Wednesday, April 23, 2008

I Think I'm In A Tragedy

"Now Cain rose up and killed his brother Abel." Genesis 4:8

He never knew what hit him. In regards to plot lines the hero always dies in a tragedy. There is something disturbing about this read. Abel is almost sublime. He barely emerges from the text. One might say he was "average." Like any man you might pass on the street, minding his business and following his God. Cain on the other hand is unforgettable. It is almost as if he lives now. His large form looming over his victim intent upon striking him down. Abel seem easily forgotten but Cain is a name that just doesn't want to go away.

Cain's flight was a descent away from the presence of God. His banishment further demonstration of God's repugnance of sin. And yet Cain is almost child-like. As if he fails to grasp the full implications of his actions. In a grotesque rage he mourns his own burden and has no thought for his fallen brother. As if he could wash the thought of his brother away as easily as he washed the blood off of his hands. And so sin reigned. That is the problem with this story. The hero dies and there seems to be no justice. While Cain is banished he still manages to thrive. And like the psalmist we are left to ponder, "Why do the wicked prosper?"

But that is the way of the tragedy. The hero alway dies in the end. Try as you may, there is no stopping it. It is as if any attempt to stop it only hastens it. And the more you love him the more you hate the fact that you have to turn the next page. Knowing that with each flip you bring our hero one step closer to his demise.

Maybe Cain didn't have it so good after all. He bore his guilt the rest of his days. I expect there was little rest for him in this life or the one to come. And with the turning of each page it dawns upon us that in many ways we are more like Cain than his sublime brother. Our sin has a way of haunting us. Blood stains.

We need a hero. As meek as Abel, acquainted with sin (having been bruised by it) but able to rise from the grave. A hero who can turn tragedy into triumph. His name is Jesus and he alone can save Cain. Sola Gracia -WHB