Cain and Abel story shows hope for mercy

According to the Book of Genesis, the first human born to human parents was a murderer.
Why should this book of morals and theology start human history with murder? Because there are lessons there of prime importance.
Cain is the older brother of Abel. One can imagine an older brother's jealousy, seeing his baby brother getting more attention. The younger one seems to him to be unfairly favored. Resentment grows, and it turns to bitterness and anger.
Cain is rebuked by the Creator: Be careful, Cain, to control your emotions. You have been given the freedom to choose your actions for good or for bad. It is in your power to choose wisely.
But Cain at last does not choose wisely. In anger he murders his brother. He runs off, shaken, angry, fearful. He denies his action when challenged by the Creator, responding in sullen insolence: How should I know where my brother is? Do you think I spend all my time watching over him?
Famous line
In one of the most famous lines in all literature, he asks, "Am I my brother's keeper?" To many people, this question must be answered in the affirmative. But the story itself suggests otherwise. Cain is not asking a question; he is saying, in effect, "You know I'm not Abel's watchdog, so how do you expect me to know where he is?" Cain uses this excuse to deny knowledge of his crime.
But under prodding of the Creator, consciousness of his guilt at last overtakes him. He realizes that if he's not his brother's keeper he ought to be his brother's friend, and he truly laments. In anguish he cries out: Lord, my guilt is more than I can bear. I cannot undo what I have done! I must run away, but I will be hunted down wherever I go.
Now at this climactic point the story takes a dramatic, unprecedented turn. Murder stories were told in many ancient cultures, but only here is the murder transcended. Cain turns to his Creator and pleads for mercy. He is truly heart-broken.
And because in his remorse he opens his broken heart to the Creator, mercy is granted. He is protected by a mark so that he will not be slain by the people who will come to populate the world.
The Mark of Cain is a sign of protection. It does not prevent the suffering of exile and the pain of unforgetting conscience, but it shields him from the ultimate punishment of death. His crime is not forgiven, but his life goes on.
Why is this the first story after Eden? Perhaps because it insists in the most dramatic way that we are responsible for our choices. And beyond this, because it also insists that even if we choose wrongly, as wrongly even as to commit murder, there is yet hope, beyond justice and punishment, for mercy.
Surely the story of Cain is a story of hope for ultimate redemption.
XDr. Irwin Cohen is a member of Rodef Sholem Congregation and is a retired professor of chemistry at Youngstown State University.