It’s virtually impossible to look at the topic of sacrifice without looking at Genesis 22, the passage where Abraham is tested by God and asked to sacrifice his promised son, Isaac. Many view this passage with horror: how could God ask Abraham to do such a thing? What kind of God would test someone like this? As always, we have to interpret Scripture through the lens of Scripture, understanding that child sacrifice is something God abhors. But at the same time, this passage, which in many ways prefigures all that God Himself did by sacrificing His Son to save us, reveals to us not only God’s provision and compassion, but the need for us to be willing to lay everything on the altar for Him.
Letting go of even the most precious things is never easy. But it seems Abraham, whose journey of faith has taken many twists and turns over the years (not all of which are to be commended), has reached a place of quiet trust in God. Heb 11:19 tells us that Abraham realised God could bring back even the dead and so he was prepared to do the unthinkable because he knew God could still bring Isaac back. We remember each Easter that God did indeed bring Jesus back from the dead (see Heb 13:20) and understand afresh the sacrifice our Lord made in order to bring us to salvation.
