NOTES for Isa 45:11-17; Gen 22:1-18
Today we read the Lord's words addressed to us through Isaiah: 'I have raised him up in righteousness and will make all his ways level. He will build My city and release My captives, not for ransom or for gifts, says the Lord of hosts.' The city of which the Lord speaks is Christ's Jerusalem. It is the city of Resurrection from the dead. The captives are people who have not heard the preaching of the Gospel. The Lord says 'My captives,' pointing again and again to the value of every person, regardless of skin color, abilities, or health. Today we also read of the Lord's oath to Abraham, promising that Abraham's line will endure forever. In the Gospel we read John the Baptist's words that the Lord can make children for Abraham out of stones. This reminds everyone that it is not blood or belonging to a tribe, a state, or a law that determines one's relationship with God. The Lord stayed Abraham's hand to make His mercy toward people clear. And Christ says: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. He thus reminds everyone listening to Him at that moment that the Lord always desires human obedience but never harms a person. John the Baptist echoes the Lord's words about making all ways level when, speaking of Christ's coming, he says, 'Make His paths straight.' These straight paths are the fulfillment of the law: the carrying out of repentance and the correction of one's sins. This means letting go of what we think and imagine about God and preparing to meet the living Christ, to receive Him personally rather than through history and the formal observance of laws. For, having come into our world and fulfilled the whole law, Christ gave us in His Body and Blood a New Covenant and a new law that made all people equal and gave us all the path of Salvation.