Take & Eat
/Genesis 1:3 tells the heartbreaking story of humans sinning against God.
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?’” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. ”
In an act of disobedience, Adam and Eve “took and ate.” In their selfishness, they chose to disregard God’s instruction and, as a result, sin entered the world with devastating consequences.
If the story ended here, all hope would be lost. But, God did not leave us in a place of despair.
He sent us the gift of living, breathing Hope. His son, Jesus Christ, came to bring us into a right relationship with the Father once again. After living a perfect life, Christ allowed Himself to be sacrificed in our place—taking on our sin and shame. But before doing so, He celebrated Passover with His disciples. While they ate, He used an element of the Passover Feast in a new way:
“Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat, this is my body.’”
Get this! Eve and Adam “took and ate” from the tree and Jesus used “take and eat” to represent his body and blood that would remove sin. It all comes full circle! The very same actions that humans used that caused sin and destruction (took & ate), Jesus redeemed and used as an example of freedom (take & eat).
Did your mind explode? Mine did.
May we remember: Jesus can redeem anything. He longs to forgive our sin and shame and bring us into closeness with the Father.