Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” … 9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son… 15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
Today’s first reading concerns the sacrifice of Isaac. In Judaism, this story is called the Akedah, the binding of Isaac, and is recited daily as part of the morning service. The action that takes place in this story is fairly simple: God tells Abraham to take his so-longed-for son, Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice. Abraham shows no hesitation and immediately obeys, although an angel stops him from going through with the act. The meaning of the story, though, is much more difficult. Does it tell us that God is fundamentally evil, treating humans according to his whim? Does he want us to be willing to give up everything for him? Is it a metaphor that tells us we must give up our human attachments? Or a lesson that human sacrifice is not acceptable to God? We are told that this is simply a test, but it’s difficult not to wonder what kind of God would set such a test. How can such a God be a God of love?
Along with the barbarism of the request are the consequences. God made sacred promises to Abraham that he would have numberless descendants and a land. Without Isaac, these promises are meaningless. Isaac’s birth had been a miracle but now God seems to want to take back that miracle. Of course, he doesn’t and at the end renews the promise. Indeed, he promises that “all the nations on earth will be blessed” through him. One of his offspring, later interpreted as the Messiah, will bring a blessing to everyone.
Christians, of course, have interpreted the story as symbolic and that Abraham’s offspring who will bring a blessing to the world is Jesus. We read it during the Easter vigil and understand it as prefiguring Christ’s sacrifice. Abraham’s willingness to offer his own son mirrors God’s even greater love for his people. Isaac himself is the least developed, in terms of personality, of the patriarchs. He is described not in terms of what he does but by what he suffers. He is the innocent sacrificial victim. It is this quiet victim, who, through this episode, presents us with the pattern of God’s plan for salvation: an innocent servant will be sacrificed so that “all the nations of the earth will be blessed”.
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