Between the binding and the glory – a program for Lent

What is the connection between the two stories – the binding of Isaac and the transfiguration of Jesus – which we heard on this past Sunday of the Lenten season?

1. In both stories, there is an ascent of a high mountain. We are invited to go up the mountain with Abraham and Isaac, with Jesus and his three disciples, in order to meet with God. The mountain in Scripture is a place of intimate encounter with God.

2. In both stories, they go up the mountain alone. Abraham and Isaac leave behind the young men and the donkey and continue their way together and Jesus takes his disciples with him alone. The cutting off from the social environment and the daily noise is important in order to meet with God undisturbed.

3. Abraham’s willingness to go up the mountain shows that he does not withhold his only son from God, who demands that he offer him up. Thus God says to Abraham: You “have not withheld your son, your only son” (Genesis 22:16). In the second reading at mass, we learn that the transfigured Jesus is the son who God does not withhold from us: “He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us” (Romans 8:32). Are we willing to give up for God? Abraham gives up not only his beloved son but his very future that is dependent on the fulfillment of God’s promise in Isaac. In Lent, we are invited to give up and strengthen our radical readiness to believe despite everything.

4. In both stories, those who ascend the mountain see and are seen. They must open their eyes to see the surprises that God prepares for them. However, they must also be aware that they are seen by God, who looks upon them and follows their steps. During lent, let us ask God to cure our eyes so that we might see but let Him also renew our minds in order to be aware the He looks on us in love.

5. In both stories, those who ascend the mountain hear and are obedient. God says to Abraham: “You heard my voice (and obeyed)” (Genesis 22:18) and the voice pointing Jesus out to his disciples says: “Listen to him” (Mark 9:7). (In Hebrew, hear, listen and obey are the same word). In lent, we can ask God to hear our ears and open them so that we might live, obey him and hear His Word.

6. In both stories, those that ascend the mountain descend and return to the world in order to be a blessing in the midst of the earth. We do not go up the mountain to stay there and to isolate ourselves in God’s embrace however pleasant that might be. We are invited to ascend for a brief moment, and then to return to the world as transfigured people, who have met God and who radiate His light and thus live as blessing in the midst of the earth. Might this indeed be His will…