From Moriah to Calvary
Once in a Bible study class we wondered what Abraham and Isaac talked about on their three-day journey to Mount Moriah, where Abraham was instructed by God to take his son Isaac to be sacrificed.
We imagined they might have talked about everyday things the way we do when we take a trip with family or friends. Surely Abraham didn’t spend the time talking about what was going to happen, because the scriptures tell us that when they arrived at the site, Isaac asked his father, “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Isaac still didn’t know what was happening. A member of the class suggested that while Abraham trusted God’s will, he probably spent that entire three-day walk poking in the brush and looking over his shoulder for a lamb to sacrifice. He still had hope for a different way.
Anyone who has walked alongside someone who is seriously ill knows something about this walk to Moriah. Often you talk about everything except for what is actually happening. For some that act of changing the subject might be denial or just plain fear. But for believers, it should be an act of faith. With the outcome out of your control but in God’s hands, you talk about other things, everyday things, things where you still have decisions and choices: what to eat, what to wear, what to do with your time. Yet even with faith, you still keep an eye out for that lamb in the thicket; the pill or the procedure that will change the outcome when you get to Moriah.
Today begins Holy Week and the final leg on our walk toward another mountain. The good news is that just as God provided Abraham with a lamb in the thicket, we too are spared the ultimate sacrifice. We still have trouble and trials, but we don’t have to poke in the brush or look over our shoulder for resolution. We know that Christ is the lamb in the thicket, and his mountain is not Moriah but is Calvary.