V.
From the Catena on Genesis.
In place of Isaac the just, a ram appeared for
slaughter, in order that Isaac might be liberated from his
bonds. The slaughter of this animal redeemed Isaac from death. In like manner, the Lord, being slain, saved us; being bound, He loosed us; being sacrificed, He redeemed us…
For the Lord was a lamb, like the ram which
Abraham saw caught in the bush Sabec. But this bush represented the
cross, and that place Jerusalem, and the lamb the Lord bound for
slaughter.
For as a ram was He bound, says he concerning our
Lord Jesus Christ, and as a lamb was He shorn, and as a sheep was He
led to the slaughter, and as a lamb was He crucified; and He carried
the cross on His
shoulders when He was led up to the hill to be slain, as was
Isaac by his father. But Christ suffered, and Isaac did not
suffer: for he was but a type of Him who should
suffer. Yet, even when serving only for a type of Christ, he smote men with astonishment and fear.
For a new mystery was presented to view,—a
son led by his father to a mountain to be slain, whose feet he bound
together, and laid him on the wood of the sacrifice, preparing with
care whatever was necessary to his
immolation. Isaac on his part is silent, bound like a ram, not
opening his mouth, nor uttering a sound with his voice. For, not
fearing the knife, nor quailing before the fire, nor troubled by the prospect of suffering, he sustained bravely the character of the type of the Lord. Accordingly there lies Isaac before us, with his feet bound like a ram, his father standing by, with the knife all bare in his hand, not shrinking from shedding the blood of his son.