The ultimate sacrifice.
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As they walked together, the wood Isaac carried symbolized a profoundly deeper truth. They traveled together to the place where Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac, which foreshadows God the Father sacrificing His Son to reconcile the world to Himself. Just as Abraham and his son walked together to the hill, so too did God the Father walk the Via Dolorosa with Jesus to the same hill where He offered His Son for the sin of the world. This account vividly illustrates this divine plan. As stated in 2 Corinthians 5:19, “That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.” Ultimately, this means that God offered His Son to expiate, remove without trace, the sin humankind committed in the Garden of Eden and, therefore, all sins against the Objective Moral Law.
Jesus, called the Lamb of God, carried His wooden cross—the one on which the Father would offer Him as a sacrifice for the sin of rebellious humankind. John 19:16-17 states, “Finally, Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.” This place, known as Golgotha, lies to the west of Jerusalem just outside its western wall. Remarkably, it is the exact location where Abraham was told to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, whom he loves.
When Isaac noticed that the wood and fire were ready, he asked Abraham, “…where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (Genesis 22:7). Abraham replied, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them continued walking together. (Genesis 22:8). This response was prophetic; in due time, God did provide the Lamb as the ultimate sacrifice for humankind’s sin. Also, God provided a ram as a substitute for Isaac: “Abraham looked up and there in the thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son.” (Genesis 22:13).
The ram represented Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, whom the heavenly Father offered to remove and destroy the sin that humankind committed in the Garden of Eden. Just as the ram’s head was caught in thorns, the Lamb of God also wore a crown of thorns on His head during His sacrifice for the sins of rebellious humankind: “Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head” (John 19:1-2). The account of Abraham and Isaac has been told and retold for centuries, both before and after the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, yet it often received little or no appreciation.
It will be continued in the next blog