Genesis 22:1-14
I profess to be a devout Christian, by others' judgement, not such a great Catholic. God knows I try to be good, be thankful and speak to God on a regular basis. But truth be told, if I was asked to sacrifice my son, or my daughter, or my husband or my cat, I don't think I could do it. I would refuse and risk the fires of hell for all eternity. In fact, that list of people that I would risk the fires of hell for is even more extensive. I am not really into that sacraficing thing even though I am sure some poeple would be able to give me suggestions. Sacrifice Hucakbee! I can hear someone saying. Like I said, not into that, nor judgement of anyone else - less I be judged.
I've written before that God really doesn't want us to offer sacrifices, Jesus did that for us for all time. But here is the crux of my writing today. Jesus did in fact die for us and he is the son of God. What do you think God (the Father) had to say about that? You'd think perhaps he might say, 'son that's admirable, but really, I don't want you to go through all that'. God could have stopped the whole plot down don't you think? I'm not one who believs God intervenes in our lives but on this occasion I might make an exception if I was God and it was my son about to be stripped, beaten and nailed to a cross. If God loves his son Jesus as much as he loves us, it must have been agonizing to watch it all unfold. We can only catch a glimpse of it as we let our own children take the first step (and fall), make a decision that you think is bad but you have to let them learn. We all know about the power of love and what we would and would not give up for it.
God let his son die. Why? Because he beliives in and respects free will. God also loves us and wants us not to be burdened by ancient rituals of sacrifice to show how much we love him. We have reached a level of maturaity that God wishes us to love him by all the ways Jesus showed us. Love, compassion, inclusiveness, empathy. Maybe even sex, who knows? (Is that too blashphemous?).
All I know is that today a 3pm, the last breath of Jesus as a human on this earth will be commemorated. This was done out of intense love for all of us and also for every one of us as individulas as well. The power of the dynamics of parent and child and the love that exists between the Father and the Son is offered up in the most intimate of ways for us, only hinted at by the story of Isaac and Abraham.
On this Good Friday, is there any more reason than this love to stop and take stock of all we have to be thankful for in God's incredible gift to us. How sad it all is, but also how wonderful a gift. How powerful. How loving. How sweet. For us.
I profess to be a devout Christian, by others' judgement, not such a great Catholic. God knows I try to be good, be thankful and speak to God on a regular basis. But truth be told, if I was asked to sacrifice my son, or my daughter, or my husband or my cat, I don't think I could do it. I would refuse and risk the fires of hell for all eternity. In fact, that list of people that I would risk the fires of hell for is even more extensive. I am not really into that sacraficing thing even though I am sure some poeple would be able to give me suggestions. Sacrifice Hucakbee! I can hear someone saying. Like I said, not into that, nor judgement of anyone else - less I be judged.
I've written before that God really doesn't want us to offer sacrifices, Jesus did that for us for all time. But here is the crux of my writing today. Jesus did in fact die for us and he is the son of God. What do you think God (the Father) had to say about that? You'd think perhaps he might say, 'son that's admirable, but really, I don't want you to go through all that'. God could have stopped the whole plot down don't you think? I'm not one who believs God intervenes in our lives but on this occasion I might make an exception if I was God and it was my son about to be stripped, beaten and nailed to a cross. If God loves his son Jesus as much as he loves us, it must have been agonizing to watch it all unfold. We can only catch a glimpse of it as we let our own children take the first step (and fall), make a decision that you think is bad but you have to let them learn. We all know about the power of love and what we would and would not give up for it.
God let his son die. Why? Because he beliives in and respects free will. God also loves us and wants us not to be burdened by ancient rituals of sacrifice to show how much we love him. We have reached a level of maturaity that God wishes us to love him by all the ways Jesus showed us. Love, compassion, inclusiveness, empathy. Maybe even sex, who knows? (Is that too blashphemous?).
All I know is that today a 3pm, the last breath of Jesus as a human on this earth will be commemorated. This was done out of intense love for all of us and also for every one of us as individulas as well. The power of the dynamics of parent and child and the love that exists between the Father and the Son is offered up in the most intimate of ways for us, only hinted at by the story of Isaac and Abraham.
On this Good Friday, is there any more reason than this love to stop and take stock of all we have to be thankful for in God's incredible gift to us. How sad it all is, but also how wonderful a gift. How powerful. How loving. How sweet. For us.
After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ 2He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt-offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.’ 3So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt-offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. 4On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 5Then Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.’ 6Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘Father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ He said, ‘The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?’ 8Abraham said, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son.’ So the two of them walked on together.
9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill* his son. 11But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ 12He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’ 13And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt-offering instead of his son. 14So Abraham called that place ‘The Lord will provide’;* as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’*
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