'The Expulsion'

It is clear that the expulsion from the garden does not remove men from God. However, eating of the forbidden tree means there exists a rivalry in judgment between men and God. So when God judges between the two brothers’ offering, Cain is placed in conflict with his own judgment, which must be that his offering is acceptable. No reason is given as to why God makes a distinction, the point being that God keeps his own council. The conflict between the judgment of Cain and that of God causes his face to fall and his anger is directed not against God but against his brother whom he murders.

The misery of men is that we cannot help but judge, we have eaten of the fruit of the knowledge of good an evil and there is no turning back. But we are also subject to judgment from others and this brings enmity between men that they have to master to avoid violence. The spread of violence in the world is marked by the overwhelming vengeance of Lamech that we find in Genesis 4:23-24:

I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain is avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold. (Genesis 4:23,24)

And finally, as the creation runs out of control, God reverses his judgment that all that he had created was good and we read that “the earth was corrupt in God’s sight” (Genesis 6:11): the fall has run its course.

While in the garden there could be no enmity between Adam and Eve because they were incapable of judging one another. However after the event that has been called “the fall” judgment of others stood close at hand and could not be controlled. The result was that violence was introduced into the world.

All conflict between men relies on judgment of the other. This is exposed as a lie when protagonists in any conflict see their opponents as fellow human beings. It is this intimacy, on which friendship is based, that recalls the intimacy of the Garden of Eden and in which we are to find our true humanity. That is why the neighbour features large in the sayings of Jesus, not as an invitation to do good works towards him but as a promise of fulfilled humanity.

The history of Israel as a history of violence and apostasy plays out the result of the fall. The enmity in the hearts of men proceeds from their ability and willingness to judge the other. At the end of this history stands one who sets the stage for the healing of human enmity and he does this by taking that enmity upon himself.

Jesus set his face towards Jerusalem, knowing that the final conflict would cost him his life. This conflict had been brewing in the three or so years of his ministry between those who judged men and women as good or evil and his acceptance of all into his fellowship. Jesus refused to judge others. This was the essence of the final conflict and he walked to Jerusalem knowing that he would be judged and killed. He bares in his own body the death promised by God to Adam and Eve. In doing so he reversed the event of the fall by exposing the judgment of men to be a lie. The judges in turn became the judged.

It was on the cross that the judgment of men was played out in all of its futility. Men saw themselves as being in righteous judgment. But for anyone with eyes to see, it is obvious that they are the ones who are judged. The message of the resurrection is that God vindicated Jesus. The one we judged has become our judge. The astounding message of Easter day is that instead of us being condemned forever for our act, we are reconciled and the way is open for peace to reign in the world. Our judgment that others are good or evil is placed under judgment and the thorn that is the irritant to violence is pulled.

When Jesus tells us to judge not, lest we be judged, he refers to the judgment we make of ourselves and others. The refusal to judge acts as good or evil would leave us in a moral wilderness. However it is a different thing to judge the perpetrators of those acts as good or evil. Even “the worst of the worst” are sons and daughters of God. All individuals, without exception, have been made in the image of God. But all individuals, without exception, are creatures who are acted upon by forces unseen which distort that image into unrecognisable shapes.

Since we do not know what is in the heart of another we can safely leave judgment of that other to God and be relieved of that burden. Likewise, we may leave judgment of ourselves to God and be relieved of an even greater burden. The proclamation that Jesus is the judge of the world is good news that sets us free and breaks the cycle of violence between men.

If we now go back to Boyd’s marvellous painting we see it in a new light. The expulsion is the final act of creation in which man comes to himself as an historical being limited by death and with the judgment of others in his heart. The event of the cross and the vindication of Jesus in the resurrection is the source of reconciliation between men because they see the fruits of their judgment and the one they judged is vindicated.

While the secular order can only rely on our desire for peace, Christians point to an historical event whose power reaches down through the ages and is active in our midst.

So peace for Christians is no ideology but an established historical entity that exists with or without our consent. This may be contrasted to all of the good intentions of the peace movement who think that all we need to do is to desire peace and peace will break out all over the world. The biblical drama tells us that our problem lies deeper than us having disordered desire. Judgment lies deep in our heart and we cannot of our own accord remove it. It takes stronger medicine, the shedding of the blood of the only true human being under our knives.