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Lent is a penitential season and, therefore, a season of sacrifice. We accompany Jesus in the desert and to the Cross by offering our small sacrifices, such as, giving up foods we enjoy, adding extra prayer to our daily routine, fasting, etc., for the 40 days of Lent. Sacrifice is a theme we see in the Bible. Sacrifice is a means to lead us to conform to God's will and thereby make us holy.
The story of Abraham preparing to sacrifice his son Isaac in obedience to God's command moves us to the edge of our seat until the moment when God's angel stops the slaughter. Then we feel relieved to witness a happy ending to the story.
Yet, we are left to wonder why God would put His good servant Abraham to such an extreme test. God had granted Abraham this child Isaac when he and his wife Sarah were well past the age of having children, and now God commands Abraham to offer his only son on an altar as a sacrifice. Why would God do this?
Abraham loved his son dearly. There was nothing strange in this. Any ordinary and responsible parent does the same. But, the problem was that Abraham loved his son more than he loved God. Instead of seeing God in his son, Abraham made his son into his god. Therefore, God put Abraham to the test to teach him a lesson. God wanted Abraham to realize that He must love His Maker more than even his greatest earthly treasure; that is, Abraham must love God even more than he loves his only son Isaac.
God's first commandment is, "You shall not have other gods beside me." (Ex20:3) "For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God" says the Lord. (Ex 20:5)
Jesus also said, "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." (Mt 10:37)
"No one can serve two masters...You cannot serve God and mammon." (Mt 6:24)
St. Paul calls greed as idolatry. (Col 3:5)
Abraham demonstrated that he understood the message of the test by his willingness to heed God's command. In the story, we see Abraham with his only son bound and lying on the wood that will consume his lifeless body in a blazing fire. Abraham reaches for the knife to inflict the death blow, but God's angel stops him at the last minute, "Do not lay a hand on the boy. . .Now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." (Gen 2:12)
In sending His angel to stop the sacrifice of Isaac, God teaches Abraham a second lesson. God let Abraham know that He loves Abraham even more than Abraham loves his only son, Isaac.
So, let us ask ourselves: Do we love our spouse, or our children, or our parents, or our friends, or our profession, or our belongings, or our pets, or our wealth, or anything more than we love God?
The story of Abraham and Isaac prefigures Jesus and His relationship to His Heavenly Father. God said to Abraham, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love. . .and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains..." (Gen 22:2-3) God would later in salvation history send His Only Son to be offered on the wood of a cross on a skull-shaped hill called Golgotha. How blessed are we to know The One True God and how much love He has for us is!
God's love has a wonderful explanation in the verse, Jn 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life."
Do we mean that God's love for us is more than His love for his only begotten Son, Jesus? Humanly speaking, yes, it is. How?
God did not allow Abraham to slaughter his son Isaac after Abraham had proven his obedience. Abraham also learned the lesson and he loved God more than he loved his son Isaac because he was willing to slaughter his son because God commanded him to do so.
But, God Our Heavenly Father did sacrifice his Only Son for our salvation. And, Jesus, the only Son of God, willingly offered himself on Calvary in obedience to His Father's will.
Do we listen to God? Do we listen to Jesus? Do we obey God like Abraham? Do we offer our inconveniences and sufferings "to fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ?" (Col 1:24)
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Fr. Jayaseelan Amalanathan is from Chennai, South India, now working as the Parochial Vicar for the parishes of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, Lewistown and St. Jude church, Mifflintown. Continuing the ministry of Jesus Christ for 30 years, he spent his ministry in India toward the uplift of the most deprived and marginalized people and was awarded in the year 2015, the title of 'Doctor of Divinity' (Honoris Causa) by the Academy of Ecumenical Indian Theology and Church Administration.