[GREEK COLUMN] 541 "Tell me," he says, "Father, behold the fire and the wood, where is the sheep for the burnt offering?" Once more the voice of the child stung the father’s heart; once more another fearsome test gripped him; once more another trial possessed the righteous man, no less severe, nor any more merciful. And how could Abraham not be struck with tears, as a father no longer expecting to hear his son? He does not speak a mournful word, does not utter a lament; but with untroubled soul and steady reason he received the most sweet voice of the child, and answers back, and shares words: "God will see, my child, the sheep for the sacrifice." Whether Abraham said this to encourage the child, or whether he was also prophesying the future. And upon arriving in haste at the commanded place, he builds the altar, prepares the sacrifice, readies the sword, and the father places the fire and the wood upon the child. The father lays hands upon this his son, and nature does nothing to hinder him. Isaac surrendered himself to his father, so that he might use him in whatever way he wished. Whom should I admire first, or whom should I be struck by? In what manner shall I weave a crown of praises? Him who laid hands upon his dearest one because of his love and goodwill toward God, or him who obeyed his father even unto death, and accepted the heavenly slaughter at his hands? For the one rose above nature, preferring the command of God to nature; and the other obeyed his father even unto death, knowing that to grieve one's father was worse than death. Thence, having taken the bound child, Abraham neither lets his hand grow numb, nor deviates in his mind. As often as I see depictions of this child, I have never been able to pass by without tears, the artistry bringing before my eyes a clear understanding of this history. Nearby lay Isaac [next to] the altar, having knelt on his knees before his father, and having his hands bound behind his back, pressing his heels behind Abraham. Then with one hand having drawn the child's hair back toward himself, he leans over him, and sees the face of Isaac looking piteously toward him, and awaiting the blow; having his right hand armed with the sword, he directs the slaughter, he touches the body; the point of the sword is already at the throat; he was to push the blade into his inner parts, and then truly the voice came from God, holding back the wrath and preventing the deed: "Abraham, Abraham," He says, "do not lay your hand upon Isaac, nor do anything evil to your son. For now I know truly that you fear God, and for My sake you have not spared your beloved." Behold a ram is tied in the bush of Sabeck: "Take and offer it instead of Isaac," He says, "so that you may be fully assured that I have accepted the sacrifice, the fervent purpose." The angels, B principalities and powers, thrones, lordships, and all the armies marveled; heavens, sun, moon, and the choirs of stars stood astonished at that paradoxical spectacle; but God was satisfied with only the purpose of the truly faithful and holy Abraham, and said to him: "Blessing I will bless, and multiplying I will multiply your seed upon the earth as the stars of the heaven, because you obeyed my voice eagerly, and hastened to fulfill my command." And God gave a sheep from the rock instead of the child to complete the sacrifice. For God is not pleased with a dead sacrifice brought to Him through fat and smoke, but a living sacrifice, holy, well-pleasing, the rational worship, He seeks from us, just as the Apostle exhorts all, clearly knowing this to be well-pleasing to God. For it was not that God wished to make Abraham a child-slayer that He told him to offer his son, but to show to all those who inhabit the world that Abraham loved God intensely, that he did not spare Isaac for His sake, even though he had only this one child. Wherefore also God revealed the mystery to Abraham as to a friend, [a mystery] great and paradoxical. Through the sacrifice he became a priest, and in the type he made him a prophet; and God the Most High made known to him that He Himself would also give His only-begotten Son for the sake of the world, so that God, having become man, might save the race of men from error. This is what He was signifying, having given a sheep from Sabeck to be sacrificed instead of Isaac. For since unbelieving men were about to disbelieve in the birth from the holy Virgin, as to how she could carry a son without the bed of a man, as though it were impossible, for this reason He brought forth the ram from the rock, so that He might confirm the paradox from this, that by the will of His divinity everything that is commanded immediately comes to pass. As therefore there the Word provided a sheep, here in the Virgin the Word became flesh; and just as the sheep was bound in the bush, so the Only-Begotten was nailed to the cross. For this reason Isaiah was crying out saying: "As a sheep he was led to the slaughter, voiceless." Again the Lord was saying to the Jews: "Abraham desired to see my day, and he saw it and rejoiced," namely the passion in the type of Isaac, on the holy mountain. Blessed be God who prefigured for us everything for salvation in the holy Scriptures, and came and fulfilled the words of the prophets, and ascended in glory to His own Father, so that in every place we may worship the Father with the Son and the Spirit, unto the ages. Amen.
CONCERNING THAT ONE SHOULD NOT ATTEND THE THEATERS, AND THAT IT MAKES ONE ADULTEROUS, AND THAT THIS IS A CAUSE OF DESPONDENCY AND STRIFE; AND CONCERNING ABRAHAM.
1. I suppose many of those who have recently deserted us and defected to the theaters of lawlessness are present today. And I desired to know these men clearly, so as to expel them from the sacred thresholds, not that they might remain outside perpetually, but that, being corrected, they might return again. Since fathers also frequently cast their erring children out of the house, and keep them from the table, not that they may fall from these things forever, but that, having become better through this admonition, they may return to their paternal inheritance with the proper glory and honor. This also the shepherds do: they keep the sheep filled with scabies from the healthy ones, so that, putting away the sickness, they may return in safety to the healthy ones again, and not, being diseased, fill the entire flock with that sickness. For this reason we also wanted to know these men; but even if we cannot distinguish them with our physical eyes, the Word will surely recognize them, and taking hold of their conscience, will easily persuade them to depart willingly, teaching that he alone is inside who provides a mind worthy of the gathering here; since he who participates in this holy assembly with a corrupted manner of life, even if he brings his body here, has been cast out, and is driven away even more than those who are shut out and are not yet able to participate in the sacred table. For those who have been cast out according to the laws of God, and remain outside, still have good hopes; for if they wish to correct their transgressions, C they are not yet excluded from the partakers of the sacred table. For they indeed who have been expelled and remain outside, still have good hopes; for if they wish to correct their sins, they can return to the pure conscience, from which they have fallen. But those who have themselves corrupted, and just as they are about to approach, have made their contracts with filth: then they commit an impudent act, causing a grave wound, and an even greater ulcer. For it is not so grave to sin, as it is, after sinning, to act impudently, and not to yield to those supplying divine precepts. And if you ask what other sin is graver, since you have committed adultery, to leap impudently like rabid dogs upon the sacred table? And if you do not understand the measure of adultery, I will offer a word, and from it you will judge everything. "He who looks," he says, "at a woman to lust after her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart."