Art Reading Scripture

Earthly Paradise with Original Sin, Jan Brueghel, 1612, Dora Pamphilj Gallery, Rome, Italy

And the LORD God commanded the man (adam), "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it you shall die." Genesis 2:16-17

At first glance this painting, "Earthly Paradise with Original Sin" does not appear all that different from Brueghel's "Landscape With the Creation of the Animals." Animals in all their variety fill the foreground. A similar tree stands prominently in the center of the scene. I suggest that it represents the tree of life. Here it is the tree under which the animals gather in peace and harmony. The striking difference between the two paintings is the change from a figure appearing like God or by extension, humanity in the image of God from Genesis 1, to the distant, almost hidden figures of the man and the woman under the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Goodness, harmony, peace and life appear to us. Where we look deeper the origin of evil, division, war and death come into view. Brueghel hid the moment of sin's origin. Brueghel makes us look for it. Exposed to the knowledge of evil the man and the woman "hid themselves from the presence of the LORD."

The name of the painting draws us in. At first we read, "Earthly Paradise." It is what God intended and intends for the world he created good. For seven days God created good, with no mention of evil. Eden means pleasure and delight. Rumi says, "Oh God, in the beginning You granted my soul one drop of knowledge; please won't You allow me to connect with Your entire sea of grace?" God gave us "one drop of knowledge," to know goodness, grace and life as a gift. Knowing goodness, grace and gift in everything God made, and in companionship with one another, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil contained only one mystery, only one thing the man and the woman might not know. What is evil? The only thing that could be learned from that tree was the answer to that question. Humanity learned the answer, evil, all too well. Again, the contrast in the scene. It is not the animals of creation in the foreground living in peace that bring evil into the world. Creation is not to blame. Humanity hidden in the recesses of the painting learned evil with devastating consequences for all things and each other.

In hiddenness and hiding evil finds a safe residence. One confesses quietly. One does not announce such things, sin, guilt, how another has been hurt by our words or actions publicly. One might even hope to get away with whatever it was. If one can bury it deep enough maybe it will simply go away. The unwritten 11th Commandment remains, "Don't get caught." One might deflect the word evil, for indeed evil seems too harsh a word for these things The idea that one might be evil is repellant. One might transfer it in defensiveness, justification, and blame as another act of hiding. One hides it from ones self by attaching it to another, to circumstances, or even to a devil. In the story the man blamed the woman and the woman blamed the serpent. Some even seek to blame God for allowing the serpent to tempt or for planting a tree with this knowledge in its fruit. Evil became known. It did not remain hidden or go away. The man and the woman were exposed, naked. Perhaps the serpent who said nothing was the only honest one, neither blaming or trying to cover up. Wrong and bad, sin and division, jealousy and blame, hurt and cruelty, and so much more are extensions, the ripple effect of the knowing evil.

"Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?" Psalm 139:7 Where can I hide? God knows. We cannot hide? God is merciful. So, we confess, not defensively, or with blame, or with despair. When we confess sin, guilt, shame, wrong, failure, and take responsibility for our actions and words we do so quietly, in humility, often with bowed heads and sorrow. In prayer, in the confidentiality of the confessional, in humility we confess to God or to another the presence of evil in our lives. We do not hide. We look deep into the picture of our lives and recognize both the good and the evil, both what we have done well and how we have hurt. Confession is good for the soul. Confession leads to the goodness of forgiveness, calls us to make amends, and teaches us to resist evil when the opportunity arises again. "Gracious God, have mercy on us. We confess that we have turned from you and given ourselves into the power of sin. We are truly sorry and humbly repent. In your compassion forgive our sins, known and unknown, things we have done and things we have failed to do. Turn us again to you and uphold us by your Spirit, so that we may live and serve you in newness of life through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Keep the faith. Say your prayers. Love like Jesus.

Pastor Tim Bauer