WEEK FOUR
March 19 - March 25
THE GREATEST SACRIFICE
Old Testament schema continually points to the great and lasting sacrifice that Christ made for the sins of the world. The Abrahamic sacrifice, the Passover lamb, and tabernacle/temple sacrificial offerings were all prefigurements of Christ’s propitiation. Leviticus 17:11 states that “It is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” This “Lamb of God” who bled and died as an offering for all, is a powerful visual symbol, forever etched in the hearts and minds of Christ’s followers. Critics of Christianity might describe the faith as a primitive and bloody religion, but to believers the blood of Jesus is precious. This week we look at the “Sacrificial Lamb” from the Pentateuch to the book of Revelations. Author John Piper states, “Jesus became the final Priest and the final Sacrifice. Sinless, he did not offer sacrifices for himself. Immortal, he never had to be replaced. Human, he could bear human sins. Therefore he did not offer sacrifices for himself; he offered himself as the final sacrifice. There will never be a need for another.”

Day 19 - Sunday, March 19
The Abrahamic Sacrifice
Scripture: Genesis 22:1-2,6-8, & 10-13
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”  He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “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.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

Poetry:
"Faith"
by Christopher Smart
The Father of the Faithful said,
At God’s first calling, ‘Here am I’;
Let us by his example swayed,
Like him submit, like him reply,

‘Go take thy son, thine only son,
And offer him to God thy King.’
The word was given: the work begun,
‘The altar pile, the victim bring.’

But lo! Th’ angelic voice above
Bade the great patriarch stop his hands;
‘Know God is everlasting love,
And must revoke such harsh commands.’

Then let us imitate the Seer,
And tender with compliant grace
Ourselves, our souls, and children here,
Hereafter in a better place.

FAR TOO MUCH?
The story of the sacrifice of Isaac is filled with raw emotion and passion. How could God ask any parent to plunge a knife into his or her own son or daughter and then burn the body? By God’s own standards the command seems strange and foreign. He is the Lord of life, not death. His people sacrificed animals, not human beings. The sheer horror of the scene is shown in the face of Isaac as painted by Caravaggio. And the large knife in Abraham’s right hand as his left hand holds down Isaac’s head only attenuates the horrific deed about to happen.

The real terror for us is that God could really have asked Abraham to do this, even if it was only a test and even if it happened thousands of years ago. The answer to our dilemma lies in Abraham’s faith and in God’s sacrifice of his one and only Son. Abraham’s faith had grown since God first called him to leave his land and kin. Up to now he did not always wait on the Lord for his timing. To spare his own life he placed Sarah in jeopardy. To obtain the promised son he fathered Ishmael through Hagar. Finally Isaac was born through Sarah, but now the Lord demanded that Isaac become a burnt offering. By now Abraham had become familiar with God’s voice. As the Lord called his name, he immediately responded with an attitude of obedience. Whatever the Lord would ask, he was ready to act on it.

This moment in history had monumental repercussions. The Lord’s promise extended far beyond Abraham himself. All the nations would find a blessing through Abraham’s distant descendant, Jesus of Nazareth, the incarnate Son of God. Abraham loved Isaac like an only son (v. 22), but as the son of promise Isaac belonged to God. When Abraham obeyed God by preparing to plunge the knife into Isaac, he became “the father” of all who believe. (Rom. 4:16)

In several ways Abraham’s sacrifice of his beloved son foreshadowed the sacrifice of God’s one and only Son on the cross. Both Isaac and Jesus are described as an only son. Both were willing victims who refused to escape their fate. Isaac carried the wood for the sacrifice, and Jesus carried his own cross. The comparison ends with the ram, the substitute for Isaac. Christ was himself the substitute for the sins of the whole world. He was the lamb, and there was no substitute for him. In Caravaggio's painting, the whole scene points to the ram. The head of the ram looms over the anguished face of Isaac, lending a quality of serenity to an otherwise horrifying scene.

This story explicates for us the horror that Christ endured on the cross and also God’s love for the whole world. What seems far too much to demand turned out to pave the way for God’s plan of salvation that transcends all human thought.

PRAYER:
Lord God of Abraham, We gaze on Abraham’s obedience and desire to have such trust in you. We know that we must lose our life in order to gain true life, but we so often fall short of total surrender. As you had mercy on Abraham and permitted the substitute of a ram, so we throw ourselves down at the cross and soak in the free and boundless mercy and grace we find there. Thank you for Abraham’s obedience, for Isaac’s submission, and for our Lord Jesus’ willingness to endure the weight of the sins of the world. Help us, Lord Jesus, to take up our cross daily and follow you. The blessing Abraham received was meant to be a blessing for all the nations on the earth. Enable us to spread the message of the gospel of salvation throughout our world.
Amen.

Tom Finley 
Professor of Old Testament and Semitics, Emeritus