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Friday of the First Week of Advent     
Isaac and Ram
Gen 22:9-18 (NRSV)

When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill 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, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies,  and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.”

The sacrifice of Issac by his father, Abraham has long been a puzzling story to the modern ear.  It is easy to ask why God would ask Abraham to sacrifice his son.  Our culture is far from experiencing actual human sacrifices, much less child sacrifices.  Looking at it from the idea of faith, it does raise questions that are still challenging for us today.  In Isaac laid the hope of all that Abraham wanted, descendants with Sarah.  To be willing to sacrifice Isaac means to be willing to sacrifice the one thing that is most dear to us if God asked.  It is so easy to give things that have little to no impact on our lives or our futures. However, to sacrifice that which we love the most and give it to God makes a true statement of faith.  We are no longer talking about human sacrifices but sacrifices of the heart, of our comforts, of our desires and of our culture especially if these things are loved in practice more than loving God.  We might never say we love them more, but can easily act that way.  Moreover, this passage foreshadows the sacrifice of the Son of God, of which the Father did not stop.  Jesus coming at Christmas reminds us that his purpose was to sacrifice His Son on the wood of the cross, a pure and holy sacrifice.
 

God promised Abraham a family--a family that would be great. God started this great family by giving him a son named Isaac. God tested Abraham by asking him to build an altar and sacrifice his son. Isaac carried the wood for the altar he was to die on. Abraham obeyed and trusted that God had a plan. Abraham was about to kill his son when God stopped him. God provided a ram to be sacrificed instead. God always has a plan for the salvation of his people. Many years later Jesus would carry the wood of his cross and he would be the sacrifice made for our sin.

Talk to your family about how we are sometimes asked to do things that we cannot understand.  Parents ask their children to do things and the children do not understand why they have to do it.  It is important to trust parents, especially when they want only what is good for their children.  Sometimes we do not understand why God asks us to do things but we trust he knows what is good for us.  Talk about the gift of reason and how important it is to ask questions and try to understand God's ways, especially why he sent Jesus at Christmas.