A Willing Sacrifice

For a Bible Study class I'm taking for college (the same one whose Discussion Board posts I have blatantly plagiarized in a few of my blog posts), I'm writing a paper about Rembrandt's painting of the Sacrifice of Isaac. One of the more interesting and note-worthy details of this painting is that Rembrandt had Abraham cover Isaac's face. There are several possible reasons for this artistic choice, but one that I think is likely is that Rembrandt probably didn't want to have to paint Isaac's face.

It's hard to know exactly how Isaac felt about his impending sacrifice. Some amount of common sense tells us that he must have been at least somewhat complicit in the act. After all, as Genesis 21:5 tells us, "Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him." It wouldn't have been hard for a young man, or even a young boy, to get away from a murderous man about a hundred years older than him. Then again, it's hard to imagine anyone being willing to let themselves get killed. The Biblical record isn't clear on whether Isaac was or would have been okay with going through with the sacrifice, so it's possible that Rembrandt had Isaac's face covered so he wouldn't have to paint it, so he wouldn't have to decide whether Isaac looked composed or alarmed.

Personally, I think that Isaac knew what was happening and willingly consented to be sacrificed, though I'll admit to basing that assumption solely on the similarities between Isaac and Jesus Christ. Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac was symbolic of God's sacrifice of Jesus Christ, so, because Christ willingly submitted Himself to the will of His Father, I imagine that it's at least fairly likely that Isaac willing submitted to the will of his father, too.

Still, that's pretty incredible to think about. Pain is painful, and death is scary for most people. Willingly facing both demonstrates a good deal of fortitude. It's incredible to think that Isaac was willing to let Abraham kill him like that, but it's just as incredible that Jesus willingly let the Jews torture and kill Him as well. Yet, we know that Jesus bore the weight of our sins willingly. He allowed Himself to be killed for us. He suffered unimaginable pain for us, not because the Jews physically forced Him to, but because he loves us.

That's why I think Abraham didn't physically force Isaac to participate in the sacrifice. Jesus was a willing sacrifice, which is why I think that Isaac was a willing sacrifice, too.