2. Gott schenkt den Menschen das Paradies

Then God planted a garden in Eden. He caused many kinds of trees to grow. It was good to see them and their fruit was delicious. In the middle of the garden grew the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
God brought the man he had made into the garden, so that Adam might cultivate and look after it. He said to the man: You may eat the fruit of all the trees in the garden. It is only the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil that you may not eat. If you eat its fruit, you will have to die.
God did not want the man to remain alone. So God brought all the animals and birds to Adam and he gave them their names. However, he did not find one that was really suited to him. So God made the man fall into a deep sleep. He took one of Adam’s ribs and formed it into a woman. When Adam saw her, he said: She is as I am. Let her name be woman, because she was taken from me. The man and the woman were naked. But they felt no shame in front of each other. (Gen 2)

5. Noah and the great flood

God saw that the men he had created in his image were growing more and more evil in their thoughts and deeds. The earth was full of violence. So God regretted having made man. He said: I will wipe the men I have created from the face of the earth; the men, the animals and everything living on earth.
Noah had remained faithful to God. So God wanted to save him from the coming judgement. God said to Noah: Make an ark out of wood, that can float on water like a big ship. Then I will send a mighty flood over the earth. All living things will perish in the water. Only you and those with you in the ark will be saved.
Noah began to build an ark with his sons, just as God had said. They built many rooms in the ship because God had told them to take one pair of every kind of animal with them. When the ark was ready, Noah ga-thered supplies. Then he boarded the ark with his sons and their families. They took one pair of each kind of animal with them. God himself closed the door behind them.
Then it began to rain. Water poured down from heaven and flooded the earth. It rose higher and higher. The animals drowned – and the men also. The birds found no tree to perch on. Thus all living things on earth drowned. Only Noah and those with him in the ark survived the flood.
Finally, after forty long days, the rain stopped. When the water began to go down, Noah first let out a raven. It soon returned to him. Then, a week later, he released a dove. It also returned. Finally, a second dove, which Noah let fly a week later, brought an olive branch back to the ark in its beak. Soon after, God said to Noah: Now you can come out. You and all who were saved with you. They came out of the ark. The men and the animals. A new life began for all of them. Noah thanked God and offered him a sacrifice.
God spoke to Noah: I will establish my Covenant for you, for the men and the animals. You and your children can live under this Covenant. I also promise that I will never again send a flood to destroy life on earth. (Gen 6 - 9)

The people of Israel wandered through the desert from one stopping-place to another. During the third month they were camped on Mount Sinai. Moses climbed up the mountain to God. God commanded him: Say this to the people of Israel: You have seen that I am mightier than the Egyptians. I have carried you here on eagle’s wings. If you listen to what I say and keep my Covenant, then you will become a people that is closer to me than all the other peoples. But you must belong to me like priests who are ready to serve me. You are a chosen, holy people. When Moses came down from the mountain and told the people what God had commanded, they all shouted with one voice: We are ready! We want to do all that God has said. We want to live as he wishes us to. On Sinai God gave his people commandments. They are for all people and for all time. All who are faithful to God will see that God is faithful to them. God said: I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.



1. You shall have no gods except me. You shall not make any images of God. You shall serve none except me.
2. You shall not utter God’s name to misuse it.
3. Remember the seventh day and keep it holy. No one shall work on that day.
4. Honour your father and your mother.
5. You shall not murder.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not say anything untrue about your fellow man.
9. You shall not covet another man’s wife.
10. You shall not covet another person’s goods.

Moses carved the commandments that God had given his people onto two tablets of stone. He laid these tablets in the sacred Ark of the Covenant. They are the pledge of the Covenant which God has made with his people, Israel. (Ex 19 - 20)

At that time the Emperor Augustus ruled in Rome. He issued the order: All men living in my empire shall register their names on a list; each in the place from which his family comes. So Joseph took Mary and set out from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the home city of the family of David. There Mary gave birth to a son, her first-born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room at the inn. Near Bethlehem there were shepherds, guarding their sheep. God’s messenger came to them. They were bathed in his shining brightness. The shepherds were very afraid. But the angel said: Do not fear. I bring you and the whole people a great joy: Today in the city of David the Saviour has been born; he is the Lord. You will recognise him thus: a child, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Suddenly there was a vast throng of angels on the field. They praised God and cried out: In heaven jubilant songs are sung to God and on earth men have peace because God loves them. Then the shepherds were alone again. They said to one another: Come, let us go to Bethlehem and see what has happened there. They hurried there and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. They saw for themselves and passed on to others what God had told them about this child. Everyone who heard them was astonished. Mary, however, kept all these things in her heart and pondered on them. The shepherds returned to their flocks. They sang hymns of praise and thanked God for everything they had heard and seen. When the child was eight days old he was given the name that Gabriel had announced: Jesus – meaning ‘God saves’. (Lk 2, 1-21)

John, the son of the priest Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth, lived in the desert. When God called him to be his messenger, he went to a place near the Jordan river and said to the people: Mend your ways! Change your lives! Be baptised in the Jordan so that God will forgive your guilt. It was as the prophet Isaiah had written: A voice cries in the wilderness: Prepare a way for the Lord, make a straight path for God. Every valley shall be raised, every mountain and hill shall be levelled. What is crooked shall be made straight and what is rough, smooth. And all mankind shall see God’s gift of salvation. (Is 40, 35) Many people came to John at the Jordan. They requested baptism and asked: What should we do? John said: Whoever has two cloaks should give one to someone who has none. Whoever has enough to eat should share with the hungry. To the tax-collectors he said: Do not demand more than is stipulated. And to the soldiers: Do not plunder, do not blackmail and be content with your pay. Many thought that John was the Messiah, the Saviour. But John said to them: I am baptising you only with water. After me there will come One who is mightier than I. I am not worthy to undo his sandal straps. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with the fire of judgement. (Lk 3, 1-18)

During the meal Jesus showed his disciples how much he loved them – and how they should love one another. Jesus stood up and tied a towel around his waist. Then he filled a basin with water and began to wash the feet of his disciples. Simon Peter did not want to accept this service. He protested: You, Lord, want to wash my feet? Jesus replied: Only later will you understand what I am doing to you today. Peter held him off: You shall never wash my feet. But Jesus said: If I do not do this service for you, you do not belong to me. Then Peter said: Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and head. Later, when Jesus was again sitting at the table, he said: Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord. And you are right in doing so. I am your Lord and Teacher. And so, just as I have washed your feet, you also should serve one another and wash one another’s feet. I have given you an example. Love one another! You should love one another as I have loved you. That must be how you are recognised: If you love one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples. The greatest love is when a man dies for hisfriends. You are my friends. Do as I ask. Jesus said: I will not be with you much longer. But do not be afraid. Believe in God and believe in me. I am going to the Father. There I will prepare a place for you. Then I will come again and take you with me. You will be with me for ever. I will ask the Father to send you a mighty helper, the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of Truth. He will remind you of everything I have told you. (Jn 13 - 15)

Jesus carried his cross out of the city to a hill called Golgotha. There they nailed him to the cross. Two criminals had been sentenced with him. Their crosses stood to the left and to the right of Jesus’ cross. Pilate had an inscription placed at the top of Jesus’ cross. It read: This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. The chief priests were annoyed at this and said to Pilate: Change the inscription so that it reads: He claimed to be the King of the Jews. But Pilate was adamant: What I have written remains written.
Four women stood at the foot of Jesus’ cross: his mother, his mother’s sister, the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. The disciple whom Jesus loved stood near his mother. When Jesus saw his mother, he said to her: From now on he is your son. And to the disciple he said: From now on she is your mother. From that time on the disciple took Mary to his own home and cared for her.
Jesus now knew that he had accomplished everything. He said: It is accomplished. Then he bowed his head and died. (Jn 19, 17-30)