Jesse Tree - Day 6: Isaac

I last published these Jesse Tree posts in 2019. I want to revisit them this Advent so you're coming along for the ride!

The Jesse Tree helps us prepare for Christ's coming by studying His roots and Salvation History. 

Day 6: Isaac

Symbols: bundle of wood, altar, ram in bush

Abraham's sacrifice - a fresco from the Old church of Raduil. Bulgaria,
by Edal Anton Lefterov (Own work);[CC-BY-SA-3.0 or GFDL  via Wikimedia Commons

Gen. 22:1-14

How Abraham must have trusted and loved God above all to follow his instructions for sacrificing Isaac. In this way he is the opposite of Adam and Eve who did the "reasonable" thing instead of trusting in God's love. Perhaps he remembered that God loved Isaac even more than he, Abraham, did. Perhaps it was a continual struggle with himself to obey God's will. Or both. Did Abraham think of that star-filled night, of the promise of more descendants than he could count? And what do I do when faced with an "unreasonable" request? We saw what Christ did. He obeyed and trusted and loved God to the very end ... and to a resurrection. And that made all the difference for us.

Abraham embraces his son Isaac after receiving him back from God, 1900 Bible illustration
Via Wikimedia Commons