Would you want to know when and how your death will come? If you could look into the future and watch a video of the details,
would you take a look?
Most of would be all too happy to pass.
But when I think about Jesus, I remember that He knew the
details, looked at the video, and not just once. It was right there in front of
Him for all eternity.
For example, remember the story of Abraham and Isaac, in
Genesis 22? It’s a beautiful image of sacrifice and substitution. I’ve been
moved many times by Abraham’s willingness to put everything on the altar –
literally.
And his son Isaac’s conduct is so admirable. Remember how he
carried the wood for his own sacrifice up the mountain, and asked his father so
innocently, “Where is the lamb?” (v. 7).
But there’s more to this story, a lot more.
You remember that, as Abraham raised the knife to
kill his beloved son, a voice from heaven stopped him, reassured him, and
pointed him to a substitute, a ram caught in the thicket (vv. 11-12).
The one who stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac was the
angel of the Lord (v. 11). Often in the Old Testament "the angel of the Lord" means the Lord Jesus Christ in preincarnate form. I believe it was He who stayed the hand of Abraham and provided the ram. All the while realizing the day was coming—already was in eternity’s timelessness—when He
Himself would be nailed to the altar.
How must Jesus have felt, knowing this scene would be played
out 2000 years later, but without a substitute in the thicket? He Himself is
the Substitute.
Jesus knew. He saw Himself carrying the wood up the hill. This time the Son would be condemned and forsaken, and the Father's hand of wrath would fall. Even 20 centuries away, He must have felt the weight and smelled the stench of the sin He would bear.
All glory to the Lamb, slain before the
foundation of the world.
