Abraham, our Father of Faith, joins us on this holy and solemn day. There is an event in his life, that prefigured what would happen 2,000 years later to another begotten Son who walked with His Father along the same path.
"God tested Abraham." And we could ask God, "Hasn't this poor man being tested enough?" He left his homeland and family, he wandered through deserts in search of a land that was promised to him but never delivered, he agonized twenty-five years while waiting for a son... And he always obeyed God. What more does he need to prove? Yet God tested Abraham.
Don't we feel that way sometimes? It seems like God is always testing us. Sometimes life gets so difficult that we feel that God doesn't love us. We feel that He has abandoned us. But nothing can be further from the truth. God has tremendous plans for us. The problem is that we cannot see the big picture. We are stuck in the immediate problem and we can't see beyond it. We need to submit our troubles to God and in trust and obedience, He will open the floodgates of heaven to us.
How will Abraham respond to this cruel request from God? Abraham responds "Here I am." He lets God know that he is ready to obey. Abraham could have responded with a simple "No, thank you." Abraham was free to choose. This made his "Yes" to God more meaningful. And it reminds us of another "YES" 2,000 years later that would change the world.
Abraham was completely submissive to the will of God and Isaac was completely docile to his father's wishes. He willingly allows himself to be tied and placed on the altar. This prefigures Jesus submission. Jesus willingly obeys the will of the Father and submits himself to the crucifixion. God asks Abraham to go to the land of Moriah. I think it's important to point out that Jesus was crucified on Mt. Moriah 2,000 years later. In this same place, two fathers offered up their beloved sons as sacrifices. But one son was spared while the other was not.
Another important parallel between these two events is that Isaac carries the wood for the burnt offering and Christ also carries His own cross. Abraham took Isaac and laid him upon the wood. Jesus was nailed to the wood of the cross. Once Isaac was spared, God provided a lamb. Jesus, the true sacrificial lamb, will eventually be sacrificed on this same mountain for all of us.
Abraham, on this Good Friday, teaches us about faith and obedience. If we have faith and we are obedient to whatever God asks of us, nothing can separate us from God's love. He will never abandon us. He loves us so much that He sacrificed His beloved Son for each and everyone of us.
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