This Is My Beloved Son, Listen to Him

02-25-2024Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

The fall of man in the Garden of Eden was caused by the disobedience of Adam and Eve, when they could not sacrifice their inordinate desire to “be like God” and they ate the forbidden fruit in spite of the warning they had received from God. From that moment, man acquired the tendency to sin and so the “obedience test” became one of the necessary huddles every individual had to fulfill in order to establish and sustain a viable right relationship with God. Obedience requires sacrificing your own desires and opinions in order to be aligned with God’s supreme will. This explains why Abraham, who had answered God’s invitation to have a personal relationship with Him, was also required to pass the obedience test by sacrificing what was most precious to him in order to solidify his relationship with God.

God did not need a confirmation of Abraham’s faithfulness and obedience, Abraham needed to be tested in order to know where and to what extent he stood with God. In addition, generations of Abraham’s children (beginning with Isaac who was about to be sacrificed), both in the flesh and and in faith, would be able to derive from His faithfulness a lesson in obedience to God’s will even if His will seemed outrageously difficult and even impossible.

Abraham’s obedience was in no little measure assisted by the docility of Isaac who in the complete account of this particular story voiced out his suspicion about the Lamb of sacrifice. “The Lord shall provide” was certainly not a satisfactory answer to give to a young person who could see all the paraphernalia of sacrifice without seeing the Lamb to be sacrificed. Despite the availability of a reason to doubt, Isaac chose to trust his father and to enable his obedience to the Lord’s directive even at an enormous personal risk. By doing that, Isaac would later become a worthy beneficiary of the blessings that Abraham acquired as a direct consequence of His obedience in which he (Isaac) courageously participated. As we know, the Lord provided a ram in place of Isaac and blessed Abraham abundantly because of his faithful obedience. We are called to be obedient to the always good will of God even when we are required to make heavy sacrifices. The First Reading also reminds us that God rewards our obedience to His Holy will in a positively disproportionate manner. He gives to us much more than what we have sacrificed in obedience to His will, no reward for obedience is greater than the assurance of eternity with God the Lord of our longing.

The prophetic words of Abraham when he said “God Himself will provide the Lamb for the Sacrifice” (Genesis 22:8) found its fullest fulfillment in Christ. Knowing that His ministry was heading towards its peak and end, Jesus took three of His disciples to the mountain where they witnessed the transfiguration of His body and they saw Him conversing with Moses (the law giver) and Elijah (the greatest of the prophets). The Transfiguration was a consolation to strengthen the faith of the three primary Apostles as they undertook with Jesus His final march towards Jerusalem for His final Passover and Passion. The presence of Moses and Elijah signified the consummation of the authority of Prophecy and the Law in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus would be both the lawgiver and the authority of prophecy in the New Testament, in effect, the fullness of Divine revelation in the New dispensation. The voice of the Father that was heard from Heaven adequately confirmed this.

The prophetic words of Abraham when he said “God Himself will provide the Lamb for the Sacrifice” (Genesis 22:8) found its fullest fulfillment in Christ. Knowing that His ministry was heading towards its peak and end, Jesus took three of His disciples to the mountain where they witnessed the transfiguration of His body and they saw Him conversing with Moses (the law giver) and Elijah (the greatest of the prophets). The Transfiguration was a consolation to strengthen the faith of the three primary Apostles as they undertook with Jesus His final march towards Jerusalem for His final Passover and Passion. The presence of Moses and Elijah signified the consummation of the authority of Prophecy and the Law in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus would be both the lawgiver and the authority of prophecy in the New Testament, in effect, the fullness of Divine revelation in the New dispensation. The voice of the Father that was heard from Heaven adequately confirmed this. As we continue with our journey in this Holy Season of Lent, let us pray that we may know Jesus for who He truly is and may we not seek to confine our knowledge of Jesus to the limits of particular places of worship. Instead, let us be blessed with the grace to take Him to the ends of our homes, places of work, our community and society so that Christ may be known and experienced by all to the ends of the earth.

Please be kind and may God bless you.

Fr. Manasseh