Homily on Covenants that Blew my Mind

I was at a friend's wedding this past Sunday. (Congratulations Issac and Barb!) During the wedding the pastor gave a short homily on covenants. He started talking about what covenant relationships meant during Abraham's time. I'll just paraphrase the points that really interested me: Covenants occurred between two men and were more binding than a treaty, contract or agreement. A covenant was a new relationship where both men would become like one person. The covenant members would refrain from any selfish actions that might harm this new relationship. The act of trading firstborn sons was common as a very real representation of this new bond.

Now the part that really got me was this analogy: Therefore, when God asks Abraham to put Issac on the altar as a sacrifice, God, in order to keep the covenant, is promising to also put up a son as sacrifice. And in fact Jesus takes Issac's place on the altar. It makes sense that Abraham would have understood this implicit promise.

For me it also gives greater meaning to Jesus saying, 'Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.' He saw the coming of God's son as fulfillment of the covenant promise: My son will die so that your son might live.

I read a theory awhile back that Issac for what ever reason was incapable of understanding why Abraham brought him up the mountain or what was happening on the altar. Literally, he was led like a lamb to the slaughter. This understanding of covenants along with the life of Jesus rounds out the story. Jesus takes the place of Issac because is he is capable of choosing to lay down his life, a choice which is never offered to Issac.