To see in order to know – this is a very human desire, a normal aspiration for human beings.
The 1st reading (Gn.2:7-9; 3:1-7) speaks about it and reveals the outcome of this natural inclination.

The result is shown in a two-fold tableau, could we say.

“The serpent said to the woman, 
‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’.”
 
“They ate… the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they realized they were naked.”
 
They acquired knowledge, yes, but not the one they were hoping for.
What they learnt was that they were not what they thought they were.
They were faced with their nakedness, that is: their emptiness, their powerlessness.
They saw so clearly all that is missing in a human being… without God.

The human being trying to do things by himself, going his way,
searching for meaning where there is none, aiming at greatness where there is only absurdity.
It is a futile attempt, that of trying to… escape God –
or to venture to know him without listening to the revelation of himself…

But it remains an ever-present temptation.

Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/1er-dimanche-du-careme-annee-a-2020/

 

Source: Image: Free Bible Images