It's a familiar story, isn't it? The words need no elaboration or dramatization, because they are compelling all by themselves. They are compelling in the emotions they call forth in each and every one of us--especially those of us who have children of our own. It's horrifying to watch--and yet neither can we tear our eyes away. After years and years, the long-awaited son finally arrives. He's the only son that his father will ever have. But no matter--because he is also the best son that a father could ever have. He was everything that a father could have hoped for. He was well worth the wait. He's a good son, an obedient son, a son who implicitly trusts his father, his father's judgment, and his father's love for him. We're reminded of all of those things-the obedience, the trust in his father's judgment and love--we're reminded of all those things once again as we look at the story.

Looking at it from the father's viewpoint, we are reminded of the father's love for his son--that not only is he his son, but he is his "only son." He is the son whom the father loved--as he had stated clearly in the past. As the two of them approached the altar, the son carrying the very wood which would be used to kill him, the father sorrowful concerning what he was about to do--as the two of them approached that altar, we can only imagine what they were thinking. Those of us who have sons of our own can perhaps imagine it especially well, painfully well. While the father didn't say to the son that this was going to hurt the father more than it hurt the son, that must have been pretty close to the truth. It must have caused his heart to ache as he considered the pain that his son was about to undergo--the pain that he was about to allow, the pain that he was about to CAUSE his son to undergo, the agonizing death that awaited. It must have been all that the father could have done to keep from turning around in disgust and horror at what he was about to do. As every step drew the two of them closer to the altar, the inclination to call a halt to the whole thing must have grown greater and greater!

And yet the father went on, because he knew this was what he had to do. No, he didn't have to do it in the sense that there was someone forcing him towards the altar at gunpoint, but in another sense you and I know that he really had no choice. And eventually, there came the time when the son realized that there was not going to be a lamb for this burnt offering. When no other solution was made known, there came a time when the son realized that he himself was going to be the lamb. Of all the ways that the son would have chosen to die, this had to rank just about dead last.

But there was a time between the realization, the acceptance of the fact that he himself was going to be the sacrifice, and the time that he was actually bound to that altar. And what happens in that time--or what does NOT happen in that time--is no less amazing than the actions of the father. For the son could have resisted, could surely have kept himself from being bound to that altar. And yet we do not read of any resistance that was offered. Rather, he went uncomplaining. He accepted the fact that this was what had to be done--never mind the fact that it was going to cause him to die.

And then it was time. It was time for the father to make his son suffer terribly. Anyone who's ever been a parent, anyone with even an ounce of compassion in them can barely stand to look at this point. Some of us cover our eyes in horror as the father raises his hand to kill his son.

And then suddenly...He does it! Yes, he brings his knife down, spills his son's blood, and kills his son! You're thinking, "That isn't the way the story goes, Pastor! He doesn't kill him!" But this isn't the story of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah! It is the story of God the Father and Jesus, his Son, his only Son, whom He loved, on Mount Calvary. It is the story that attracts our eyes and our attention each Lenten season. It is the story that we cannot bear to watch, and the story from which we dare not turn away our eyes and our hearts.

It is the story of a Father who had repeatedly told his Son--told anyone who would listen-- that He loved him dearly. He had told him that at his baptism 3 years ago. He had told him that at his transfiguration just a mere handful of days before this. But now He was ready to sacrifice Him on the cross because He had no other choice. Actually, that's not entirely true, is it? The almighty God always has a choice. And so does his Son. They could have chosen to walk away from the cross at Calvary that day. But He didn't, because he wanted to save people like you and me from the eternal suffering that our sins and our selfishness deserve. I guess that, in part, answers the theme of our Lenten message series this year, "Why Jesus Had to Go to the Cross." Why? There was no other way for God to love us!

If you have read the story of Abraham and Isaac, you have probably tried to place yourself in their sandals. And if you have been honest with yourself, you have had to admit that you probably would have bailed out long before the knife was raised. You would have found all sorts of reasons to avoid even heading for Mount Moriah in the first place-much less doing as Abraham did, and getting up "early the next morning" to do so! My excuses would have ranged from "This is not a good week. I have way too many things on my calendar to sacrifice my son. I'll get around to it later" to "There's no way I heard you say what I thought you said--because I KNOW that doesn't make any sense, I KNOW that it's not good for anyone involved" to "No, this is simply where I have to draw the line."

You know those would have been your answers, too. Because they HAVE been your answers when God has asked you to sacrifice far less than the life of your child! When He has asked us to participate in some way in the work of his kingdom, instead of "getting up early the next morning" to do so, we have said, "My calendar is jammed this month. There's that soccer tourney the first weekend, a golf outing and company picnic the next weekend, the big project the week after that...Tell you what… Let's wait till next month, and we'll see how that looks."

When He has asked us to lose our chance for a promotion or our chance at being accepted by a certain group of people in order that we might obey his commandments and do what is right, we have dragged our feet and said, "I can't really believe that's what you meant when you said that. Because I KNOW that things will work out better if I do them my way." When He has asked us to possibly sacrifice some family relationships or a relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend in order to stand up for the truth of his saving Word, we have said, "There is a time for serving God--but this is not that time. I know what God says, but this is where I will have to draw the line as far as sacrificing my life for God. To do so in this case would simply hurt me more than I could stand."

Praise God and praise Jesus that they did not have that kind of unsacrificing attitude toward us and our sins! Praise them that they were willing to do what they could have avoided! Praise God that their love for us superceded their desire to avoid pain and suffering! Praise God that because Jesus suffered as a payment for our sins, we will one day be in heaven, where there is no more suffering! Knowing that and remembering that allows us to act with the faith of Abraham. Yes, it actually allows us to do what he did (or at least was WILLING to do)--to sacrifice all that we hold near and dear in the world for the sake of our God and our Savior.

Abraham trusted God's goodness enough to obey what seemed to be a terribly BAD command. He trusted that somehow God would work things out, telling his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then WE will come back to you." The writer to the Hebrews gives us a little insight to exactly what Abraham might have meant, when he writes, "He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, 'It is THROUGH ISAAC that your offspring will be reckoned. Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead..." (Hebrews 11:17-19).

Even as Abraham raised the knife, he still intended to do exactly what God had commanded, and he still trusted that God would bless him-even raising Isaac's lifeless body from the dead if necessary. Abraham didn't understand the reason behind God's command, and he wasn't fully aware of the specific form that God's plan for this situation would take, but he had the same attitude that Paul had in our epistle lesson for this morning: "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32) Abraham knew that God loved him, sinful and damnable though he was, enough to send a Savior to take away his sins. In fact, God repeated that promise to him immediately after Abraham and Isaac had sacrificed the ram. Referring to that promised Savior, He said, "Through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed." Abraham knew this promise even before he approached Mount Moriah, and therefore Abraham had no doubt that God would do the "lesser" thing of blessing Abraham also in this situation.

We know that, too. We will be reminded during this Lenten season of just how much God has loved us, and just how much his Son Jesus Christ has loved us. It allows us to approach the "Mount Moriah's" in our lives-the times when it seems that God has called us to do something unwise, something painful, the times when God has called us to make a sacrifice of something that we love. Although we may not understand the reason behind God's command, although we may not yet see the end result of God's plan, we may willingly sacrifice such things--whether we do so on our own, or whether we humbly accede to God's will when He himself takes something or someone from us.

We may do so with a trusting heart. Because we know that God has the power to give us back whatever we sacrifice in his service, and He will give us even greater things in heaven. We can be sure of that because the true sacrifice, the greatest sacrifice, has already been made. And Christ made it for us. As the ram was sacrificed instead of Isaac, Jesus was sacrificed instead of us. Since God loved us enough to do that, we may be assured that He will continue to do everything in our best interests!

It's a familiar story, a compelling story--the story of a Father who sacrificed his own Son, to make you and me his sons and daughters through faith. It answers for us WHY JESUS HAD TO GO TO THE CROSS. There was no other way for God to love us! And He had to love us, so He had to do this! Be reminded of that story again this Lenten season. Rejoice at the sacrifice that God made on your behalf, and when He calls you to make sacrifices in service to Him, say with Abraham, "Here I am!" - until one day we and God and Jesus, our sacrificial Lamb, join that great family reunion in heaven! Amen.

Back to the Lent page
Back to the Pastor's Messages page