Christ and the Snake of the Garden

I mentioned the connection of Christ to the serpent as a warning to the followers of YHWH not to find solace in the man of Jesus.  I also touched on the idea that Jesus was the Messiah promised, but rejected the earthly kingdom because he knew something greater.

To Christian mythology, the Serpent is synonymous with Satan.  So jealous at the new humans, Satan in the guise of the Serpent, convinced Eve to commit sin against God by eating the forbidden fruit.

In some (gnostic) mythology, the Serpent in the garden which tempted Eve is the same as the Logos of the "true God."  The mythology says that humanity was enslaved by the Craftman, or YHWH, and that the Word descended and removed the ignorance of the first couple by offering gnosis in the sense of the fruit.  Genesis 3:5: "'For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'"



The sin of eating the fruit was death.  Genesis 2:17: "(B)ut you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die."  The snake assured Eve that she would not die.  Genesis 3:4: "'You will not certainly die,' the serpent said to the woman."  To the gnostic, the knowledge and wisdom gained (Genesis 3:6: "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.") meant that Eve and Adam, and whoever had this knowledge, [i]couldn't[/i] "die."  Their bodies by wither away, but they would have done that to begin with.  Instead, when they're dead, they would be taken to the upper Heaven.

Apologists say that humanity only accepted death because of this sin.  That Adam and Eve didn't die immediately wasn't a falsehood from God, but rather that it meant we would eventually die.  But the curse from YWHW never mentions we would die because of this.  Life would be pain now, sure, but not death.  There is a mention of death in Genesis 3:19: "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."  It doesn't say that death is a result from the eating of the fruit.

Instead, we read later that there is worry we would eventually live forever.  Genesis 3:22: "And the Lord God said, 'The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.'"  It is clear that we were never designed to live forever but our ignorance prevented us from eating the Fruit of Life.  Now that we weren't ignorant, it was worrisome that we might eat of the fruit.  YHWH did not want us to be like him (or "them").  Se were to be servants.  Not equals.

To the apologist, Jesus is the new and real Tree of Life.  This is never connected in the Bible, but it could make sense from an Orthodox viewpoint.  The question would arise why YHWH said man must not be allowed to take and eat, but then decide suddenly it was okay for man to eat after all.  The connection takes a leap that reason won't allow.

But is Christ, or the Logos, the snake?  I don't think so.  Too many times, Jesus quotes from the Torah and Tanakh.  He was even reluctant to help the Gentiles for a while, until he eventually saw they were coming to him.  He wanted to help the Jews, the ones who stuck dogmatically to the Craftman the most.  Matthew 9:12: "On hearing this, Jesus said, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.'"  It may not seem like the answer was to the Pharisee who asked the question (an assumption that the Pharisee was "healthy") but the answer was about all of Israel.  The Greeks and Romans had ways to God.  The Hindus and the Buddhist had liberation.  It was those who were "chosen" by YHWH that clung to him the most that needed the bindings removed.  John 10:16: "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd."  Eventually he was to reach out, but first he needed to help Israel.

What does that have to do with quoting the Torah and Tanakh?  He was teaching them as they knew.  He was showing them the progression from YHWH to God on high.  Matthew 5:38-39: "'You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.'"  Matthew 5:43-44: "'You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.'"  He took the Torah, saw the good inside of it, and brought in more light for it.  He saw the dark in it, and filled it with light.

So was the Logos also the Serpent?  I don't think so.  Matthew 7:15: "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves."  Wasn't that what the serpent was?  The Word came to bring us to the true God because of our suffering; our suffering from a god full of justice but not of love.  A god who exaggerates the punishment for a crime in gross proportions.  If Eve had never eaten of that fruit, it is possible the Word would have never come.  It may not needed to.