Plenty of Paw Paw

During an excursion along the Maury River last Friday, we lit upon a whole "orchard" of wild paw paw trees. The fruit has a pleasant mango/papaya-like flavor. Yet, interestingly enough, it seems to be unappealing to both the mammal and insect kingdoms: not a specimen of it had been touched! We decided at once to load our canoe with as many pieces of fruit as it could hold. Clambering ashore, Robby, Martina and I tossed fruit at Paul while he did his best to catch and deposit them in the boat. Despite the lost samples which floated downstream, we ended up with a fair amount. Even after parceling some off to my parents, Martina, and Robby, we maintained 12 pounds for ourselves (about 80 individual pieces). Now we are enjoying paw paws for breakfast. And paw paws for lunch. And paw paws for supper. This morning, I ate ten. You know, I'm starting to think that if I were a wild animal living on the banks of the Maury, I wouldn't eat paw paw either...

The Son of Man

Studying Hebrew and Greek has really opened up the scriptures to me in a whole new way. So many little, linguistic nuances are lost during translation, and it's amazing to discover these ancient details for the first time. This week, I was blessed with a discovery relating to the term, "the son of man." Jesus uses this title repeatedly in the New Testament to refer to himself. Why does he choose to say "the son of man" instead of "the son of God"? Although I cannot claim all-encompassing knowledge regarding this point, one linguistic detail came to my attention while I was pondering the question: in Hebrew, the word for "man" and the word for "Adam" are used interchangeably. By identifying himself as "the son of man/Adam", Jesus was reminding his Jewish listeners to hearken back to God's promise in the Garden of Eden. "And there shall be enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. And He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." (Gen. 3:15) As "the son of man/Adam", Jesus was the long-looked-for Messiah, the one who had come to bruise the serpent's head.