How the Woman saved Adam 女人如何救了亞當

How the Woman saved Adam 女人如何救了亞當

今天是「三八國際婦女節」，剛巧主持「苦路善功」，且容我根據《創世紀》的論述，默想婦女的受苦，與耶穌基督受難的異同。

天主說，「人單獨不好，我要給他造個相稱的助手」（創2:18）。很可惜，所有的譯本都把希伯來原文עֵזֶר 淡化為「助手」，其實它是「拯救」的意思。例如，梅瑟給其中一個兒子起的名字（出18:4）或梅瑟對以色列子民的祝福（申33:29）等。因此，天主並沒有為亞當造了一個家務助理或伴侶，而是一個救命恩人。讓我們細看女人如何救了亞當。

女人受到撒殫誘惑後，她也給了亞當一個「禁果」。為甚麼她要這樣做呢？【聖經】說：「女人看那棵樹實在好吃好看，令人羨慕，且能增加智慧」（創3:6a）。女人不想獨自聰明，她希望與亞當分享美好的事物。女人的第一個「拯救亞當」行動，就是把他從呆滯無知中救拔出來，可惜女人好心做了壞事。不過如果成功了，我們還會運用這個「自圓其說」的論點嗎？
當天主問亞當為甚麼吃了祂禁止他吃的果子時，亞當竟然把責任推在天主和女人身上（3:12）。女人替亞當做了罪魁禍首，這是女人第二次救了亞當。因為女人是亞當的「骨中之骨，肉中之肉」，她也分享了亞當的DNA，便把責任推到蛇的身上！恐怕這是全人類從亞當遺傳得來的求生技巧罷！

亞當埋怨天主為他造一個助手，合理嗎？當然不合理。如果婚姻的其中一個功能是生育繁殖，那為甚麼天主不簡單地複製亞當呢？犯不著為他造一個女人。複製人好像是個好主意。天主，請祢給我複製一個「郭執事二號」，讓他做所有苦差而我可以享受人生。對不起，複製人其實是一個餿主意，因為複製人會承襲「原裝正版」的所有毛病。所有的郭執事一號、二號、三號…等等，會有相同的脾氣和疾病！人單獨不好，因為亞當獨自一人不能製造新生命。 與女人合作便會產生新的生命，新的進步變成了可能。感謝女士們的能耐！

啊！親愛的女士們，妳們比男人要流更多的血汗，要做更艱辛的工作！妳們臨產時所捱受的劇痛，祇有在十字架上的耶穌基督所受的苦，纔能媲美。隨後喜樂來了。「婦女生產的時候，感到憂苦，因為時辰來到了；既生了孩子，因了喜樂再不記憶那苦楚了，因為一個人已生在世上了」（若16:21）。親愛的女士們，當耶穌談及妳們的受苦和犧牲時，祂在隱喻自己的受難和復活。男人就不能分享妳們這份尊榮了。難怪天主在《創世紀》宣布「原始福音」時，祂不提亞當，祇提女人。「我要把仇恨放在你（撒殫）和女人，你的後裔和她的後裔之間…」（創3:15）。

親愛的諸位！讓我們，不論男女老幼，跟隨女士們的榜樣，慷慨地犧牲自己，在地上建設天國，令世界成為一片更美好的樂土。亞孟。
天主保祐！

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Youtube片段：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjUx5llhqWo

This year, the International Women’s Day fell on a Friday in the Lenten Season. Thus allow me to take this opportunity to reflect on some similarities between Jesus’ Passion and women’s sufferings, based on the book of Genesis.

God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him” (Genesis 2:18). Regrettably, all translations give a water-downed rendition of the Hebrew word עֵזֶר into “helper”. No, it actually means someone who rescues or saves. For example, the name of one of Moses’ son (Exodus 18:4) and an oracle about Judah (Deuteronomy 33:7) etc. Therefore, God did not make a domestic helper or a companion for man but a saviour. Let’s take a look at how the woman saved Adam.

When the woman succumbed to the Serpent’s temptation, she gave Adam a share of the forbidden fruit. Why did she do that? “The woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom” (Genesis 3:6a). The woman did not want to be wise alone. She wanted to share the goodness with Adam. Rescuing Adam from dumbness and ignorance was her first instance to save Adam. Regrettably, as the aphorism goes, “the path to hell is littered with good intentions”. But this rationalization applies only when things turn sour! When God asked Adam why he ate the forbidden fruit, Adam passed the blame to God and the woman (3:12). The woman saved the skin of Adam, her second act of “deliverance”. Since the woman was made from Adam, she shared his DNA and passed the buck to the Serpent! Probably it is a survival skill which all humanity inherits from Adam.

Was Adam fair in blaming God for making him a helper? No, Adam was not fair. If one of the purposes of marriage is to procreate, why did not God simply clone Adam but took the trouble to make him a woman? Cloning seems to be a brilliant idea. God, clone me a Deacon Alex#2 so that he would do all the toils of homily and I could enjoy other good things. Sorry, cloning is a bad and inferior idea because the clone will suffer the same defects as the original. All the Deacon Alex#2, #3 … etc. will suffer the same characters and diseases as Deacon Alex#1 does! It is not good for Adam to be alone because Adam alone was unable to make new life! With a woman, new lives can be made and new advancements can be possible. Thank you ladies for your capability!

Alas! My ladies, you have to work extremely harder than men in blood and sweat! When you give birth, the excruciating pains you suffer in your sacrifice to give new lives are comparable to those suffered by Jesus Christ on the cross. But joy follows. “When a woman is in labour, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world” (John 16:21). My dear ladies, when Jesus was speaking about your sufferings and sacrifices, He was alluring to His Passion and Resurrection. Men are unable to share this honour of yours. No wonder when God pronounced the Proto-gospel in Genesis, He did not mention Adam but the woman, “I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman, and between your offspring and hers ...” (Genesis 3:15).

Beloved brethren! Let all of us, women and men, young and old, follow the ladies’ examples and be generous in sacrificing ourselves to bring about the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and to make our world a better place. Amen. God bless!