Tags
Abraham, Death and resurrection of Jesus, Faith, Genesis 22:8, Holy Week, Isaac, Jesus, The binding of Isaac, Trust
Day 36
Palm Sunday / Sunday of the Passion
Genesis 22:8
Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.
What burden does Abraham carry when his son, Isaac, looks up to him and asks: “Father…the fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?” The NRSV adds an exclamation point after the word Father, as if Isaac suddenly realizes they have forgotten the lamb. But that little exclamation point adds a lot of interpretation. The question should be left in its painful starkness. It could be soft and gentle question, “what is your plan, here, Father?” It could also be a frightened one.
Child sacrifice was real in the ancient world, giving to god one’s most precious possession to ensure that god’s favor. It is real in our world, too, though the gods to whom we sacrifice our children ore typically wealth, power, and sex. Choosing an affair destroys not only your marriage but sacrifices your children. Choosing wealth or success as one’s highest good also sacrifices the well-being of your children. So we should be wary of wondering how Abraham could do such a thing. It is a troublingly human thing.
But the question must surely bring pain to Abraham’s soul. The long-awaited child, the child of decades of longing, the delight of their eyes and they hope of their future, the child embodying all God’s promises … to lay that child upon the altar… there are no words…
But God does just this when he announces to Mary that she will bear a son.
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Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘Father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’
“Here I am.” They are the same words Abraham spoke to God when God set him out on this terrible journey: “Here I am.” Abraham is present before God. And he is present before his son. As God is present before us.
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“God himself will provide the lamb.” The statement hangs uncomfortably in the air. Is it a conviction of faith or is Abraham dodging his son’s question? Does he imagine God has already provided, but dares not explain it to Isaac? Is Abraham himself frozen with fear?
Abraham’s inner life is not given to us, only this hint that Abraham walks this terrible journey not knowing the outcome but trusting that God will do something.
As does Jesus.
Abraham and Jesus, each goes forward trusting there is a purpose hidden in the goodness of God. It is remarkable faith.
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Today we begin our journey through the story of Jesus’ death in Jerusalem, through that profound mystery of sacrifice for the sake of the world, through the anguish of God’s heart, and the wondrous way God provides for us, for the world.
We come to listen, saying “Here I am.” And in the outstretched arms, we will here God saying, “Here I am.”
“God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son.”
So the two of them walked on together.
Fearful Love, Daring Mercy,
walk with us
that we may walk with you.
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Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:An_Afghan_man,_left,_holds_his_son_as_they_listen_to_a_shura_in_the_village_of_Marzak,_Paktika_province,_Afghanistan,_Nov._15,_2011_111115-A-NH920-123.jpg; SPC Jacob Kohrs, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
© David K Bonde, 2021, All rights reserved