Most modern Biblical scholars do not think the Genesis passage is literally about the first two human beings.

It’s okay if you do. Jesus never commands us to have any particular interpretation of this story.

The problem with taking this passage literally is that it tends toward a very simple understanding of what it teaches. It goes like this:

God created humans perfect, like animals, without knowledge of good and evil.

But the serpent deceived Eve and tempted her to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge.

And for this reason the serpent was punished by losing its legs and having to lie on the ground.

Eve ate of the tree, and tempted Adam to eat of the tree.

And for this reason men will have power over women, and will have pain in childbirth.

Adam ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil,

and for this reason he has to work to grow food, and has to deal with weeds and thorns.

So now we know why snakes don’t have legs and why life is hard.

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Let’s go to God in prayer.

God of wisdom, may the words that I speak, and the ways they are received by each of our hearts and minds, to help us to continue to grow into the people, and the church, that you have dreamed us to be.

Amen.

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There are deeper ways to understand this passage.

For example, we know that hominids – that is, human-type creatures – once gathered food they found. In an idealized world, that would be the garden of Eden. In the real world, it’s hard to gather edible plants.

At some point humans discovered how to keep the plants with edible roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruit, so they didn’t have to go out and find them.

This was the beginning of agriculture. The great thing about agriculture is that you know exactly where to find edible plants, and it’s nearby. The not-so-great thing about agriculture is planting, weeding, and defending your food from animals. And later, as the technology allows, fertilizing and watering the plants.

So this story could also be about the beginning of agriculture. )It doesn’t really explain the talking snake.)

The story is sometimes used to explain that every human is born with sin, which is why some Christian faiths baptize infants – just in case.

Or we could read this as an illustration that those who lead people to disobedience are held responsible, as well as people who knowingly disobey, even if someone else encouraged them.

Of those three, I like the third version the best:

• The first explains suffering.
• The second is documentation of a turning point in civilization.
• But the third tells us that it’s wrong to tell people to do something wrong, and it’s wrong to do something wrong, even if someone else told us to.
  “I was just following orders” is not a defense.

In our Gospel reading, we have the story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness.

“Devil” here is translated from the Greek diabolos, meaning accuser or slanderer, and “Satan” means adversary. It’s common to think of the devil here as an evil spiritual being. The image we have for the devil, especially the tail and horns, are likely from the Greek god Pan, as the medieval Christians tried to make Pagan worship sinful.

But if you don’t believe in evil personified, that’s okay, because it doesn’t matter whether we have a person to blame or not when we do things that are wrong.

Those of you old enough to remember Flip Wilson’s Geraldine have heard “The Devil made me do it.” That’s not an excuse.

The temptations are interesting.

There’s nothing particularly sinful about making yourself some bread to eat. But the temptation here is for Jesus to use divine power for himself. And Jesus resists this temptation, saying

“One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Matthew 4:4b, NRSVue

So Jesus is taken to the pinnacle of the Holy City and tempted to throw himself down, because the angels of God would save him.

It doesn’t matter whether you believe Jesus was physically taken here, or deceived to believe he was here, or was dreaming or hallucinating after fasting in the wilderness for forty days.

What matters is that Jesus felt tempted to throw himself off the pinnacle of the temple. This is a temptation to prove his divinity by attempting to kill himself, which Jesus resists saying

“Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Matthew 4:7b, NRSVue

And then there is a temptation to fall down and worship this accuser, slanderer, and adversary, in exchange for receiving power over all of the kingdoms of the world. And Jesus resists this offer with

“Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”

Matthew 4:10b, NRSVue

So what were the temptations?

• Food – needs for survival
• Security – needs for protection
• Power – desire for control

The need for food seems the most defensible. This is the crime of Jean Valjean in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, who steals a loaf of bread.

But the temptation is for Jesus to use disproportionate divine power to do a miracle for himself. This would separate Jesus from other humans, and would cause him to not live a human life.

The temptation is to place himself above other people.

The second is a temptation for Jesus to take an action that would require disproportionate divine power from outside himself. This would separate Jesus from other humans, and would cause him to not live a human life.

The third is a temptation to turn to evil in exchange for power.

Imagine the good you could do, if only you had all this power, even if it meant some turn toward evil.

• The Dark Side of the Force in Star Wars.
• The Death Eaters in Harry Potter.

This is “the ends justify the means,” attributed to Niccolò Machiavelli who, in The Prince, wrote

“In the actions of all men… when there is no court to appeal to, one looks to the end”

A Jesuit theologian named Hermann Busenbaum wrote

“when the end is lawful, the means are also lawful.”

The problem with “The end justifies the means” is the temptation to justify increasingly problematic means with decreasingly beneficial ends.

• If I hotwire a car to get a dying person to the hospital, is that okay?
• If I steal a food truck to get a sandwich to a person who forgot to bring their lunch, is that okay?

We are living in a time when there are temptations to do things of, shall we say, questionable ethics in order to get power. We seeing people with power tempted to act cruelly to people in the name of the law. Most people are tempted to look away rather than to stand with those who are targeted.

We are also seeing people who are willing to take risks to stand for justice:

• to say that the military is not required to, and – depending on grade – may be prohibited from, executing illegal orders,
• to stand with those who are being denied due process,
• to speak out about what they see as injustice.

The people in this sanctuary today have power: not the miraculous power to turn rocks into stones, but power to affect lawmakers, to be a prophetic voice, to give time, talent, and treasure in ways that make a difference to people in need.

We can be tempted to feed ourselves, to bring powers to preserve our lives, and to seek power for ourselves; or we can be like Jesus, to defend and stand with the people who are most at risk.

One way we can do that is by giving to special offerings like today’s Week of Compassion offering from the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

So my challenge to all of us this week is to notice where we are tempted to make our choices solely on our own needs, and when we could make better choices that encompass the needs of others.

May we resist the temptation.

Amen.

Let’s sing CH 661 What Does the Lord Require of You?

* Scripture quotations marked NRSVue are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. https://www.friendshippress.org/pages/about-the-nrsvue

* Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James version of the Bible.