something important. In the story of Jesus’ testing the opening verse and the closing verse are vital. The passages begins with, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness.” The passage closes with “and suddenly angels came and waited on him.” The entire time that Jesus was tested he did not do it alone. He went equipped with God’s resources. In all of our desert experiences we do not do it alone.
In both of these stories we hear about temptation yet, here is what matters to us west coasters who know about rainy winters and arid summers. The garden of Eden is described as a place of abundance. This is a lush garden in which you can eat the bounty directly from the trees. Whereas the desert is barren and the land is parched. And yet, it is in the garden, in this place of abundance that Adam and Eve give in to temptation- regardless of the fact that they can have every fruit available to them except one- they want that one, they want more. Yet in the desert, where there is nothing, where the land is desolate and dried up, Jesus is able to pass each test by holding tight to God and by being transformed.
The word Comox literally means, “Land of Plenty”, we have a taste of the garden here. However, I would argue that throughout North America and most of the Northern Hemisphere we deal with abundance and yet this is the place where churches are in decline, where self-serving attitudes are ripe, where fewer and fewer people are dependent on God and instead try to play God. Sometimes in our abundance we only want more. Sometimes we need those desert experiences to bring us closer to what really matters. We might live in the land of plenty but we are parched for God. May we consume some of that bread of life and cup of grace so that we too can pass our tests and turn to God whether we are in a lush garden or a desolate desert. Amen