Monday, March 9, 2009
Genesis 22:13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
PORTRAITS OF THE PASSION: THE RAM IN THE THICKET
When was the last time you walked through an art gallery? It can be an interesting experience, especially if the work of a famous artist is on display. The great artists don't just paint nice looking pictures. They tell stories with their work. It can be fun to study a painting and ask: "What is the artist trying to tell me?"
The Old Testament is much like a fine art gallery. In this case the artist is God. On display throughout its pages are fine and telling portraits -- portraits of the coming Christ, PORTRAITS OF HIS PASSION. Not portraits of paint and canvas, but living pictures, pictures through which God paints His redeeming love on the human mind and heart. And in the art gallery of the Old Testament we aren't left guessing as to what God means. God always explains his masterpieces in the New Testament. We sometimes refer to these portraits as "types of Christ."
We find one of God's portraits in the far off mountains of Moriah. Picture the scene: Laid out on an altar of wood is only son Isaac. Standing over him is Father Abraham, knife in hand, ready to take the life of the son he loves so dearly. It is a dramatic scene. Painful to see. Hard to understand. But look closely. There in the corner of our painting is a thicket. Caught in the thicket is a ram. Why is he there? What can he have to do with the gut-wrenching scene before us? Everything! For soon the knife will drop from Abraham's hand. Isaac will be unbound. The ram caught in the thicket will be offered instead of Isaac.
Get the picture? Jesus is our substitute! He was caught and ripped apart in the brambles of our sin -- and then laid upon God's altar to make atonement for that sin.
"He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2).
