During the Easter Vigil last night, something unusual caught my attention. In the reading from Genesis about Abraham and Isaac, the boy Isaac, upon reaching the place for sacrifice, says to his father, “Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for the holocaust?” To what must have been a heart-wrenching question, Abraham evasively replies, “God himself will provide the sheep for the holocaust.”
Right after this interchange, Abraham goes on to build the altar of sacrifice and we are told that he arranged the wood on it and tied up his son, ready to slaughter him until God intervened. What we aren’t told in this scene, however, and what I am most intrigued by, is what else Isaac had to say. That is, surely Isaac must have questioned his father further when Abraham began to tie him up and place him on the altar of sacrifice. Surely he must have pleaded for his life, not understanding why his father would do something so horrible. How could Abraham listen to the cries of his son and yet still prepare to slaughter him? How did Abraham subdue him?
In the case of Jesus, we know the agony that the Son experienced as he approached his impending death. He even sweat blood. But what about Isaac?
