Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
(Genesis 2:4b-9.15-17; Mark 7:14-23)
Today’s first reading presents the mysterious “tree of
the knowledge of good and evil.” It stands in the middle of the garden – at the
center of human existence. It is unlike
any of the other trees in that God has specifically warned not to eat its fruit. Eating it will cause death.
“Knowledge” here is more than intellectual knowing. Rather knowledge is the often painful process
of learning by experience. It is our experience of fire or of
rejection. The Lord wants to spare Adam
this bitter process. Because He has
given Adam plenty to live on, He tells Adam not to eat of the fruit. Of course, Adam with the help of his soon to
be created partner will reject this good advice. They will freely choose to disobey God’s
command in pursuit of experiential knowledge.
Their action will indeed introduce death into creation.
Humans have developed beyond Adam’s primitive state. We have searched for knowledge in a trillion
ways. The knowledge has brought us some
good like machines to relieve us of back-breaking labor. It has also brought us anxiety and war. There are still prohibitions established by
God both in nature and revelation for our welfare. We are not to kill. We are not to exploit the poor and the weak. When we
violate these commands, we can expect a fate more gruesome than death.
