Reading: Lenten Weekday

Father and Son 4
from the Paschal Homilies of St Cyril of Alexandria

In the account of Abraham’s sacrifice of his son Isaac, the Bible portrays
the mystery of our Savior in all its aspects. Because I want you to have a clear
understanding of this deep mystery of our religion, I must show you the
connection between the events that typified the truth itself, and explain how each
part of the story should be interpreted.

The holy Abraham took his son and hastened to the place that God had
shown him. The fact that the boy was brought to be sacrificed by his father is
meant to teach us by way of type or sign that the Lord Jesus Christ was not raised
upon the cross by any human power, nor by the wickedness of those who laid
snares for him, but by the will of the Father, whose providential plan permitted
him to suffer death for the whole world. The Savior himself said as much when
he answered Pilate: you would have no power over me if it had not been given
you from above. At another time, speaking to his Father in heaven, he said:
Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. But your will, not mine, be done.

Abraham laid the wood for the sacrifice on his son’s shoulders. In the
same way, the Jews laid the wood of the cross on the Savior’s shoulders and they
did this with the consent, one might almost say the cooperation of the Father; for
it is not possible to compel the divine power. The prophet Isaiah bears reliable
witness to this when he says: He bore the punishment which brings us peace,
and by his wounds we are healed. We had all strayed like sheep, everyone had
gone his own way and the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all.

When the patriarch eventually arrived at the appointed place, he put all his
skill into building a good altar. This too we are meant to interpret in a spiritual
way and so to understand that what appears to the human eye as a cross and a
gibbet is in fact in the eyes of the Father of the whole universe a vast and towering
altar raised up for the salvation of the world, and blackened by the smoke of a
pure and most holy sacrifice.

By his words, I bared my back to the scourge, and let myself be struck on
the face Isaiah foretold the blows that his enemies would shamelessly inflict on
the Savior’s body, and their spitting upon it… Our Lord Jesus Christ, disregarding
the shame, humbled himself in obedience to the Father, even to the extent of
dying for our salvation. He died to give us life through the Holy Spirit and to
raise us up with himself, to open the gates of heaven to us and to lead us in, thus
restoring to the Father the human race whose sin had long ago made it fly from
his presence.

Therefore, beloved, let this great work of our Savior be acclaimed by every
voice, let his praise be on every tongue. Let the sweet sound of that ancient song
be heard again: God has gone up with shouts of jubilation, the Lord has
ascended with a fanfare of trumpets. He completed the work of our salvation
and then ascended, indeed he not only ascended but he also led captivity captive
and gave gifts to mortals.

4 A Word in Season – vol. II – Exordium Books – 1982 – pg 147