Daily Lectionary | Genesis 4 & John 3:1-21
These short summaries and questions are based on the Morning Prayer Scripture readings from the 2019 BCP Daily Office Lectionary.
Genesis 4
Summary
At the beginning and end of Genesis 4, we read about children born to Adam and Eve. Cain is born followed by his younger brother Abel. The Lord accepts Abel's offering of the firstborn of his flock but rejects Cain's offering from the fruit of the ground. Jealous of his brother, Cain kills Abel. After Adam and Eve's sin, the Lord asks Adam, "Where are you" (Gen. 3:9). After Cain's sin, the Lord asks, "Where is your brother?" (Gen. 4:9).
Abel's blood cries from the ground for vengeance. Like Adam, Cain will experience a curse of the ground in his work, and like Adam he will be exiled farther away, east of Eden, but with God's gracious mark of protection. Cain becomes a builder of cities. While some of his descendants are noted for their musical abilities and artistic achievements, Lamech is noted for his song of violence (Gen. 4:23-24). But another son is born to Adam, Seth, who replaces Abel. Seth's line, in contrast with Cain's, introduces a people who "call upon the name of YHWH."
Reflection Questions
- Why did God reject Cain's offering and accept Abel's?
- Cain is the first builder of cities. What sorts of activities are associated with Cain's cities? Consider the implications of the Bible's movement from garden to a garden city (Rev. 21:1-2).
John 3:1-21
Summary
Nicodemus, a chief teacher of the Jews, comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness. Nicodemus represents the Old Covenant darkness which the light of Jesus is overcoming. We're reminded, however, that Jesus came to his own but they did not receive him, and thus remained in darkness (Jn. 1:11). Jesus tells Nicodemus, a representative of dark Israel, that if wants to see the kingdom of God he must be born of water and spirit. In Jn 3:7, the "you" is plural. Jesus tells Nicodemus as a representative of Israel: "Y'all (Israel) must be born of water and spirit."
Ezekiel 36:25-27 looms in the background, a prophecy that Israel will one day be reborn, sprinkled with water and given the Spirit. The Exodus may also be seen as a new birth of God's people. They were gestated in the womb of Egypt, led through a narrow birth canal of the Red Sea, guided by the Spirit Pillar Cloud, and called the Lord's firstborn. Jesus explicitly refers to Exodus-Wilderness in saying that he will be raised up like the serpent in the wilderness (Jn. 3:14). The New Covenant, prophesied by Ezekiel, is coming to fruition through Jesus, but for those who want to see must be born through water and spirit. God is showing his love for the entire creation in sending his firstborn Son.
- How does Jesus' requirement of being born of water and the spirit relate to Christian baptism? (See Titus 3:5).
- Consider the background of the bronze serpent (Num. 24:4-9). How will Jesus' being lifting up be like the the bronze serpent raised up?
- What does it mean that God loved the world?