The Sacrifice that Counts!

 (Homily 2^nd Sunday of Lent –Year B)

     In exception of what I read and see on movies about mountains, I never knew the existential importance of mountains, until my experience at the Northern part of Italy. There, people go to the mountain for relaxation, to enjoy the beauty of nature, to enjoy fresh and uncontaminated air, it is a place of peace, tranquility and rest. It does not only introduce one in a wonderful contact with nature, it also leads to the imagination of the brain behind such beauty, and as such to the Creator. In the Sacred scriptures, the mountain is a place of encounter between God and man. It is equally a place of prayer and divine manifestation. When I remember the first time I climbed a mountain, I recognize the reason why God asked Abraham to go to mount Moriah for the sacrifice of his son Isaac and the aim of Jesus for climbing the mountain, without being told. Extrapolating from our readings today, it behooves us to affirm that the scenario and context for today’s message is the mountain, three mountains: Mount Moriah in the first reading, Mount Tabor as presented in the Gospel passage and Mount Golgotha as alluded in the second reading by St. Paul. Be that as it may, every second Sunday of Lent the Church invites us to reflect on the episode of Jesus’ Transfiguration. For his Transfiguration is an indication that we his followers should also strive to be transfigured, to change in mind and heart.

     The first reading (Gn.22:1-2.9a10-13.15-18) is a masterpiece on God’s faithfulness and Abraham’s correspondence. It presents the emblematic passage of the sacrifice of Isaac, which as a matter of fact, was for the early church a prototype of Christ’s death. Therein, we were told about the experience of childlessness of Abraham and his wife Sara for many years. However, they believed that God will bless them one day, even though they were troubled. Their faith in God never wavered. At the appointed time God blessed them with a son, they named him Isaac. Surprisingly, when the child was coming of age something happened. The stage is Mount Moriah, the mount of test. God asked Abraham to take his only son Isaac to a specified place where he would be killed and used as a victim for a sacrifice to God. Abraham did not ask God why he should do so. He simply took the child and the other materials for the sacrifice and left to Mount Moriah, which means God will provide. Moriah was the destination for the sacrifice. And upon reaching there, when he was about killing the child for the sacrifice, then “the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”…Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only-begotten son, from me…And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram”.

          God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, not as if God takes pleasure in the sacrifice of human blood, rather it was a test of Abraham’ faith. The event of Abraham’s demonstration of faith teaches us two important things: It forbids the practice of human sacrifice in any form and emphasizes on the importance of sacrifice. Just like Abraham was set to offer something very precious to him, we need to acquire the same attitude, our sacrifice must touch us to our inner most being, it must pinch us, else it risks becoming a mere religious observance. True sacrifice is not all about giving or sacrificing from our abundance, rather from our scarcity and from our hearts too. It is on this basis that we can posit that the selfless gesture of love of Abraham who wanted to sacrifice his only son, Isaac can be considered a parallel to God’s love for mankind in offering his only Son to save the world.

     The event of the sacrifice of Isaac must have fostered St. Paul to affirm in the second reading (Rm. 8:31b-34) that “God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all”. Upon proper gaze in the story of Isaac’s sacrifice, we have come to comprehend that the central figure is Abraham, even though the sacrifice was that of Isaac. Little wonder, more emphasis is placed on the test of the faith of Abraham (cf Heb 11:17) and not merely on the sacrifice of Isaac. Abraham readily lifted his hand to offer his sacrifice but through an angel God held back his hand. Indeed, God accepted beforehand the sacrifice of Abraham’s heart, and thus did not allow the immolation of his only Son. But our God accomplished the sacrifice of his heart and the immolation of his Son.

     Drawing the issue further, St. Paul takes up the pattern of paternal self-sacrifice to show the density of God’s love for mankind. For in the person and the works of the Son, we experience deeply the immensity of the father’s love. Who “did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all”. In the immensity of his love, God does not withhold anything for himself, he gives all in and with love. It was upon discovering this that St. Paul vehemently questioned: “who can separate us from the love of God?” With this assurance of faith we can stand our ground before any kind of persecution, difficulties and challenges in life. In all, His love super abounds!

     In this passage of the epistle, St. Paul raises a number of rhetoric questions, in those questions he highlights all that God in Christ has done and is still doing for us. He affirmed that “God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all” (Rm. 8:32), and this points to the event of Isaac and it is equally connected with the intercession of Christ in heaven (cf. Rm.34b). What Roman 8:32 means is that God gave up what is most precious to Him. We have the confirmation of the value God placed on his Son Jesus Christ in the Gospel reading where he said: “this is my beloved son; listen to him”. Indeed, God gave up His “Isaac” so that we can be pardoned and redeemed. The sacrifice that counts!

     The Gospel passage (Mk. 9:2-10) is the Markan version of the transfiguration of Jesus. The stage is mount Tabor, a place of divine revelation. The word transfiguration simply means change of figure, and symbolically, it is an anticipation of the resurrection. Put in another way, it means giving up the present figure and obtaining another one. He transfigured before them or He changed in appearance. And then the voice of the Father from the clouds reveals who Jesus is: “This is my Son, my beloved. Listen to Him.” God the Father reveals that Jesus is not only a man, He is also God. The context of the transfiguration event, is a place where God declared the mission of the Son: “This is my beloved Son, listen to him”. We are therefore called to listen to him. This is another important theme of today: obedience to God’s word, in the first reading Abraham listened to the voice of God, and Isaac too to Abraham. Here too, the Father invites thus: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him”.

     After the Father’s voice, Jesus readily climbed down from the mountain of glory to the valley of human predicament and suffering. While he was coming down from the mountain Jesus ordered his disciples not to talk about the transfiguration until after his resurrection. This therefore, entails that the full meaning of the cross will be comprehended only in the light of the resurrection. And after this moment of obscurity, the gospel presents a luminous moment, on which we have to fix our gaze especially in difficult and bloody moments of life.

     In his narrative, Mark provides a number of factors peculiar to his gospel: ●Mark unlike the other synoptic did not mention the change of Jesus’ face. ●He emphasized on the whiteness of Jesus garments. ●He places the name of Elijah before that of Moses (v.4a). ●He stressed on Peter’s bewilderment and lack of understanding (v.6). ●He maintains that the three disciples were also bewildered about his allusion to the resurrection of the dead (v.10). ●There was equally a command of silence until after the resurrection, Mathew reported this command, but Luke omitted it. ●Mark laid emphasis on the incomprehension of Jesus by the disciples and the command to silence, which is in connection with the Markan messianic secret. Although in the previous chapters it was addressed to those healed from diseases and to Demons, but in our present context it is addressed to the disciples.

     Be that as it may, one may ask the essence of this command. The essence of this command boils down to the fact that Mark intends to formulate an understanding of the person of Jesus Christ (his Christology). At the heart of Marks understanding, is the conception of Jesus as the suffering Son of man, opposed to a popular understanding of him as one with divine powers manifested in the miracles and culminates in the transfiguration event. Another second question we may ask is this: why do the disciples fail to understand? They seem to be representatives of the Church at that time, which was more attracted to Jesus’ epiphany of divine powers. However, like the blind man of the eightieth chapter, they will gradually understand that Jesus is not merely the epiphany of God, but also the suffering Son of God. In all, the final disclosure is that the true disciples will come after the resurrection (Mk. 14:28; 16:7); when they will see the Risen Lord in Galilee. For it will lack logicality, if the transfiguration is disclosed before the death and resurrection, that would imply glory without the cross. At the heart of this narrative is the age-long assertion: “No cross, no crown”.

     Above all, brethren, to experience transfiguration one needs to let go certain things at the foot of the mountain. The Lenten season therefore, is a period of mountain climbing. The time we are required to let go of certain things and let God in. There will be no transfiguration unless there is a decisive letting go of the contending factors in our life and the ill-behaviours. We are transfigured when we live for God and not just for ourselves. In all, the psalmist concludes with stupendous words in Ps.116 thus “You have loosed my bonds”. This focuses on the deliverance of a righteous man, thereby recalling the liberation and deliverance of Isaac. With this in mind we pray God to loosen every form of bonds in our life, as we continue our Lenten journey. May His presence be manifested in our difficult moments as in the case of Abraham and Isaac. May He speak for us in decisive moments of our life. Amen!!!

(Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)