Cain and Abel

We are in the season of Ordinary Time! Having walked through the story of Jesus—his incarnation, birth, life and ministry, death, resurrection, ascension, and descent of his Spirit, we move into the time of year where we gather up that story and walk the path of faith.

This week we’ll pick back up with our walk through the highlights of the Old Testament.

Last week we learned about the Fall of God’s good creation in to sin and death, and the promise of God to undo all those things one day through a “son of Eve.” 

This week, however, we'll continue to follow the descent of humanity into such a sad (and evil!) state of being that led to the Noahic flood and a kind of “re-creation” of the whole of humanity.

We begin right after the Fall and its associated curses with the birth of Cain and Abel. 

Adam and Eve introduce the world to sin; Cain introduces the world to murder.

It’s as if the text itself and the speed at which the narrative moves is intended to convey how quickly things can go wrong—horribly wrong—when sin enters the picture. 

There are lots of things to say about the turn of brother against brother in the story of Cain and Abel. Perhaps the most important thing to say highlight in this setting is the way sin sets individuals against one another, some times so acutely that we seek to take for ourselves another’s God-given life.

Sin is not glamorous. It is banal, tragic, and leads only to grief. 

Scripture to consider:

• Gen. 4

  
  

Question for your kids

• I wonder: Have you ever felt jealous of a sibling or a friend? How did it make you feel?

• I wonder: What are some ways we might resist that temptation? (Hint: one answer could be to remember how God sees our sibling or friend: “very good”!)

Peace,

Danny+