Homily: July 6, 2023, Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Isaac offering).

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 "God Himself will provide the sheep for the burnt offering."

Why did God require Abraham to sacrifice his son – his one and only son, someone he loved so much, someone who did nothing wrong, someone whom God gave to Abraham as a blessing?

Why take away after He has given?

It is hard to understand God’s intention if we only see it from our logic. Well, look at it this way, if this incident did not happen, generations after would never fully respect Abraham as the father of the faith, one who trusted and loved God, even to the point of sacrificing his own son in full obedience.

And Abraham was right, God did provide the sheep for the sacrifice, the ram at Mount Moriah and His own beloved Son at Calvary.

This sacrifice which Abraham was prepared to make prefigured the sacrifice which God ultimately made, letting His own Son, Jesus, die on the cross.

Many of us might think that Isaac was just a little boy, it was a cruel request from God and a heartless decision by Abraham. But if you read carefully, you would understand that Isaac was a grown man.

How else could he alone carry the firewood for the burnt offering? To burn a sheep for offering would require a good amount of firewood. A small boy would not have the strength to carry that up the mountain. 

Isaac carried the firewood to Mount Moriah just as Jesus carried the wood of His cross to Calvary.

As a grown man, Isaac would have understood he was the sacrificial lamb when Abraham tied him down on the altar, he could have fought it off if he himself was not willing to obey his father, who was obeying God.

This full obedience, to the point of death, foreshadows the full obedience of Jesus to accepting His crucifixion.

It was a three-day journey to Mount Moriah, and Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection also happened in three days. Coincidence? No. Prophetic? Yes.

Seventeen hundred years later, Jesus perfected and brought to fulfilment all the prophecies in the Old Testament.

Truly, "God Himself will provide the sheep for the burnt offering."

God doesn’t need Abraham’s sacrifice. Isaac’s death will do nothing to the salvation of the world. God doesn’t need our sacrifice. Nothing we can give came from ourselves anyway, but everything is from God.

All He wants is for us to have faith in Him. Abraham passed the test and left a legacy for us all. Be faithful as he was faithful. Be obedient as he was obedient. Trust as he trusted. God Himself will provide the sheep for the burnt offering. Amen.


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