Posted on Sunday, March 29, 2009
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JUDICA

9 March Anno + Domini 2008

"On the Mount, the Lord Will Provide”

Genesis 22:1-14; John 8:42-59

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

            "On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided” (Gen. 22:14). 

            I wonder what Abraham was thinking that day.  How could he take his one and only son, lead him up the mountain, bind him to the altar, and take out his knife to sacrifice him?  Could you do it?  Could you take your only child, your only son, whom you love, bind him to an altar, and then ritually sacrifice him, because you've heard the Word of God? 

            That's why Abraham does it.  It's not because he's experiencing delusions of grandeur; it's not because he's a little "off,” but solely because he has faith - faith that could move mountains, as our Lord tells us; faith that can only come from above.  Abraham had learned to trust the Word of God.  He had learned not to question God's Word.  He had learned that the hard way, for there were many times in Abraham's life, as his faith was being formed by the Lord and His Word, that he did question the Word of the Lord, experienced doubts, and took it upon himself to try to bring about the promises of God.  But, not now, for Abraham's faith had been formed to the point that he would completely trust in God's Word and be obedient to that Word.  This, of course, was not Abraham's doing, but the Lord's doing, for the Lord filled Abraham with that steadfast faith. 

            So it is that we read in the Book of Hebrews:  "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, 'Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.'  He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead” (Heb. 11:17-19a).  That, my friends, is faith, and that's why Abraham could take his son to the mount to sacrifice him.  He trusted in God's Word, even though he may not have understood it - I mean, who could possibly understand the command to sacrifice your only son?  But, Abraham was done doubting; done questioning God's Word.  It didn't make sense that he and Sarah would conceive a son when Sarah was well beyond the age of child-bearing, and yet, God was true to His Word and Isaac was conceived.  So, while it made no sense for Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, the son through whom the Promised Messiah would come, Abraham trusted God and obeyed His command.  He knew that God would be faithful to His promises.  If God wanted Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, so be it.  Abraham believed that God would just have to raise Isaac from the dead, a simple feat for an Almighty God who forms man from the dust of the earth and opens the wombs of ninety-year-old women.  When asked to do the unthinkable, Abraham complied, for he had faith in the God for whom nothing is impossible.       

What a contrast, then, between the faith of Abraham and the unbelief of those of his physical descendants we read about in the Gospel lesson this morning.  Abraham had only the promise of God, which, in itself, is surely enough, but the Jews in our text had God in the Flesh, Yahweh, the great I AM, standing in their very midst.  They didn't just hear the Word of God, they beheld Him, and yet, they didn't believe. 

            Whoever is of God hears God's words and believes them.  Whoever is not of God, does not hear His words.  Not hearing means not believing.  Not believing God's words puts one at odds with God, because not believing God's words is a denial of God and His gift of faith and salvation in Christ. 

            When faith is denied and human reason takes its place, then what remains and passes itself off as Christianity is a sham.  For only through the eyes of faith do we see that Jesus is the Son of God and "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).  Therefore, we cannot reshape Jesus, through human reason, into something He is not; nor can we remake Him into our image of what we think He ought to be.  For this is He who was born to die.  This is the Lamb provided by God to be sacrificed in our place.  He was born to be bound and nailed to the wood of an altar in the shape of a cross.  Jesus was born for sacrifice, to die our death, and it was His Blood that was poured out so that Isaac and all Abraham's descendants by faith would live.  So you either hear God's words and live, or you don't.  Either you confess Christ, or you deny Him!  Either you are of God, or you are not.  As Jesus Himself tells us, "He who is not with Me is against Me” (Matt. 12:30).  Jesus leaves no room for middle ground, no matter what 21^st century, postmodern, "spiritual” people believe. 

            Abraham hears and obeys God.  He hears the Word of God and He believes His promises are true.  He believes in the promise of the Seed.  Therefore, he takes his only son, Isaac, whom he loves, binds him, and places him upon an altar of sacrifice.  But the Angel of the Lord - the pre-incarnate Christ Himself - stays his hand, and God provides a ram to sacrifice in Isaac's place.  There is another, greater sacrifice to be made, a permanent sacrifice, but for now, the ram will suffice. 

            Through the sacrifice of the ram, Abraham saw the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He saw it and rejoiced.  By faith, Abraham saw Good Friday.  He saw God substitute His Only Son for his son, Isaac, but, more than that, for himself and for the entire world.  He saw the Innocent die for the guilty; the wrath of the Father appeased in the perfect Sacrifice of His Son.  On Mount Moriah, in the death of that ram, Abraham saw what his physical descendants failed to see - the eternal plan of salvation which could only be accomplished by the Death of God's One and Only Son. 

            Why do the Jews reject their Savior?  Jesus tells us it is because they are not children of God.  They think they are.  They are Abraham's physical descendants, after all.  They believe themselves to be the chosen people of God.  But, Jesus cuts them to the heart, slicing through their self-absorbed pride, and tells them who they really are - children of the devil. 

            No wonder they conclude that Jesus must be a member of that hated race, a mere half-breed, a Samaritan.  No wonder they believe He is possessed by a demon.  How dare He accuse them, God's chosen people, Abraham's descendants, of being the spawn of Satan!  But, no matter how offended they might be, Jesus speaks the truth - He IS Truth - for in rejecting Him, they reject God. 

            Two thousand years later, things haven't changed much, have they?  Jesus remains the only way to heaven, for through faith in Him alone does anyone receive forgiveness, life, and salvation.  And yet, the majority of people today believe that there are many ways to heaven, that the important thing is that you do your best to be decent and kind, and heaven will be yours, no matter what name you might have for God. 

            But, Jesus cuts through that nonsense still today with His eternal Word, making it just as clear now as He did when confronting the Jews of His day, that only those who abide in His Word will be saved from eternal death.  And, to abide in His Word is not simply to say, "I believe in Jesus.”  To abide in His Word is to know and believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are a poor, miserable sinner, who deserves temporal and eternal punishment.  To abide in His Word is to live a life of daily repentance and faith - to acknowledge and confess your sins, and to cling to the Lamb of God who was sacrificed in your place to win forgiveness, life, and salvation for you. 

            This is what the Jews in our Gospel lesson refused to understand.  They could not abide in Jesus' Word, for they were full of pride and not willing to admit their sins and their need for a Savior.  They put their trust in themselves, believing that they could and would fulfill God's Holy Law on their own.  They bought into the devil's lie that they could be like God.  Most people today, even many who call themselves Christian, continue to buy into that evil lie, believing that they can earn favor with God and fulfill His Law on their own. 

            Let it not be so with you, dear friends.  Learn the lesson your Lord teaches you today and always.  Repent!  Come to Christ in humility and confess to Him that you have not honored Him as you should; that you have lived and treated others as though God didn't matter, that you have lived your life as if you mattered most, that all your thoughts and desires are soiled with sin.  This is the sacrifice your Lord requires of you.  He does not ask you to sacrifice your child upon an altar.  He asks that you sacrifice yourself - that you lay upon the altar your pride, your lust, your greed, your desire to have things your way, your unwillingness to admit your faults and seek reconciliation with your brothers and sisters, your failure to serve God with the best of your time, talents, and treasures. 

Sacrifice these things, and all things that get in your way of abiding in Christ's Word, and receive the Promise that is for you, the Promise that assures you that you have forgiveness of all your sins, everlasting life, and eternal salvation through faith in the Lamb of God who lived, died, and rose again in your place.  Jesus is the Ram who died in your place, His head caught in a thicket of thorns pressed down hard against His brow.  The Promise has been kept.  On the Mount, the Lord has provided the Sacrifice of His One and Only Son in your place.  Believe it!  Abide in that Glorious Word!  Trust in the Word of God!  Be faithful, as your father Abraham was faithful.  And, come to the altar and receive the substance of that Sacrifice, Jesus' very Body and Blood, which has been given and shed for you to eat and drink, that you might remain united to Him and continue to abide in His Word.  In His Holy and Precious Name.  Amen. 

Now the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting.  Amen.