Wednesday, April 13, 2005

The Sacrifice of Isaac


The Sacrifice of Isaac Posted by Hello

My friends just returned from a brief vacation in Italy. Scott and Kellie McMann flew to Italy for tours of Rome and Florence. Amazingly, they scheduled the trip long before the death of Pope John Paul II. So, even though they experienced the swell of visitors and the chaos of all the pilgrims coming to be a part of the funeral activities, they didn't experience a whole lot of inconveniences from the event. They even ventured out to stand in line to see the body of PJPII, and became part of the historical events. Who wouldn’t?
Anyway, I had asked (begged) them to stop into any art gallery in Florence and buy me a frameable print of some sacred art. They acquiesced to my wishes and went to Galleria Uffizi in Fierenze. There they selected a print that is striking. It’s by one of my favorite Renaissance artists, Caravaggio. The title is “The Sacrifice of Isaac.”
I am hopelessly partial to realism. Caravaggio’s work is so attentive to detail: the glint of the knife blade, the expression of the sacrifice and sacrificed. Caravaggio captures the essence of the sacrificial life.
Sacrifice is the currency of the Kingdom is paradoxically sacrificial. Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!” Jesus said in “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.” Luke 18: 28-30
Scott and Kellie sacrificed to carry that print all the way back to California without it getting bent, smashed or wrinkled. God always answers such sacrifices. Jehovah Jireh.