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Gen. 22
We hear a lot about Abraham and his willingness to sacrifice Isaac in this passage. But it takes two to tango. Isaac was not some small tot, completely under his father’s control. He asked his father about the sacrifice and Abraham told him that God would provide it. Yet a few sentences later, we find him bound up and laying on top of a ready to burn altar with his father’s knife gleaming in the sun! Though it doesn’t say, I doubt that Abraham whacked Isaac on the head to get him into this position. Which means that Isaac must have gone willingly. Or at least not fought it. I’d say Abraham wasn’t the only one exercising faith here.
For being such a pivotal part of Biblical prophecy, we don’t really know much about Isaac. I somehow think the lack of focus on Isaac in this particular story emphasizes the truth that Jesus did not do His work for us here on earth independent of God. The plan, work, and sacrifice were all God’s. The human part of Jesus was merely the promise through which God accomplished it all. Like Isaac, Jesus simply obeyed His Father’s instructions so that because of Him, God could swear His blessings to us.
Matt. 21
Jesus answered His own question to the religious leaders. He asked them, “The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” (Matt. 21:25a). John, of course, preached a baptism of repentance. Thus, the question was really whether they believed in repentance or not. When they refused to give an answer, Jesus told a parable, demonstrating that repentance, not personal righteousness, is the path to God. Thus, He identified John’s baptism as, “the way of righteousness”; from heaven and not from men. Jesus also used this parable to call out their resistance to repentance. And, true to form, when Jesus told His next parable they pointed condemning fingers at the wretched vine-growers yet, though they realized Jesus was talking about them, they still refused to repent of their wretchedness.
Neh. 11
As I read this chapter, I wondered why the people didn’t seem to want to live in Jerusalem. Though some volunteered, they had to cast lots to bring one out of ten in to populate the city at least a little. Then I saw that those who didn’t live in Jerusalem lived on their own property – their family inheritance. Of course! I, too, would rather live on my own property than in a house that I didn’t own in the city. Then it occurred to me – living in Jerusalem is in many ways analogous to coming to Christ and being a part of God’s kingdom. We definitely need to be willing to turn away from what seems appealing and leave behind what we think is ours in order to do that!