by Pastor Douglas Brauner

Hope for the Powerless

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 
Genesis 22:7 English Standard Version

As I mentioned in a previous devotion, Rembrandt’s use of light captivates me. In this studio copy of his painting of Abraham sacrificing Issac, the light falls on all three characters; the Angel of the Lord that grasps Abraham’s hand to prevent him from killing Isaac, on Abraham’s shocked face as he drops the knife, and on Isaac. In fact, much of the light falls on Isaac.

The light shining on his lily white, youthful body suggests that Isaac is in a helpless position. His father’s hand, covering his face from our eyes, pulls back Isaac’s head and fully exposes his throat, assuming that this would be the area for the knife to fall. His arms are bound beneath him, and his legs bent in a non-submissive position.

He awaits his death. He is the lamb of the burnt offering.

For some of us reading this devotion we feel like it is our head that is pulled back and our throat exposed. Circumstances are getting the best of us and there is no escape. We feel helpless. Our fate is sealed.

I can’t help but see Jesus in Isaac, only not on a pile of wood, but nailed to wood. There was no escape for Jesus, he had to die. He must be the sacrifice for all people. He is your sacrifice. There is no angel to intercede, no magic nail puller that released him from the cross.

Jesus is the definition of helplessness so that even those of us who feel powerless might have hope, not in our circumstances but in a God who would sacrifice his Son that we might enjoy life.

In Jesus, we are not helpless. In Jesus we have hope.

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado