2 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. ² Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. ³ This is good and pleases God our Savior, ⁴ who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. ⁵ For,

There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. ⁶ He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone.

This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time. ⁷ And I have been chosen as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about faith and truth. I’m not exaggerating—just telling the truth.

⁸ In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy.

⁹ And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. ¹⁰ For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do.

¹¹ Women should learn quietly and submissively. ¹² I do not let women teach men or have authority over them. Let them listen quietly. ¹³ For God made Adam first, and afterward he made Eve. ¹⁴ And it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived, and sin was the result. ¹⁵ But women will be saved through childbearing, assuming they continue to live in faith, love, holiness, and modesty.

1 Timothy 2

Dear God, I have to say, this is a tough one for me, starting with verse 11. Paul was so good with women and liberating to them. Jesus was the same. That’s what makes 1 Timothy 2:11-15 really hard for me. That and the fact that I know so many women who have something to teach me. Locally, my favorite preacher I’ve heard in town is a woman. She is the associate pastor of a church, but if I ever happen to visit on a day when she is preaching it is a good thing. I like her.

And I have to say, Paul blaming Eve for the fall back in the garden seems a little harsh too. Was Adam not there? Not a part of it? I just stopped this prayer to go and grab a biblical commentary written by Gary Demarest. He leaned into the idea of supporting women in leadership and confining Paul’s words to Timothy’s specific situation where he was serving and not women overall. He used Paul’s words in support of women serving and playing a major part in Christianity in other books such as Romans and Philippians to back that up. Overall, I don’t think Paul thought we would be still reading this specific letter he was writing to Timothy 2,000 years later.

With all of that said, what is this image of Eve created by Tanja Butler and what did she see in this story that she put down through this image? Frankly, it is hard for me to make a lot out in this image.

• I see Eve with long hair cascading over her body. She appears to have not clothes, so this is “pre-fall.”
• She is looking up as if looking at the fruit in the branches of the tree.
• I see leaves and round items that I assume are the fruit she eats.
• It looks like her hands are clasped together, but I don’t think she has a piece of the fruit yet. I think she’s just eyeing it longingly.
• I’m surprised that I don’t see the serpent or Adam. I think Butler has her alone in this moment. I assume Satan has done his work and left her to sit with her temptation. Adam isn’t there to talk through it with her. It’s just her and the fruit. I’ve had that loneliness with temptation before. Just me, alone, longing to do something I shouldn’t do.

Bustard has an interesting take on the Adam and Eve story in his commentary on this passage and piece of art:

In a perfect world the only perfect and sinless woman that ever lived was fed the first lie…[ellipses his] and she bit. In the Garden of Eden, while sitting under the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Eve was tricked. On the other hand, her husband was not taken in. Adams broke the Law knowingly. And he was punished for his disobedience. But that was not the end of it. Since Adam was the representative for all of humanity, his wife and all of their children were also punished for his sin in perpetuity. Part of the punishment was that both Adam’s labor and Eve’s labor were saddled with pain. As men and women have complementary gifts, they also have complimentary cursings. yet there is hope. Paul says that even in spite of the conditions of the curse (like the dangers of childbirth), the descendants of Even and Adam will be saved–if they continue on in the faith.

Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups, page 242.

Father, I think for me and this image, what is sticking with me is the solo image of Eve struggling with temptation. As I said, I’ve been alone with temptation before, whether in my office at work thinking through options to a problem, to being at home and wanting to do things that might satisfy my own desires and/or addictions. I guess this gives me a fresh look at the words, “And lead me not unto temptation, but deliver me from evil.” I offer that to you as my prayer this morning.

I pray this through the grace you offer me in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus,

Amen