Part 2

- March 11, 2004 -

Introduction

A theme so central to the nervous system of Judaism and Christianity as the Binding or the Sacrifice of Isaac has proved irresistible to all kinds of teachers from Josephus to Kant to Kierkegaard. Some philosophers saw a comparison between Abraham's son and Agamemnon' daughter. In many philosophical circles there is a discussion on the meaning of the sacrifice. Psychoanalysts made important contributions to the subject, even for a psychological purpose. The story has been depicted in the art of Donatello, Caravaggio and Rembrandt.

Reading this story can lead us to respond on three levels. At first we may feel immense compassion for little Isaac and find ourselves revolted at the narrative and its demand of killing a young child. On the next level we must realize that it is not the story of the son but old Abraham is the hero and then we may find ourselves either in awe of this man of faith or in admiration of his trust. Finally, we can reread the story and see it as the story of promise of the key moment in our story and then we are engaged personally.

How to Understand the Story

This is not the story of an assassin or a tragedy but it is the narrative of performing a rite. To understand the meaning of the story we have to avoid moral themes that divert us from its main purpose. In the Christian reading of the Binding of Isaac or the Sacrifice of Isaac it is offered as an ideal and model of trust and faith in the one God who reveals. From a human, psychological perspective it is absurd and cruel for Abraham even to begin his journey and even more so to follow it to its logical conclusion and lift the knife over the bound Isaac. A psychological reading of the story introduces other themes: tragedy, desperation, suspension of ethics.

To understand the story from the Christian tradition there are two main meanings.

Faith Model Continued

One interpretation places the entire force of the drama in the dilemma confronting Abraham. Either he must obey the voice and give up his son, or hold fast to Isaac and disobey his God. This is why the story is sometimes called the testing of Abraham.
This first meaning is presented as the continuation of the Call. Abraham heard and went forth. He journeyed in response to God's call. That act of faith is now summarized by Abraham's powerful reply to Issac's question, "God himself will provide the lamb…" (Gen. 22:8). It is not intended as a human, psychological drama but it is a symbol in words of faith
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It has been a long journey of three endless days. It was a journey as the journey of the promise and was interrupted when Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place from afar. While still at a distance, Moriah, the locus of the faith of Abraham, was within his sight. He had been sent to Moriah and he had to trust that God would provide. As he told his servants, he would climb Moriah to perform an act of worship of the One God; it is an act of worship. At this point with Moriah in sight Abraham speaks of "worshipping" and "coming back" and of the God who would "provide".

On one level, the command of God contradicts the call and the promise to make Abraham the father of a people. Yet, as he listened to God, Abraham did not lose his son but recovered him forever. God did not resurrect Isaac, but He granted him life. In a sense Isaac was born anew on Moriah and became doubly the son of Abraham's faith.

A Christian appreciation of this story centres upon this test or deepening of faith. The fatherhood of Abraham was transformed at Moriah and Isaac was Abraham's son now not just biologically but also in faith, given life by that faith. Faith was not, therefore, a monster devouring gradually whatever Abraham possessed. At the end, he not only kept what he had, but acquired much more. He gained everything without losing his son. Far from losing Isaac, he was given him as a son of his faith.

This meaning is expressed in the New Testament Letter to the Hebrews:

17 By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, 18of whom he had been told, "It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you." 19He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead; hence he did receive him back and this was a symbol.

In the Christian interpretation, if Abraham had not been willing to go to Moriah and sacrifice his son, then his earlier act of faith in leaving his native land would have been meaningless. By remaining faithful in the test, Abraham remained what he had begun to be. He overcame Moriah and offered up his son who was the son of his flesh, in order to remain with the son of his faith.

Foreshadowing of the Cross of Jesus

The second Christian interpretation focuses on the typology of Isaac. God calls for his sacrificial death at Moriah as an act of worship. Mount Moriah is the very place where in later years David bought the threshing floor of Ornan as a place for the site of the temple. (1 Chr 21:18). On that very place where Abraham offered Isaac, the temple of Solomon was built, (2 Chr 3:1). Today of course there stands in that very place the Dome of the Rock, the famous mosque, built over the great rock that formed the altar upon which Abraham prepared his sacrifice and from where followers of Islam believe Mohammed ascended to heaven.

One of the rich metaphors in the Christian message is the death of Jesus as the sacrifice of the New Covenant, of Jesus becoming the new temple. Hence the connection with Moriah and Calvary. Here, as an example of this approach, is what Augustine writes in his City of God referring to the passage from the letter to the Hebrews:

It is in this way the passage in the Epistle to the Hebrews is also to be understood and explained. "By faith," he says, "Abraham overcame, when tempted about Isaac: and he who had received the promise offered up his only son, to whom it was said, In Isaac shall thy seed be called: thinking that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead;" therefore he has added, "from whence also he received him in a similitude."85 In whose similitude but His of whom the apostle says, "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all?"86 And on this account Isaac also himself carried to the place of sacrifice the wood on which he was to be offered up, just as the Lord Himself carried His own cross. Finally, since Isaac was not to be slain, after his father was forbidden to smite him, who was that ram by the offering of which that sacrifice was completed with typical blood? For when Abraham saw him, he was caught by the horns in a thicket. What, then, did he represent but Jesus, who, before He was offered up, was crowned with thorns …

The only place in the Lectionary of Readings for the celebration of Mass in the Roman Catholic Church that the story of the Sacrifice of Isaac appears is at the Easter Vigil, the evening service of light, readings, baptisms and Eucharist bringing us from the tomb of Saturday to the resurrection of Sunday. It is one of the possible seven readings and it is intentional that the story of old Abraham binding his dear son to the altar and his heart breaking within him is a parallel with God sending his own Son to Calvary's mountain centuries later. There is involved in this account a Gethsemane (a test), a Calvary (a death), and a resurrection (overcoming death).

And so, to this father, as he is traveling on the way to Mt. Moriah, Isaac has been as good as dead in his eyes for three days. Abraham risked everything he owned and loved upon the character of God and found him to be a God of resurrection. Because of this wonderful triumph in his life, he calls this place, "God will provide."

For Christians the One God is the God of resurrection. When it looks as though we are throwing away every chance of blessing, God transforms in a moment the very thing we give up into the most richly rewarding and meaningful experience we have ever had.

Conclusion

God did not resurrect Isaac, but He had granted him life. Abraham had not engendered him again but acquired him in a new dimension of faith. The Isaac born on Moriah was now not just the fruit of his aged flesh but also the creation of his youthful faith.

God will provide. Abraham believed that God could make his son's dead body live, as He had made his own body live, and Sarah's also. Through Isaac many would have this new life of faith.

On our first evening of dialogue there was emphasis on the commonality of our three approaches to Abraham. Tonight the three traditions divert in interpretation and we learn from these different perspectives.

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