In Our Place

Our focus for today is the fact that Jesus Christ stands in our place.  This is brought home to us in both the reading from Genesis and from Mark (Genesis 22:1-18, Mark 1:9-15).

In Genesis, Abraham is tested by God.  God tells Abraham to take his only-begotten son Isaac and sacrifice him on Mount Moriah.  This is the location where, much later, Solomon built the temple.  Note the difference between the “testing” in Genesis and the “tempting” of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel.  God “tests” Abraham, bu...