Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, December 15, 2024
Somehow we missed it. Last month was National Pomegranate Month. I just learned this today, and since we happened to be in possession of two pomegranates, we celebrated by splitting one in half and enjoying it, seed by seed (or aril by aril, to be more precise).
I also learned that some Jewish scholars believe the fruit Eve succumbed to eating in Eden was a pomegranate. I’m not a scholar, so mine is not a carefully researched and reasoned response: I’m dubious.
Genesis 3:6 records that: “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.”
That’s why I’m dubious – a pomegranate doesn’t look all that pretty and promising from the outside, and it’s careful, messy work to slice into and extract its fruit. That’s why there’s a roll of paper towels in my photo.
But I could be wrong and those scholars could be right. Edenic pomegranates might have been quite different from the one we cautiously approached today, wearing aprons and wielding paper towels when the juice literally got out of hand. They’re a bit of work, but the glossy red fruit is worth it.
We added a ripe, juicy pear to our pomegranate feast, because a kind friend gave us an early Christmas gift of that smooth, delicious fruit. For breakfast we’d enjoyed blueberries in our steel-cut oatmeal, and later shared a persimmon, making the most of that delectable fruit in its short season. We like fruit, all kinds!
I think God chose not to tell us exactly what fruit Eve and then Adam ate because He knows us well. He knows if we can veer off on a sidetrack we’ll do it, and miss the main point. We might end up shunning that specific fruit, forever linking it to the tragic end of Paradise, while God wants us to focus on how distrusting Him led to their woeful choice.
When Paradise is restored, and we are Home at last, all trees and all fruit will be safe to touch and eat. Best of all is the Tree of Life:
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1-2 NKJV)
We need that healing, don’t we? I’m thankful that between now and then, we’re offered the gift of a different kind of fruit, that also leads to healing:
. . . the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23a)
As we step out into this brand-new week, we can ask for and receive this fruit every day; confident that it’s always in season!