Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together. Genesis 22:7-8
As the father and son approached the place where God commanded Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt offering, Isaac began to ask some questions. The story is a striking forerunner of Jesus sacrifice some 4,000 years later. Some key differences are that God stopped Abraham and provided a ram in his place of Isaac. Isaac asks “My father”… as if to say, are we together right now? To which Abraham says, ‘Here I am, my son’. Jesus would not hear a reply from His Heavenly Father… and would ultimately say “my God, my God, why have You forsaken me’.
How well and deeply do I comprehend what Jesus really did for me on the cross? Do I grasp the emotional sacrifice of God? Yes, I have always held in appreciation the suffering of Jesus. As a father myself, I have grown to appreciate what God the Father experienced as well.
God, how amazing that Abraham’s experience will speak to us for all eternity as a sign of Your great love. Thank you for making it all make sense through stories like this that prepared us as people to receive Your Son’s sacrifice.
