Luther on Abraham

Genesis 22:10-11
Abraham picked up the knife and took it in his hand to sacrifice his son. But the angel of the Lord called him from heaven and said, abraham! Abraham!

Martin Luther wrote, "an angel from heaven was an eyewitness to what Abraham was doing. Yes, God himself and all the Angels were watching. The angel did not come flying in at some last moment from a distant corner of the world. Instead he was watching over Abraham and Isaac every minute all along. He observed as Abraham tied up his son and raised the knife. ...Isaac was lying on his back looking up toward heaven. All the while the angel was watching. And right when Abraham was raising that knife, the angel shouted to him and called him by name. How closely the holy Angels gather around those who follow God and live faithfully! Obedience like Abraham's gives God immense pleasure. Of all the sacrifices we can make, the one most acceptable to God is this, living a holy life, obeying God, and killing our corrupt nature. It can be very painful and unpleasant for us to do this, yet we must get used to determining what God really wants, 'what is good, pleasing, and perfect', as Paul wrote in Romans 12:2."

Probably no story in the Old Testament is more bothersome than the near sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham. It's a story that has defied explanation for centuries, and yet the ancient rabbis had no trouble at all using this story as a positive example of faith by putting it into the context of God and Abraham's total relationship. The rabbis believe Abraham had to endure tests through his life, each test designed to teach him something about God, to strengthen his reliance upon and faith in that God. By the time Abraham gets to this, the final test, he was utterly reliant upon God. All you have to do is to read the story to know this, Abraham without ceasing does exactly as God asks. Isaac, the one who really is not in the know, asks Abraham the obvious questions. "I see the knife father, I see the wood for the sacrifice father, but I don't see the sacrifice." To which Abraham replies, "my son, God himself will provide the sacrifice!"

Now of course along with Luther we know how this story ends, with an angel staying the hand of Abraham. I rather think Abraham was completely confident that the angel was indeed watching over him, and would stay his hand at the last moment. I believe that Abraham had come to know God so well, that he knew he would never take from him the son he had promised . And so at the end, when the angel has stopped the knife from descending, both he and Isaac hear the bleating of a ram whose horns have been caught in a thicket nearby, and come to the conclusion that God indeed had provided the sacrifice . Isaac learned a lesson that day, a lesson Abraham had already learned. And perhaps we need to learn anew.

On a windswept mountain, a lonely Hill far apart, the sacrifice God had promised would indeed be given as a gift, sacrificed on behalf of all the children God loves. From the world's point of view it'll be just as difficult to explain and watch as the near sacrifice of Isaac. And yet nothing reveals the heart and the intention of God more, than the sacrifice that he provides for us all on the cross of Calvary.