Gottesblog

Of particular interest on this day are the ashes of the whole burnt offering, which were removed by the priest from the Lord’s Altar to a clean place outside the camp of Israel. For so do your body and life remain in this world, but no longer of it; no longer unclean because of your sins, which are removed, but cleansed and forgiven by the Blood of Christ Jesus and His acceptable Sacrifice. Even now in your still mortal flesh, you live and abide outside the camp with the Crucified One.

And this burnt offering of your body and life as a Christian, this living sacrifice of repentance, faith, and love, is characterized and exercised by those three basic practices to which Christ Jesus refers in the Holy Gospel for this day: fasting, almsgiving, and prayer. Indeed, He does not teach you to avoid this fundamental piety of the Christian life, but to avoid all pretense and presumption, and to undertake these basic activities of discipleship in the fear and faith of the one true God.

In this unbelievable trial it was Abraham’s sole consolation that he knew he had a command from God. He surely would not have fled from the plague or from many thousands of Turks, because his heart held fast to this confidence: ‘I believe in God Almighty.’ But what are 10,000 Turks in comparison with Almighty God? Therefore he does not delay at this point, but he immediately takes hold of the command and is ready to carry out the sacrifice. We should learn to understand this power of the Word of God — this power which the Holy Spirit is wont to exalt so much that He makes it greater than every creature, hell, death, and the good and bad angels.