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Thursday – Thirteenth week – OT1
Readings: Gen 22:1-19; Mt 9:1-8.
1/ First Reading: RSV Genesis 22:1 After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” 2 He said, “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 upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the ass; I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. 9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 Then Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place The LORD will provide; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” 15 And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will indeed bless you, and I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies, 18 and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
2/ Gospel: RSV Matthew 9:1 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, they brought to him a paralytic, lying on his bed; and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, `Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, `Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — he then said to the paralytic — “Rise, take up your bed and go home.” 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
I. THEME: Faith brings many blessings and forgiveness for people.
In the area of faith, people can’t say that they only believe what they can understand. The simple reason is there are many God’s mysteries that exceed human understanding; for examples: the mysteries of the Holy Trinity, the Body and Blood of Christ, the Cross and the sufferings. To understand these mysteries, people need to be revealed by God through Christ.
Today readings illustrate the importance of believing and obeying God even though people don’t understand the reason. In the first reading, the author of the Book of Genesis reported Abraham’s strong and unshakable faith in God through the event that he was ready to sacrifice his only child for God. In the Gospel, Jesus healed the paralytic and forgave all his sins. Jesus also patiently explained his forgiving power for the scribes.
II. ANALYSIS
1/ Reading I: God tests Abraham’s faith.
1.1/ Abraham showed his unshakable faith in God: There are many things we can learn from today passage; but we only pay attention to two main points.
(1) Abraham didn’t ask God why He wants him to kill Isaac, his only son: Many of us ask the question, “Why does God want Abraham to do such thing?” because it is completely opposed with human understanding. How it is possible for a father to have courage to kill his son, especially the heir which God Himself gave him in his old age!
Abraham didn’t ask questions because he completely trusted God. For examples: God commands him to go; he goes. God said to him to stop; he stops. In today passage, God said to him, “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 upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So, Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Abraham doesn’t need to question because he completely trusts God. He knew God has a purpose when He commands him to do anything. When he doesn’t understand the reason, Abraham let his faith guide him.
(2) The father and son relationship must be put after God and human relationship: Three days of the journey is a long time for Abraham to change his decision, by not doing according to God’s commandment; especially after hearing the below dialogue between Abraham and his son.
– Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!”
– Abraham said, “Here am I, my son.”
– Isaac continued, “Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
– Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So, they went both of them together.
Abraham’s love for God is stronger than his love for Isaac. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. Then Abraham put forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
1.2/ God gave Abraham the reward:
(1) Faith must be tested with suffering: If a person is ready to slay his only son to demonstrate his faith in God, there is no more need to test him. God, who fathoms all hidden things in men, knows Abraham’s faith in Him. Once God sees that, the sacrifice of Isaac is no longer needed, so God commanded the angel to stop Isaac’s slaying, “Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now, I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
We can compare Abraham’s willing to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mt. Moriah with the sacrifice of Christ on Mt. Golgotha, not too far from Mt. Moriah. The main difference of the two events is Isaac didn’t die while Christ actually died to redeem people’s sins. The reason for Jesus’ death is that God wants to show the depth of His love for human beings. People need a proof because they can’t see God’s love for them.
(2) God blesses Abraham’s descendants: After this, the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies, and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.”
Because of Abraham’s heroic and obedient act, God blesses him and all descendants. Same thing happened in the Eve Garden, because of Adam’s disobedient act, he and all his descendants were cursed. So, the faith of a person never remains only in that person but shall spread out and benefit many others. We are blessed and saved by Abraham’s faith and Christ’s obedience to God, His Father.
2/ Gospel: : “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.”
2.1/ The scribes questioned Jesus’ power to forgive sins: Matthew reported: “And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.””
(1) The scribes’ reaction: Some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” The Jewish tradition rightly believe that only God can forgive sins.
(2) Jesus’ reaction: “Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?”
Of course, it is easier to say “Your sins are forgiven!” because no one can verify the result. The more difficult is to say to the paralytic, “Rise and walk!” because everybody can verify the one who said has power to heal or not. To verify that he has both, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” The paralytic rose and went home.
2.2/ The right to forgive sins closely connects with the power to heal:
(1) Jesus has the right to forgive sins: The Jewish tradition believes that disease is the result of sin (Eze 18:2; Jn 9:1-2). Jesus wanted to show them that when he healed the paralytic, he took away his sins which is the cause of his disease. Jesus wanted to use the healing to demonstrate that he has power to forgive sins.
(2) Jesus is God: The Jewish tradition also rightly believes that only God can forgive sins. Jesus wanted to show them that if he can forgive sins, they must accept him as God. Therefore, their condemnation, “This man is blaspheming” is wrong.
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– We need to obey what God commands and His providence even we don’t understand the reason. He shall enlighten or reveal them for us to understand later.
– To understand God’s mysteries, we need to be humble, to realize the limit of our understanding and to ask for the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment and guidance.