February 28, 2021
Second Sunday of Lent (Year B)
In last week’s readings we saw the way in which the covenant God made with His people at the time of Abraham was completed and fulfilled by the death and resurrection of Jesus. This same theme appears again in the readings for this week although it may not seem readily apparent. In fact, when we look at the readings for this Second Sunday of Lent, we find what appears to be contradictory themes. One reading is about sacrifice and death and the other is about glory. But if we look closely, we can see that there really is no contradiction, but again a continuity between the covenant made with Abraham and later fulfilled by Jesus.
The First Reading from the book of Genesis is an excerpt from the passage known as “The Testing of Abraham” (Gen. 22:1-2, 9A, 10-13, 15-18). In this story God puts Abraham to his greatest test. God calls Abraham and tells him, “Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a holocaust on a height that I will point out to you.” (Gen. 22:2).
For modern readers, the idea that God would command Abraham to sacrifice his son seems brutal and outrageous. However, this would not have been so for Abraham, as it was a standard practice of the Ancient Near East cultures, including Israel, at the time. The outrage for Abraham would have been the idea that God was asking him to sacrifice the son who was promised to become the next patriarch of the chosen nation, a child miraculously born to a sterile couple only by the intervention of God for this specific purpose.
Nonetheless, Abraham faithfully follows God’s command and prepares the sacrifice to the point of binding his son to the altar arranged for the burnt sacrifice. When at the last moment, God stops Abraham, instead providing a ram for the sacrifice, God renews the earlier blessing promised to his faithful servant. God tells Abraham, “Because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your beloved son, I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing – all this because you obeyed my command.” (Gen. 22:17a, 18).
There is a certain part from this passage we do not read today which is crucial to consider before proceeding to the Gospel. When Abraham arrives at the mountain where he is to sacrifice Isaac, he says to the servants who have accompanied them, “Stay here with the donkey, while the boy and I go on over there. We will worship and then come back to you.” (Gen. 22:5).
Then Abraham takes the wood for the burnt offering and lays it on his son Isaac to carry up the hill while Abraham brings the fire and the knife. The amount of wood required to carry out this burnt offering would have been quite heavy. Thus, Isaac must have been a strong young man, perhaps even an adult, to be able to carry this much wood. Along the way Isaac questions his father and asks where they will get the sheep for the burnt offering. To this Abraham replies, “My son, God will provide the sheep for the burnt offering.” (Gen. 22:8).
When they reach the area for the sacrifice, Abraham builds an altar and arranges the wood. He then binds Isaac and puts him on top off the wood. At this point, surely Isaac must know what is happening. There is no animal being provided by God, rather he is the one being sacrificed. Notice that Isaac remains silent and does not raise any objection. He, like his father Abraham, must believe that “God will provide.”
When we come to the Gospel from Mark, we see the contrast to the alarming nature of the First Reading with the joyful scene of the Transfiguration (Mk. 9:2-10). Jesus has just made the first prediction about his passion and death to his disciples (Mk. 8:31-33). Now he takes Peter, James, and John up the mountain and suddenly becomes transfigured with clothes of dazzling white and his face shining like the sun. Then they hear a voice from heaven speak these words, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” (Mk. 9:7b). This title, “beloved Son,” is reminiscent of the same title God uses for Isaac in Genesis and an indication of the connection between the two passages.
There are other interesting parallels between the “beloved son” of Abraham in the First Reading and the “beloved Son of God” in the Gospel. Both Isaac and Jesus have been born by the intervention of God. Also, as Jesus has just revealed to his disciples, he, like Isaac will be led to a mountain to be sacrificed. (Incidentally, the site of the sacrifice of Isaac, “Moriah,” will become Jerusalem, where Jesus will be crucified). Both sons are required to carry the wood as the means of their death. Both are laid on and bound to that wood. And both sons readily accept their fate, submitting to the will of their fathers.
There is one more connection between the sacrifice of Isaac and the crucifixion of Jesus which is a bit elusive. When Jesus is descending the mountain with Peter, James, and John he warns them to speak nothing of his transfiguration until he has “risen from the dead.” Although the disciples do not yet understand what is meant, it is an indication that Jesus knows that his sacrificial death will lead to the deliverance of his resurrection.
We do find one small clue in the story of Abraham and Isaac that suggests there is the same hope of redemption with the sacrifice of Isaac as well. This is found in the verse where Abraham tells his servants, “Stay here with the donkey, while the boy and I go on over there. We will worship and then come back to you.” (Gen. 22:5). Note that Abraham says “we” will worship and then come back to you. This suggests that Abraham has the idea that even after the sacrifice of Isaac the young man will return in some manner.
The author of the Letter to the Hebrews makes a specific reference to this belief of Abraham: “By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.” He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol. (Heb. 11:17-19).
This “symbol” of the resurrection that Abraham receives by getting Isaac back serves as a prefigurement of the mission Jesus will accomplish with his death and resurrection. Again, it becomes the fulfillment of the covenant with Abraham by which God’s promise of salvation comes to all nations of the world.
As followers of Christ, we too inherit a share in the covenant blessings promised to Abraham. As a result, although it may not involve physically laying down our lives, we are also called in some way to make sacrifices. As married persons, this might mean giving in to our spouses’ wishes instead of always doing things our way. Or it may consist of the many sacrifices that parents make for the sake of their children’s well-being. It might mean giving up free time to care for an aging parent or visiting a lonely neighbor. Or it could be something as small as a smile or kind gesture toward a stranger.
But now, especially during this Lenten season, it means submitting to the will of the Father as we strive to live the gospel message given to us by His beloved Son, Jesus.
