Matthew 1:1-2 - Jesus Is the Son of Abraham - December 7, 2022

More attention, more devotion, more praise; and more criticism, more opposition and more hatred have been directed at Jesus than any other person in human history. There’s really no comparison. Every recorded word that Jesus spoke has been sifted, analyzed, scrutinized and debated – letter by letter – by both believers and deniers – more than all other kings and queens, authors and artists, philosophers and scientists combined. Even 2000 years after his death, there isn’t a moment on earth that millions are not studying what Jesus said and did. Here’s a man who was born in the little town of Bethlehem 2000 years ago, and yet his birth still marks the dividing line of human history: BC – “before Christ;” and AD – Anno Domini, “the year of our Lord.” Just who is this person? Who is Jesus? That’s the question we’re asking during this Advent season. Matthew is serving as our guide. Tonight he informs us that in addition to being the royal Son of David, he is also the Son of Abraham.

While Jesus is clearly the most famous and important son of Abraham – he wasn’t the first famous and important one. That title belongs to Isaac. The story of Isaac is one of the most dramatic stories in the Bible. Abraham and Sarah had been trying to have children their entire marriage – and rightly so, for God had promised Abraham that he would have a son from whom would spring a people too numerous to count and through whom all people on earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:3; 15:5). Roughly 25 years after God had first made his promise, at the ripe old age of 100 for Abraham and 90 for Sarah, he kept his word and Isaac was born. Isaac in Hebrew means laughter. No doubt the birth of Isaac gave great joy to Abraham and Sarah – as the birth of any child does. But it wasn’t long before God gave this horrifying command to Abraham: now take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains there, the one to which I direct you (Genesis 22:2).

While God has never commanded us to do anything remotely close to sacrificing our only son (the son through whom the Savior would come, no less) – we can imagine what he felt, right? We’ve all had those days when the world seems to be coming apart around us; when our lives seem to be falling apart. When the OBGYN tells us to sit down and proceeds to tell us that the child we are so eager to welcome into this world has a severe birth defect – and may not survive. When our employer calls us into his office and tells us that cuts have to be made for the good of the company – and we are one of those cuts. When the burden of PTSD or depression seem to get heavier day by day. When our – or our children’s – marriage is on the rocks and it doesn’t appear like it will survive. When the doctor calls to say that tests confirm it is cancer or Alzheimer’s or dementia. When we get the call that yet another friend or relative has died…and we have yet another funeral to attend – it can feel like your world, your life is falling apart around you.

And at those times in life, it’s easy to get lost. We’re tempted to lose ourselves in our jobs or hobbies or social media or Netflix or substance abuse. We express our pain by lashing out in anger and hatred and revenge. Satan tempts us to believe that the pain will go away if we destroy our marriages, rip apart our families, abandon our friends, or even put an end it all. But, as dangerous and damaging as those temptations are, none of them are his ultimate goal; his ultimate goal is to lead us to blame God for the pain and the hurt – and to walk away from him in unbelief. Let’s not be so naïve as to pretend that we haven’t been there (or at least close) – and, if you haven’t, you will. But it’s at those times that we need Jesus the most. It’s at those times that Jesus’ words and work are most important. Because Jesus knows what it’s like – he knows what it’s like to have your life turned upside down.

Before we get there, let’s remember the context of this test. This text didn’t come out of the blue. Some time later God tested Abraham Genesis 22:1 tells us. God had prepared Abraham to face this test by making – and keeping – many promises. He had carefully and safely guided Abraham from his birthplace of Ur to Haran and then to Canaan – just as he promised (Genesis 12:1-3). God had made Abraham a very wealthy man – just as he promised (Genesis 13:2). God had shown Abraham the land of Canaan which his descendants would eventually inherit (Genesis 15:18-20). God had given Abraham and Sarah a son when they both were well beyond child-bearing years (Genesis 21). God had given Abraham comprehensive preparation for this test.

God has prepared us, too, for the tests we will face in our lives – like those we mentioned before. Through baptism, absolution, the Gospel and Holy Communion God regularly delivers to us the grace, faith and power he has promised us. Through these means of grace, he gives us courage and confidence, insight and wisdom. These means of grace – these ways in which God reaches down out of heaven into our lives to assure us of his presence and promises – also remind us that whatever test we’re facing – it’s not random, it’s not an accident. Every trial we face is, in fact, ultimately a test administered by God our Father.

Theoretically, I think, we can all agree with that premise, that fact: that God never sends a test into our lives that he hasn’t prepared us for. But that doesn’t answer the larger question: Why? That’s the question we ask most frequently when we’re going through a period of testing, isn’t it? Why do we have to undergo this testing at all? Why me? Why now? Why this? Do you know what God’s answer is? We aren’t told that Abraham asked this question – but Job certainly did (Job 42:1-6). It’s the classic parent answer: “Because.” Satisfied? No? Well, God’s answer doesn’t end there. Peter explains: because of this you rejoice very much, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various kinds of trials so that the proven character of your faith – which is more valuable than gold, which passes away even though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (1 Peter 1:6-7). Why does God test us? “Because,” he says, “because I love you right where you are but I love you too much to leave you where you are.” The tests God puts us through refine us; they mature us; they season us; they humble us – in the end, they lead us to despair of life in this world and to long for heaven. In other words, God tests us to strengthen us – that is, to strengthen our faith in him – so that we will be saved – that’s a good purpose for testing, no?

God’s testing of Abraham shows us that God prepares his people for the testing he gives and the purpose for the test. Finally, it teaches us that God provides provision for the test – he provides a way out. Back to Genesis 22: Abraham looked around and saw that behind him there was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. Abraham called the name of that place “The LORD Will Provide.” So it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided” (Genesis 22:13-14). In times of testing, this is what we need to remember – the same God who spared Isaac’s life on that mountain and provided Abraham with a way out is our God – a God with a proven track-record of providing for his children in times of testing. Our God saw Joseph sitting in Pharaoh’s prison and provided a miraculous way out (Genesis 41). He saw the people of Israel enslaved in Egypt and provided a way through the Red Sea (Exodus 7-14). He saw a teenager named David facing off against a giant named Goliath and provided a stone to strike him down (1 Samuel 17). He saw Daniel thrown into a lion’s den and provided angels to close their jaws (Daniel 6). In every test, God provides a way out. Paul says God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tested beyond your ability, but when he tests you, he will also bring about the outcome that you are able to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Of course, God has provided the ultimate provision for us in Jesus. Jesus also willingly took the wood of his sacrificial cross and carried it up a mountain – a mountain which some believe was the same on which Isaac was almost sacrificed – now referred to as Calvary. There would be no substitute this time. Well, more accurately – there would be no substitute for Jesus because he was that ram, he was our substitute. We were the ones who deserved to be marched out to Calvary and nailed to a tree – but Jesus took our place. He was arrested abruptly. Tried unjustly. Sentenced callously. Mocked repeatedly. Abandoned ruthlessly. Beaten brutally. Crucified barbarously. But then Jesus passed the ultimate test – he rose from the grave victorious! God reversed the curse. Jesus is alive – never to die again. Death has no power over him – or over any who belong to him! Jesus lives to provide what we need when we are faced with even the hardest tests of life. Once more, back to Paul: my God will fully supply your every need, according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). Whatever test you’re facing in this moment, Jesus’ selfless sacrifice on the cross is proof that God will provide.

Thinking back to the account of Abraham and Isaac, there’s one thing that’s always struck me as strange, maybe even shocking: Abraham’s attitude after it was all over. He wasn’t bitter or angry or resentful that God had put him through this test. He didn’t call the mountain Mt. Resentment or Mt. Bitterness or Mt. Don’t Every Do That Again, God. He called it The LORD Will Provide (Genesis 22:14). In other words, Abraham was strengthened in his conviction that wherever God guides us he will provide. He will provide for us wherever he guides us, too. How do we know? Because we know Jesus, the Son of Abraham, the Son of sacrifice. Under God’s mighty hand, whatever trial you’re facing right now is for your good – and you will look back one day – although it may not be until the day you’re in heaven – and say: “Thank you Lord for the preparation, purpose and provision of those tests that strengthened my faith in Jesus, the Son of sacrifice, the Son of Abraham.” Amen.