lectionary.com

Easter Season · A Fourth Reading Easter Vigil · Year A

Genesis 22:1-18

Abraham Tested

April 5, 2026

The Sacrifice of Isaac, Rembrandt van Rijn
The Sacrifice of Isaac, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1635Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg
Rembrandt catches the instant of interruption: the angel grips Abraham's wrist, the knife is already falling, and Abraham's hand still covers his son's face.This is the moment the whole of Abraham's story turns on, and Rembrandt paints the hand that stops it rather than the hand that raised it.Rembrandt van RijnRembrandt (1606-1669) painted scripture as if it had happened in a room he had been in, and returned to the same stories across forty years, changing his mind about them in public.Hermitage Museum, Saint PetersburgCatherine the Great's collection grown into one of the largest museums on earth, filling the Winter Palace and the buildings beside it.Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg
Revised Common Lectionary
Old TestamentGen. 22:1-18Gn 22:1-18
PsalterPs. 16Ps 16

Overview & Insights

“God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” (Genesis 22:8)

In an episode repulsive to a contemporary audience, God commands Abraham to offer up his son Isaac as a whole burnt offering. How could the God who created life and blessed humans with fertility require his faithful servant to offer up his only, beloved, son as a sacrifice? How could God ask Abraham to give up the son of promise for whom he had waited so long? On the other hand, how could Abraham obey God’s command without energetically entreating for Isaac’s life as he had done for Sodom and Gomorrah (18:23–32)? These are hard questions, and the text only hints at answers. The text’s reticence at becoming engaged with these kinds of questions belongs to the artistic design of the narrative, which is to keep in focus the central issue of Abraham’s wholehearted obedience to God in regard to his firstborn.

From Sermons.com: Join Today to access the most scholarly & well written preaching resources anywhere.

Take it further: Genesis 22:1-18

Commentary

Commentary on Genesis 22:1-14Commentary on Gn 22:1-14 Working Preacher

A careful scholarly reading of the binding of Isaac, the Vigil's testing story that the church hears as foreshadowing the Father giving the Son.

Genesis 22:1-14Gn 22:1-14 Center for Excellence in Preaching

A Reformed preaching commentary sitting with the fraught silence of the Aqedah and where God is in the suffering.

Genesis 22 Commentary: Abraham Is Willing to Offer IsaacGn 22 Commentary: Abraham Is Willing to Offer Isaac Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik's verse-by-verse evangelical study of the test, the substitute ram, and the covenant oath that follows.

Genesis 22 CommentaryGn 22 Commentary Precept Austin

A large gathering of cross-referenced expositors and word notes on Moriah and the near-sacrifice of Isaac.

Genesis 22:1 CommentariesGn 22:1 Commentaries BibleHub

Classic commentators (Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, and others) on 'God tested Abraham.'

Background & Word Study

Genesis 22:1 InterlinearGn 22:1 Interlinear BibleHub

Word-by-word Hebrew with parsing and Strong's numbers, including the loaded verb 'to test' in verse 1.

Genesis 22Gn 22 Sefaria

The Hebrew text of the Aqedah with rich Jewish commentary layers for original-language study.

The Church Fathers

Genesis 22Gn 22 Catena

Patristic comments gathered verse by verse, reading Isaac carrying the wood as a type of Christ carrying the cross.

Prep at sermons.com

Ready to write?

  • Full sermons on this reading
  • Illustrations cleared for use in worship
  • Commentary, quotes, and Bible dictionary
Open it at sermons.com →

Trusted by pastors since 1995.

Free every Tuesday

Illustrations & Sermon Prep in your inbox

The coming Sunday’s readings, a cleared-for-use illustration, and a sermon-prep head start. One email, free.