Snake-Bit Savior // Rev. Matt Kennedy // Jan 19 2025

Some of the earliest lessons we learn as toddlers have to do with touching and tasting. Some things are sharp or hot: don't touch! Some things can make you sick or choke: don't put that in your mouth!It can be tempting to read the Bible's story of Eden as a simple lesson about obey rules: don't touch, don't taste (Genesis 3:2). Yet when one reads carefully and closely, we see in the stories of Genesis a much more interesting and complicated narrative that asks us to think critically about our desires and appetites for knowledge, what constitutes true wisdom, and how we respond when we are caught in disobedience.The focus of the story of "The Fall" is not just about sin and consequences, but also on God's grace and mercy. While the trespass in the garden comes with a tragic fallout, it is embedded with a hope of redemption. Humanity (Adam) is snakebit with sin and evil, but one day a descendant of Eve will take a snakebite for us (hint: think Jesus). When the snake bites the innocent one, we are not exiled from Eden but rather paradise is opened! The story of Eden is not so much a "fall from grace" but rather a "fall into grace."