‘And Abraham stretched forth his hand to slay his son.'
Obedient to the end, he knew he must obey God's absolute command. With nerves of steel he takes the final step in making the ultimate sacrifice. He lifts the knife ready to plunge it into the body of his son. The writer brings out the pathos. Not Isaac, not the lad, but ‘his son'.
Centuries later another Father would send His Son to be a sacrifice, but in His case there would be no intervention, no voice from Heaven. For He was the One to whom the coming substitution pointed. He had to carry it through to the bitter end for the salvation of the world.