Human Nature and Why we need Jesus - January 14

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 119:1-24; PM Psalm 12, 13, 14; Gen. 4:1-16; Heb. 2:11-18; John 1:(29-34)35-42

When we began writing these daily reflections six years ago, I found Holy Scripture to be essential in helping me make sense of what it means to be faithful in a world that was changing so rapidly. We started this as soon as the pandemic began in 2020 as a way of remaining connected to people when we couldn’t gather in person.  As it feels like our world continues to unravel, it is still Scripture that gives me hope—and perhaps some historical perspective—about what it means to be human and what it means to be faithful.

Today’s Old Testament lesson comes from the fourth chapter of Genesis, the story of Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel are the first two children in the Bible, the sons of Adam and Eve. Cain harbors resentment toward Abel, takes him into a field, and murders him. This story is not meant to be a literal or historical account of how creation began—after all, if Cain and Abel are only the second generation of humans, where do all the other people come from when Cain wanders the earth? Rather, it is a story about human nature.

The plight of being human is the struggle to live with one another—to live in harmony with our brothers and sisters within this shared human family. As a child, and even as a young adult, I struggled with the story of Cain and Abel. Why would our Scriptures begin with such violence? The answer, I believe, is because it tells the truth about who we are—and why the way of Jesus Christ is so radical. It is why the parable of the Good Samaritan is so powerful, when Jesus essentially says that the people you are tempted to despise are precisely the ones you are called to care for, love, and nurture.

Our Christian identity is to be transformed from the way of sin and death into the way of life. That transformation comes when we choose to care for, love, and support one another—choices that run counter to our tribal instincts of fear and self-preservation. Cain could not make that choice. And, if we are honest, we are still struggling to do so.

I share all of this because, at least for me, when I feel distressed by the ways we treat one another, it helps to know that there is a long human history behind it. We have always wrestled with these same impulses. And it reminds me why our faith matters so deeply: it points us toward the way of life and salvation. In Jesus Christ, we are given a road map—one that leads us beyond violence, resentment, and fear, and toward love.

Thanks be to God.

Faithfully,
John+

Question for Self-Reflection: What resentment or comparison might I be carrying, and how is it shaping the way I see others?