THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC

II SUNDAY OF LENT - Genesis 22:1-2,9-13,15-18

This Sunday’s first reading is about the sacrifice of Isaac, presented as a test of the faith of Abraham.

A test of faith

As a test of faith, this passage brings to mind the story of Job. Both Abraham and Job were “blameless and upright”, fearing God and staying away from evil (Job 1:1); and both of them were very rich. God had indeed filled them with blessings. And a question could be asked: Were they truly faithful or their faithfulness was due to enjoying a good and easy life? Wouldn’t they turn against God, once touched by suffering? And so they were put to test to find out how good and faithful they were. In both cases, the test is either set up by God himself (in Abraham’s case) or is allowed by God (in Job’s case).

Being tested is a feature of human life, and all of us are tested time and again in all kinds of circumstances. Some are easy tests, while others seem impossible to overcome. However, it is in the tests that we reveal the genuineness of our attitudes towards others and towards God.

A test of faith, like the one Abraham went through, makes us feel as if walking in darkness, guided only by obedience to God’s word. Abraham obeyed, as he had obeyed before, when ordered to leave his family and his country and to go into a foreign land; but this time, God’s demand would sound like madness, putting in jeopardy his future and causing to see the Promise as a lie. In spite of that, Abraham obeyed, although with a heavy and troubled heart, as it is well manifest in the journey made in silence.

The law of the firstborn

We must remember that, according to God’s Law, human sacrifice was strictly forbidden (Lev 20:2-5), even though sometimes the Israelites did it imitating the practice of the neighbouring nations. But God claimed for himself all the firstborn. And the Law, as presented in the books of Exodus and Numbers, is very clear about that:

“The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me.” (Ex 22:29) 

“All that first opens the womb is mine”. “All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem.” (Ex 34:19-20).

In the book of Numbers, we are told that God took the Levites as substitutes for the firstborn:

“I hereby accept the Levites from among the Israelites as substitutes for all the firstborn that open the womb among the Israelites. The Levites shall be mine, for all the firstborn are mine; when I killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both human and animal; they shall be mine. I am the Lord.” (Num 3:12-13, 41)

The Levites were set aside for God and consecrated to him, and so they dedicated themselves to the work of the Lord. Besides taking the Levites as substitutes for the firstborn, we are told as well that they should be redeemed.

The firstborn of a cow, of a sheep or a goat should be offered in sacrifice to God. Instead, the firstborn of a human being should be redeemed. And that was the procedure followed with Jesus. He was taken to the Temple, built on mount Moriah, and consecrated to God, being then redeemed by a sacrifice offered in his place (Lk 2:24). 

The story of the sacrifice of Isaac is like a graphical explanation of this law of the firstborn, who belongs to God and must be offered to God, but then is redeemed by a sacrifice offered in his name. And God provided Abraham with a ram to be offered in place of Isaac. And Abraham, understanding that God is the one who provides, called the place “The Lord will provide” (Gn 22:14).

Isaac accepted to be offered in sacrifice

The sacrifice of Isaac comes to remind us that we belong to God and that He has a claim on us. He does not need our blood to be shed, but he wants to receive the whole of our lives and all that we are; our hearts, our minds and our souls belong to him, and we cannot give them to anything or anybody else.

Isaac was well aware of that, and he accepted to follow his father and then allowed himself to be bound and put on the altar of the sacrifice. His willingness and his acceptance to be offered in sacrifice is seen in the fact that he did not offered resistance nor did he run away. In this, Isaac prefigures Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who offered his life in sacrifice.

Your children are not your children

The story of the sacrifice of Isaac comes to remind all of us that the children, although coming through their parents, do not belong to them. In this respect, it came to my mind a passage of The Prophet by Khalil Gibran:

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thougts,

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

Abraham was forced to learn that the hard way, and the same happens with all parents. In the end, the children belong to God.