Rembrandt's painting of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac
The dramatic Bible narrative in Genesis 22 about Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac tells of Abraham’s obedience to God’s instruction to show his faith by slaughtering his son. It is a strange story. We have two perspectives here: God promised Abraham a future (cf. verse 22) and, in line with his faith, Abraham trusted God to fulfill that promise. On the other hand, one has to imagine the crisis in Abraham’s mind: how can God fulfill this promise if Isaac, the one through whom the promise will be fulfilled, will die?
Abraham gathers wood, he embarks on the long journey, with his son, up the mountain. He lies to his servants (we are going to worship), he lies to Isaac (God will provide). He speaks lovingly with his son – “My son” and Isaac speaks to him, “my Father.” As Abraham takes his son with him, these thoughts must have filled his mind, over and over again. We can imagine the inner turmoil. And imagine, writes Kierkegaard, his immense inner emotions when he looked at his knife and had to decide to take it in his hand. Even more so, how intense was that moment that he realised he now had to lift that knife and slaughter his son.
Verse 10 must be one of the most dramatic sentences in the Bible.
It speaks of faith.
And yet, it may seem so easy: Abraham is like a machine, a robot. He mechanically obeys God and without a question puts down his knife when the angel of the Lord tells him not to slaughter Isaac.
But is it so easy?
Verse 13 tells us that Abraham “looked up” when the Angel of the Lord instructed him to stop and not lay a hand on his son.
He was looking at his son: he was seeing the face of Isaac who was at that stage the victim. His eyes were staring at the son who had been bound on the altar. He knew he would not want to hurt his son. Face to face they encountered each other. And then it happens that Abraham does what is right. He acts ethically. No hand will slaughter his son.
Why? He heard the voice of the “angel of the Lord.” He could have wondered: but can God really change so quickly? Can God instruct me to sacrifice and then, only the next moment, retract? Is this really a divine voice? Is it not a deception – a demonic attempt to rob me of my faith, my trust in God?
But Abraham knew immediately. He must have known even before the voice spoke. When he looked in the eyes of the victim, of Isaac, bound to be slaughtered, he knew.
It is amazing that Abraham recognized the voice immediately and without doubt put the knife down. This is the real dramatic moment. When one acts ethically, see the victim in the Face to Face meeting, feel the mystical power of the presence of the Other, then one acts in freedom. And then one will be able to immediately recognize the divine in your life.
It is remarkable, as Levinas commented on this narrative, that Abraham did not sacrifice Isaak. He, the man of faith, celebrated for his unconditional trust in the Lord, simply did not do what was the most dramatic instruction a person of faith could receive. This is a story not about Abraham. It is a story about Isaac, the helpless one, the Other, bound to be slaughtered.
When Abraham “looked up” he knew what to do. And as he looked up, God confirmed his ethical action. Abraham knew when he looked at the face of Isaac that he could not. This is what the narrative is all about. Faith means to stand before the Other and reach out, refraining from violence and granting life.
Where we do not live from Face to Face, we crucify the Lamb of God.
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