Original Sin and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall not eat
By Lou Occhi
After the crucifixion, the apostles were in fear for their lives. It wasn’t until they finally saw Jesus after the resurrection. Thomas was dubbed the “doubting Thomas,” but none of the apostles believed, even though Mary Magdalene told them she had seen Jesus, and they had seen the empty tomb. Still, their fear persisted until the Holy Spirit descended upon them.
I want to begin by giving thanks to Margit Baksa McCarthy for her assistance in helping me put this reflection together. In this reflection, we will examine the act of Original Sin and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil from a slightly different perspective.
Paragraph 396 of the Catholic Catechism states, “ God created man in His image, and established him in His friendship. A spiritual creature, man can live in this friendship only in free submission to God.” In Genesis 2:15-18, we are told, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God ordered the man, saying, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die’. This tree sets the limits that man must freely recognize and trust. Also, in the Garden was the Tree of Life. This tree is a symbol of eternal life and immortality and represents the life mankind would have as long as they obey and trust in God, their creator.
The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was located in the center of the Garden of Eden and was beautiful to behold. In time, man was seduced by the devil and disobeyed God’s command. All subsequent sins would be disobedience toward God and a lack of trust in His goodness (CCC 397).
As far as I can remember, I have always considered the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil to be a unique tree with an abundance of fruit. Priests, nuns, parents, and friends have always referred to the tree as such. Artist renditions of the tree also show the tree bearing fruit in abundance.
If you walk past a typical fruit tree and pick one of its many fruits, no one would ever notice that one fruit was missing. A sentence of hard labor and death seems rather harsh for picking one fruit out of many. Therefore, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was very special and must have been different in some way from all the other trees. If it were like all the other fruit trees, it would be easy to become confused and accidentally pick its fruit. Suppose that this tree, created by the Lord, is singularly perfect. It is lush, full, and beautiful to behold. Now, suppose this perfect tree produced only one perfect fruit that is very pleasing to the eye. Then, if someone should pick that fruit, it would be obvious and very sinful in the eyes of the Lord.
Adam and Eve, seduced by the devil, picked and ate the one irreplaceable fruit of the tree. As they consumed it, they crushed the flesh of the fruit and killed it. As a result of their sin, they, along with their descendants, are banished from the Garden and subject to a difficult life and eventual death. The only one who can atone for this sin is the Lord Himself. In Genesis 3:15, the Lord, in His infinite mercy, says, ”I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; They will strike at your head while you strike at their heel”. This passage is understood to be the first promise of a redeemer for fallen humankind. If we look forward in time, our Blessed Mother, Mary, is the woman in Genesis 3:15, and Jesus is the seed of Mary.
When the time came for the Messiah, the Lord sent an angel to Mary, a singularly perfect creation of the Lord, to announce that she had been chosen to bring the Messiah into the world. The angel addressed her as “Hail, Full of Grace.” The word Hail is significant because Hail is a form of salute. Hail is usually followed by a title. Examples are Hail Caesar or Hail to the Chief. In this case, Full of Grace is a title given to Mary by the Lord. In spite of many unanswered questions, she submits herself completely to the will of the Father and conceives a child.
She immediately leaves to assist her older cousin, Elizabeth, with her pregnancy. Elizabeth greets Mary, and, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, exclaims, “Blessed is the fruit of your womb”. Jesus, the fruit of Mary’s womb, like the fruit in the Garden of Eden, would eventually be crushed for our sins and hung back on a tree. Thus, we have a perfect bookend to the first era of humankind and the beginning of a new era with the gates of Heaven now reopened.
We, like Adam and Eve, sometimes succumb to temptation even though we know the consequences of sin. We repeat their sin in various fashions. The core issue and motivations are the same – you shall be like God turns into a rebellion against goodness and joining Satan, followed by a profound sense of SHAME. Only God can remedy the horrific consequences of Man’s Fall. They covered their shame with fig leaves. The fact that the Lord covered them with “skins” already indicates blood would have to be shed to cover our shame, as here, an animal is sacrificed.
We must remember that the one tempting us is no different than the one that tempted Adam, Eve, and Jesus, and is relentless in its pursuit of souls. We must remain vigilant to shield ourselves from his evil. Will we fail at times? Yes! When we do, we have to repent. No matter the sin, Jesus loves us and will forgive us if we ask with a sincere heart. Jesus justified the tax collector in the temple for his admission of guilt. St. Dismas, the good thief crucified with Jesus, shows us that we can be forgiven up to the last moment of our lives. However, it is best that we not wait until the last second.
Also, let us not forget that, like Jesus, we are called to forgive those who have transgressed against us.