[Genesis 22:1-19; Hebrews 11:1-3,17-19]
The Lamb Instead of Me
Was it his great obedience? Is the point of the sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22:1-19 that Abraham was so obedient that he would do anything, even kill his own son? And we hope we’re never asked to do anything so severe. And our kids hope so!
As is often the case, we get in the New Testament a clearer and fuller understanding of what we see first in the Old Testament. The New fulfills the Old and gives us the understanding.
In Genesis 22, God did test Abraham and called him to this very strange task. “Abraham!” God said. “Here I am”, said Abraham. “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 of which I will tell you.”
Is God now commanding Abraham to engage in a form of sacrifice which was practiced by the nations surrounding Abraham in that land, but which God strictly forbids? Had God suddenly changed his mind? Or is something far different happening? Something which, in some way, to some degree, Abraham understood?
Abraham rose early the next morning, saddled his donkey, took two of his men with him, and his son Isaac. He cut the wood for the offering. On the third day, they arrive at the mountain God indicated to Abraham.
Abraham takes the fire and the knife, lays the wood on Isaac’s shoulders, and says to his men, “Stay here… I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”
As they walk up the mountain, Isaac speaks up: “My father!” “Here I am, my son”, says Abraham. Isaac says, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham answers, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.”
Abraham proceeds. As does Isaac. Isaac is bound. Abraham raises the knife. And in the last moment, at just the right time, God provides the substitute. “Abraham, Abraham, don’t lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him,” shouts the angel of the Lord.
And there is a ram. A ram, its head caught in thorns, to be offered in place of Abraham’s son. Just as Abraham had told his son, “God will provide for Himself the lamb.” In this case, a ram.
Abraham’s obedience to God’s test was not cold or austere. It was the obedience of faith. Abraham loved his son, had waited a long time for him, and believed God’s promises about him. Abraham is not called, in Scripture, the man of obedience but “the man of faith” [Galatians 3:9]
If you remember, Isaac is the son promised to Abraham in his old age. Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was barren. Yet, in their old age, at age ninety for her and one hundred for him, God provided Abraham with a son, an heir – a son about whom God made a promise.
Back in Genesis 15, before Sarah had ever conceived, yet in their old age, God said to Abraham, “Your very own son shall be your heir…” “Look toward heaven, Abraham, and number the stars, if you are able to number them…” “So shall your offspring be.” “And Abraham believed the Lord, and God counted his faith as righteousness.” [Genesis 15:4-6]
“You will have a son from Sarah [see also Gen. 17:17; 21:2]. Through that very son, your descendants, your offspring – your grandkids and great great great grandkids – will become nations, tribes, a great and numerous people.”
If God’s promise to Abraham about Isaac is true, then Isaac will live. Even though God has given this strange command, somehow, in some way or another, Isaac will live. Even if Isaac dies, Isaac will live. Because God promised descents through Isaac.
Though God had commanded Abraham to offer his son, Abraham nevertheless believed that Isaac would, somehow, be coming down the mountain alive with him that day. He said to his two men, “Stay here; I and the boy will go over there and then come again to you.”
It was based on this faith that Abraham did not withhold his only son [Gen. 22:12,16]. This is not my own interpretation. This is what the New Testament Scripture tells us, as we read: “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, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.” [Hebrews 11:17-19]
And, as Abraham told his son, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for an offering.” And now, in these days, God has provided the Lamb for an offering. The “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” [John 1:29]. Jesus.
In your place – instead of you – instead of your sons or daughters – that we need not die for our sins, God gave His one-and-only Son, whom He loves, to die for sin in our place as the offering that ends all offerings – the sacrifice, in full, which atones for the sins of the world. The Lamb sacrificed instead of me, which saves me, forever, from sin, death, and the devil. God’s Son, the Lamb of God, in our stead on the cross.
Father Abraham offering his son, Isaac, in Genesis points us to the Father of us all offering His beloved Son, Jesus, for our sake. Jesus, the one righteous one, the only spotless lamb, offered Himself for sinners – ending the need for sacrifice as the way to make us right with God. Once-for-all. “It is finished”, He said.
Abraham is “the man of of faith”. Abraham “believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness” [Gen. 15:6; Galatians 3:6; Romans 4:3]. You also are alive to God, and are counted righteous to Him, not by your works, but by faith – “So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” [Galatians 3:9]
“Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.’” [Romans 4:4-8]
All because the perfect Lamb of God was offered for your sins, shortcomings, and failures instead of you.
What does this mean in life? God will not call you to the task He called Abraham. That was a one-time thing, and it is finished. But you are called to many tasks and callings in life for God and for your neighbor.
That God no longer looks at your daily shortcomings, failures, and sins – because your life is washed in the blood of the Lamb – means that you can always approach what God has given you to do with confidence.
You are not condemned. You are not on the run. God is not against you. Because of the Lamb, God is for you. He is now your dear Father, not your scrutinizing Judge. He is not holding yesterday’s failure over your head. He is there for you.
We might be, in some ways, C- people called to A+ tasks. Serving our neighbor. Serving His people. Serving our children. God forgives the ‘minuses’ and gives the ‘pluses’.
All that is wrong in me, the Lamb has carried to the cross in Himself. Therefore, we can approach the many things God has called us to do with confidence – confidence in Him — that He is willing to give the success in me, even in me, that He desires.
And because of the Lamb, you can now also approach God’s throne with confidence. And His altar with confidence. And pray with confidence. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” [Hebrews 4:16] – because of the Lamb who went to the cross instead of us. Amen.
[Read Luke 13:1-9]
Called to Be Fruitful
As Jesus is teaching, some report to Him about recent tragedies – “…about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.” Sacrilege and violence. Others had in mind those on whom a tower in Siloam, a pool in Jerusalem, had fallen.
Jesus responds, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?” “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?” “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” [Lk. 13:1-5]
We should not think that tragedies, natural disasters, or bad diagnoses happen to others because they are uniquely bad. Only God knows His purpose in hard times.
But witnessing tragedy is cause for our own repentance. We should realize what worse thing would befall us for our own sins. There, but for the grace of God, go I.
Jesus is telling His people that they must repent – not just everyone else – and then He tells them this parable of a fig tree, a fig tree that, so far, is not bearing fruit:
“A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” [Lk. 13:6-9]
Israel is God’s fig tree. He baptized them through the Red Sea and under the cloud [1 Corinthians 10:1-2]. He fed them manna in the wilderness and gave them water from the rock [1 Cor. 10:3-4]. And He planted them in the land to which He brought them. Yet, “with most of them”, it says, “God was not pleased” [1 Cor. 10:5].
They made an idol of gold and praised it as the god who brought them out of Egypt, with feasts and parties [1 Cor. 10:7; Exodus 32:4,6]. God’s covenant people lived in sexual immorality and didn’t honor the covenant of marriage [1 Cor. 10:8].
Israel grumbled and complained against God and against their God-given leader, Moses. They tested the Lord, saying “Will He really give us water to drink in this wilderness? He’s letting us die!” Though God had given them food and drink all that way. [1 Cor. 10:9-10; Numbers 14:1-4; 21:4-9]
Like the man in the parable who gave his fig tree three years to produce fruit, God sent His prophets to Israel, century after century, to plead with them to turn to the Lord. To show the fruit of repentance. And the fruit of faith, to trust their Lord.
God sent prophets like Ezekiel whom God appointed as a watchman for Israel to warn the wicked, because He does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked but desires that they would turn and live [Ezekiel 33:7-11].
And then God sent His only Son. And to Him too God’s people would not listen.
“These things happened to them as an example” and “they were written down for our instruction” [1 Cor. 10:11]. Unless we repent, we too will perish.
Are we fruitful toward God? Can He be pleased with us? Not with them. With me. Not the speck that’s in their eyes, but the log that’s in mine. Do I listen to His calls to repentance? “Let the one who thinks he stands watch out that he does not fall.” [1 Cor. 10:12]
The man in the parable was ready to cut his fig tree down. The vinedresser interceded and acquired more mercy for it, “Give it one more year. Let me dig around it and fertilize it. Let me work on it that much longer. Then, if it bears fruit, good. If not, then cut it down.”
The true vinedresser is your Savior Jesus, who, in truth, went many steps further. He Himself took the place of His barren fig tree and was nailed to a barren, branchless cross for it. The Righteous for the unrighteous.
Jesus went to the extreme in seeking to save you, and He has saved you. He died for fruitless mankind. He replaced us in death and condemnation to set us free.
Now, by His saving death, Jesus has born the fruit. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” – “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” [John 12:24,32].
Lifted up on the cross, buried in the tomb, and alive again – raised from the dead – having forgiven you in full by His atoning blood – and having conquered the power of sin and death that rendered us fruitless – the fruit that Jesus now bears on His tree is all of you.
Where there is the forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. Christ’s cross, where your sins are forgiven, is now a life-giving tree, full of branches and fruit. You are its many, tender branches – once dead, but now grafted into that life-giving cross, and God bearing His fruit in you.
The fruit God bears in you is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” [Galatians 5:22-23]
Not by the pressing thumb of the Law anymore, but by the life of the Holy Spirit which comes to you in the forgiving Gospel – by that, God bears the fruit of love in you.
· Love for God and for your neighbor, because God has so loved you. [1 John 4:10,19]
· Joy, because there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents [Luke 15:7].
· Peace, because you now have peace with God by faith in Jesus. [Rom. 5:1]
· Patience with others, because God has been, and still is, patient with you.
· Kindness, because God is kind to you.
· Goodness, because of God’s goodness.
· Faithfulness, because God is faithful to His covenant promises to you.
· Gentleness, because God handles your faults gently.
· Self-control, so that these hands and this mouth don’t offend against my God.
And when you have sinned, you still have a patient intercessor who interposes His precious blood. We can turn, repent, to Him and trust that He will accept us and even still bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit in us, sinners though we be.
Christ’s continued work – for you and in you – is as concrete as the work of the vinedresser in the parable who dug and fertilized that tree. Jesus speaks and feeds. He speaks absolution, forgiveness, to our confession of sin – He speaks to us the guidance of His Word preached – He feeds us in His Supper, and in His Word.
And, lastly, as living, human branches – unlike mere wood – we do have an active role in making use of His Word and Supper in the worship service. We listen to the Word intently, making an effort to learn it and apply it to ourselves. We receive the Supper purposefully, with self-examination, for our help and aid from sins and hardship.
And we are present to make deliberate use of the Confession & Absolution, in the beginning of the service, which does bear fruit in us when we use it.
God is not willing that we perish. Let’s not miss out on these things, but let’s make use of God’s Means of Grace so that, on His tree, we can be branches full of the fruits that He is working in us. Amen.
[Luke 13:31-35] At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to [Jesus], “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. 33Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ 34O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! 35Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
[Philippians 3:20] “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…”
Uncertain Times and a Better Citizenship
The Pharisees and King Herod were not allies. They were natural enemies. Herod stood for licentious, self-indulgent living. Moral flexibility in his standards. Noted in Scripture for his adultery – and for beheading God’s prophet, John the Baptist, who spoke against it.
The Pharisees stood for moral strictness and high standards. The best for their nationality and nation. They stoned the adulterous! And were about to once, before Jesus stopped them [John 8:1-11].
Herod and the Pharisees were at odds in every way – except for a few. The power and prosperity of their nation, Israel, were of high importance. Jerusalem mattered a lot, though for different reasons. They were men of this world.
Neither Herod nor the Pharisees could’ve sung, honestly, “I’m but a stranger here, heaven is my home…” For the Pharisees it was religious – for Herod it was politics – for both, matters of this world were their hope, not God’s heaven.
This fact united them against one common enemy. When they met the God of heaven, they despised Him. God became Man in His Son Jesus Christ. God came. The Pharisees who professed to serve God in purity of life and doctrine – and Herod, who sat on the throne over God’s chosen Israel – when they met the Lord, were at odds with the Lord.
Throughout the Gospels, the Pharisees are clearly opposed to Jesus, plotting against Him in every interaction. So, we would assume in today’s reading as well that their motive isn’t friendly. They want Jesus gone, so they kindly warn Him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.”
Herod thinks Jesus might be John the Baptist raised from the dead [Matthew 14:2], and, so, probably really was seeking to kill him – again, kind of.
What is proven true – and is further seen to be true – is this: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” [Luke 9:58]. Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, is not at home in man’s world. Jesus has entirely different motives and interests.
Herod wants power, influence, and wealth in this world – and to pursue the desires of his flesh. Pharisees want purity in the traditions of their nation and elders – and to protect the established status of their religion and tradition in their country.
For Jesus, He is but a stranger here, heaven is His home. Earth is a desert drear, heaven is His home. Danger and sorrow stand ’round Him on every hand; Heaven is His fatherland, Heaven is His home. (If you remember the hymn…)
Heaven is Jesus’ home, and therefore His purposes on earth are heaven centered. “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.’” Jesus is on His course to the cross. His face is set.
Jesus’ face is set toward Jerusalem – the city where He is headed – not to be honored, but to be crowned with a crown of thorns, to carry His cross, to be crucified and to die. For the purposes of heaven – to redeem sinners.
To redeem the adulterous woman. To redeem the greedy man. To bring the crucified thief with Him into Paradise. An to soften the heart of the hardhearted Pharisee and of the brutal centurion. To make repentance possible. To give new life.
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost”, said Paul, a former Pharisee [1 Timothy 1:15].
“I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” [Matthew 9:13] – spoken for Matthew’s sake, a former defrauder and tax-collector.
“Your sins are forgiven”, Jesus said to a woman who had been forgiven much – and therefore loved the Lord much because of all He had forgiven [Luke 7:36-50]. Christ’s heaven-centered mission.
Regarding things on earth, “We live in uncertain times.” Something said so much that maybe it became cliché. But which, now, has become truer for more people – and which is always true at certain points in our life. Uncertain times.
How will the stock market affect your retirements? And how will it affect the many not-retired people among us who also depend on it? How will new tax and trade situations – new foreign relation situations – affect your ability to do what you need to do for your family?
Some pastors, in their congregations, have people suddenly out of work or potentially out of work because of changes outside of their control. Uncertainty.
Others have uncertainty about whether or not family members – or they themselves – will be able to come in and out of the country. Will paperwork actually get processed? Will fair, legal treatment and due process be the norm? What was an established and normal part of life for many is suddenly uncertain.
What if there is war? What if, in the next ten years, there is major war – and my nation is on the wrong side of it? How do we deal with that? For parents who have children who are not yet (but will be) of military age, these thoughts are more troubling.
And, what if something bad – completely unrelated to the troubles in the news – happens to you personally tomorrow, or next month? What if what you suffer is the fear, the anxiety, of uncertainty? Well, then, uncertain times certainly do not help.
I preached recently, in part, on the idea that, as Christians, we don’t always have a home in this world. The uncertainties of life create camps, tribes. Mere compassion for this person makes you an enemy of that group. Concerns over this or that issue makes you an enemy of another.
Even what you worry about can make you suspect to some. Herods and Pharisees and Lefts and Rights all form around the anxieties of this life.
What every political camp or ideological group will always have in common, in the end, is that they have no use for Jesus Christ and the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins. They belong to this world. But, for us, heaven is our home, and we walk with this different purpose.
At the very least, trouble in this world can remind us of our mission to the lost. To soften the hard hearts. To have compassion and bring the Gospel to those trapped by the desires of their flesh.
And to be a voice for God’s Word of truth – both the guiding light and convicting truth of His Commandments and the forgiving and renewing promise of His Gospel.
Jesus was beset by trouble on every side. But He was committed. His face was set toward the mission of His cross. In Jerusalem, He would become “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” [John 1:29]
He redeemed you by His death. He made new life for you by His resurrection. He created certainty. Certainty regarding you and God. Certainty regarding you and your truest citizenship, that of heaven.
“Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” [Philippians 3:19-21]
Let’s remember that we have certainty about our truest treasure and our forever-future in our true home and nation, the kingdom of our Savior Jesus Christ. Certainty about the good will and intentions of Jesus, who will not turn us away [John 6:37; 2 Peter 3:9].
And let’s be committed to the mission given us – that our faces be set to raising our children, not as Herods or Pharisees, but as disciples of the Savior Jesus – to sharing with them and others the sure and certain hope we have in Jesus to give them the one thing that matters most and forever. Amen.
