Father Abraham Had Only One Son

JUDICA

FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT

March 18, 2018

ST. JOHN 8:46–59

Father Abraham Had Only One Son

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Contrary to the song, Father Abraham had only one son with his wife Sarah. Isaac was the son that the Lord had promised to this old couple. And Isaac was a faithful son of God, who obediently lay down on a stone altar to be killed according to the Word of God, before the Lord spared his life (Genesis 22). But in the end Father Abraham had only one Son who mattered.

But as he got older, Isaac turned out to be a bad egg. He wasn't the Messiah. His birth was a miracle, but his life was ordinarily sinful. He sinned in ways that mirrored his sinful father Abraham. For example, they both lied about their wives to powerful men. They both told neighboring kings that their wives were their sisters (Genesis 20 and 26). They did not trust the Lord to keep them safe, so they used their own cleverness to save themselves. In the end, Abraham and Isaac only disgraced themselves.

Both these men, father and son, needed to be saved from their disgrace. And so God promised them and their wives, Sarah and Rebekah, and all their children a Savior.

GENESIS 12:1–3 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION

This was the very first promise or covenant the Lord God made to Abraham. The blessing of Abraham is that one of his sons would be the Savior from sin. Abraham perhaps thought for a time that Isaac was that Savior, but if he ever thought this, he would have come to realize that the Savior was yet to come.

As it turned out that Savior arrived 2,000 years later, after thousands, even millions, of Abraham's sons lived and died. His name is Jesus.

Tragically, in the last sentences of St. John 8 these sons of Abraham were accusing the Son of Abraham of being a devil. This standard tactic is a thread that runs through the season of Lent: Jesus fighting and beating the devil or Jesus being accused of being in league with the devil or being the devil incarnate.

ST. JOHN 8:52–53 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION

They show their faith with their words. They believed that Abraham was dead along with all the prophets of the Old Testament. They took the good gift from God of a good father and turned Abraham into an idol. Abraham had become their god. This is odd because they certainly knew every detail of Abraham's life: his great deeds, his generosity, but also his sins and his disgraces. But in their unbelief they had failed to listen to the actual and true God speaking to Abraham:

GENESIS 22:15–18 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION

“In your offspring” means Jesus. All the nations of the earth will be blessed because the Lord God and Father of us all did not withhold His only-begotten Son Jesus. God's people who come from every nation and tribe are blessed because Jesus sacrificed Himself on the altar of the cross instead of Isaac or any of us.

This is why even though Father Abraham had many sons, he had only one Son who mattered, because He was the only Son who saves.

Next Sunday we will hear the shouts of Hosanna as this Son of Abraham enters Jerusalem. Their words are true then and they are true today for Hosanna means Save Us!

The false sons of Abraham, who had wrapped themselves up in the flag of Jewishness, so to speak, accused Jesus of fabricating an identity for Himself. But these accusations only proved their misguided unbelief.

But Jesus doesn't make Himself out to be anyone and He replies,

ST. JOHN 8:54–56 “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION

In Jesus' transfiguration Jesus speaks with Moses and Elijah about His coming crucifixion. And since we know Abraham is in heaven, we can understand Jesus' words about Abraham's gladness and can imagine his delight in seeing the sending of God's only-begotten Son into the world to complete His covenant of salvation.

In Jesus' Name. Amen.

God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Thanks be to God!