Four People, One Murder, and a Lot of Irony

I keep saying, “The world’s gotten so violent.” Then I remember I’m wrong.

Humans have always been violent. Always.

Remember Cain and Abel? Population: four.

Number three kills number four. That’s right—four people.

Four! And already somebody’s lying in the dirt while someone else’s hands are bloody.

Think about that. The world didn’t need video games, reality TV, or the internet to be violent.

Just one brother, one field, and a bad attitude were enough. And here we are, eight billion people later, complaining about “kids these days.”

The irony tastes like burnt toast and coffee this morning. We act surprised, don’t we?

“Who could’ve seen this coming?”

But God, apparently, had a sense of humor. He’s standing there in Genesis 4, shaking His head, saying, “I warned you about sin, but did anyone listen? Nooo…”

Here’s the kicker–Cain whines about being punished, acting like God is being unfair.

“My punishment is too great!” he says.

Really? You just killed your brother!

I half expect Abel to roll his eyes from the grave. The world’s first murderer—and already whining about consequences, and we call this civilization.

We like to tell ourselves things are different now. Wars, mass shootings, social media beefs—it’s all worse than it used to be.

Maybe. But it’s not new.

We’re just getting better at broadcasting it. Cain didn’t have Instagram, thank goodness, otherwise, he’d be trending: #SiblingProblems #FieldLife.

Irony isn’t limited to crime, though. It’s in us, too.

We see violence in the world and sigh, thinking, “If only people were more peaceful.”

Meanwhile, we hoard anger, gossip behind screens, and plot revenge over nonsense like the way someone parked in the wrong spot. The world hasn’t gotten more violent—we’ve just perfected the art of noticing it.

And yet. Even here, in all this irony, there’s grace.

God didn’t strike Cain dead. Nope. He marks him for protection, promising that no one will kill him.

A murderer, marked for mercy.

How’s that for irony? The first human crime, and God invents a witness protection program.

That’s the point, really. Faith allows us to see the absurdity without despairing.

It lets us laugh at the ridiculousness of it all—while still taking sin seriously. It reminds us that violence is old, but mercy is eternal. That hatred and jealousy are as predictable as sunrise, but forgiveness is even more unstoppable.

So next time we say, “The world’s so violent,” maybe we should pause and smile a little. Four people, first murder, first brotherly feud, first case of human stubbornness—and God was already at work, showing us the bigger picture.

The world hasn’t changed. People haven’t changed.

But Jesus did. And that makes all the difference.

Cain killed Abel. Yes. But grace keeps killing sin, and mercy keeps winning.

And the rest of us? Well, we get to live in the ironic, messy, beautiful middle, hoping a little and laughing a little while we try not to murder anyone over the last slice of pizza.