Rev. Charles Lehmann + Judica + Genesis 22:1-14
In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.
I pray that none of us are ever tested in the way that Abraham was, but it
could happen. From time to time the Lord lays impossible burdens of pain upon
those who love Him. God had promised to Abraham that through Isaac He would
bless all the nations of the world. Now, with Isaac just a young boy, God has
demanded that Abraham do an unthinkable thing. He has asked for the life of
Abraham's only son.
We don't know exactly what was going through Abraham's mind when He heard
the Lord's command, but we do know one thing from the book of Hebrews. We know
that Abraham firmly believed that if his son Isaac was slain that God would
raise him from the dead. We know that Abraham's hope was in the Lord's
promise. We know that Abraham confessed the resurrection of the dead and the
life of the world to come.
I once heard a pastor tell a story about his organist. The organist was a
devout Lutheran and had served at a cathedral in a country that the Soviets
occupied after World War II. After being marched into the street this man was
commanded to either deny Christ or watch his wife and children die. His family
was steadfast. They told him to remain faithful to Christ. “We'll be with
Jesus,” they said. And so the man was faithful to Jesus and also to His wife
and children. He refused to deny His Savior, and the soldiers killed his
family in front of him. They let him go free.
The organist eventually made his way to London, where he was organist for
the pastor who told me the story. Others from the church in Eastern Europe had
witnessed the death of the man's family. The organist never spoke of it, but
his friends wanted their pastor to know what he had suffered.
Scenes like this one have played themselves out for thousands of years.
The church has been stained with the blood of Christians many times. But there
are two events that are different. They bring into focus how great the love of
God is and how firmly we may trust His promises.
The first is today's Old Testament reading. It is not a Russian soldier
who is demanding the life of Abraham's son. It's God. That makes everything
different. This story shocks us less than it did Abraham. We know how it
turned out. We know that Isaac was never really in any danger. Either Abraham
was going to disobey God or God was going to spare Isaac at the last moment.
But Abraham didn't know what we know. All he had was the promise of God
and the hope of the resurrection. He couldn't see either of these things when
he was packing for the journey. He had to take God's word on them. Doubt
could easily have crept in. And even if you knew he would be raised from the
dead, how easy would it be for you to plunge a knife through the heart of your
son?
Moses understood how heart wrenching this event was. He gave us every
detail he could to heighten the suspense and to bring our fear to a razor sharp
point. On the first morning, before even leaving, Abraham cuts the wood and
packs for the journey. With every strike of ax to timber Abraham knew that
this was the wood that would burn the dead body of his son.
Then came the journey. Three days that were probably filled with Isaac
asking questions like, “Where are we going, dad? How much further is it? What
are we going to do when we get there?” Then, at the base of Moriah, Isaac's
most piercing question, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb
for a burnt offering?” Isaac knows they are going to offer a sacrifice. The
wood is there. The flint and iron are there. He's probably even seen his
father's knife. But there's no lamb. Where is the lamb?
Abraham's words reveal much. He says, “God will provide for himself the
lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” Isaac probably missed the full meaning of
his father's words, but Abraham is saying that he is going to do just what God
had commanded. He says, “The Lord will provide the lamb for the burnt
offering... my son.” It is as if Abraham is saying, “The lamb is already here,
my son. You are the lamb.”
Abraham's words were prophetic, but he didn't understand them. He thought
that Isaac would be the Lamb. He might have even thought that his son was to
be the final sacrifice whose death would atone for all of our sins. Abraham's
Easter hope might have been mixed with a full measure of the grief of Good
Friday. But Isaac was not the Lamb. Isaac, like the ram which was sacrificed
that day, pointed forward to the Lamb. Jesus, not Isaac, is the Lamb of God
who takes away the sins of the world.
But as we read the story, we don't know yet that it ends in the cross.
Moses continues to give us painstaking detail. Abraham builds an altar. He
arranges the wood. During all this time Isaac might very well be asking,
“Where is the lamb, my father? Where is the lamb?” Finally, everything is
ready except for preparing the sacrifice itself. Abraham binds his son and
places him on the wood. He picks up the knife and raises it over Isaac's
throat. Isaac will be dead in a moment, unless God intervenes. And He does.
But only at the very last moment does the Lord spare Abraham's son.
The angel of the Lord calls to Abraham from heaven and says, “Do not lay
your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God,
seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
At this time we see a ram with his horns caught in a thicket. The one who
dies in Isaac's place has thorns on his head. This is not a throwaway detail.
The Holy Spirit doesn't include words just for fun. The ram points forward to
the Lamb. The ram points forward to the crucified one, the one who will wear a
crown of thorns. When He dies, Jesus, the Lamb of God is the one to whom both
Isaac and the ram point.
I said a few minutes ago that there are two events that bring into focus
God's love for us. The first is today's Old Testament reading. The second is
the cross. The first story ends in joyful relief. God is not demanding
Isaac's life after all. Abraham is commended because he has not withheld his
“son, [his] only son from [God.]”
The second story is different. It doesn't end with Jesus being spared.
Though Jesus lives, He did die. The second story leads to the blood of the
cross. The Lord said through Zechariah, “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
against the man who stands next to me. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will
be scattered.” When God the Father raised the knife to slay His Son, He did
not stop until Jesus' holy precious blood had been shed. The Lord spared
Abraham the horror of slaying his son, but He did not spare Himself. In the
fullness of time God sent His Son, born of a virgin. He was the Lamb of God
who was in His very nature God. He was the sacrifice prophesied by Abraham.
And on a Friday afternoon on the mountain of the Lord, when it was time for the
Lamb to be slain, the Father Himself killed His Son Jesus Christ to win
salvation for the whole world. On the mountain of the Lord it was provided.
When death touches us it is easy to think that God is far away. It is easy
to say, “A good God would not allow my loved one to die. A good God would have
saved their life.” If the Lord demanded that we give up our son, it would be
hard to obey. It would be hard to trust that God was doing what was best for
us and what was best for our child. But we have the same promises that Abraham
had and more. We know that the Lord will always work all things for the good
of those who love Him. We know also that if you are in Christ, death can't
kill you.
Christ's grave is empty. He is risen never to die again. This wonderful
fact is a foretaste of what will happen for you on the last day. When the Lord
returns, He will empty every grave. All will rise, and those who died in the
holy ark of the Church will live with Him forever in the New Jerusalem.
We need not fear. There is nothing that we suffer that Jesus has not
suffered already. The mercy that the Lord showed to Isaac is a picture of the
mercy He has shown you. Jesus never deserved the death that we deserve, but He
died it. We do not deserve the eternal life that we live, but we live it. It
has pleased the Father to afflict the Son. He was crushed for your
transgressions. He was bruised for your iniquities. You are forgiven. You
are free. You will live.
In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and
minds in faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Rev. Charles R. Lehmann
Pastor, Saint John's Lutheran Church, Accident, MD
http://www.stjohncove.org
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