Well, to some extent, there is common ground. The common ground is the ground itself and the stories it tells. Jews, Christians, and Muslims all believe that God told Abraham to offer his son on a mountain in Moriah. There is disagreement over which son, as well as over the event's implications. Regardless, we can agree that God stopped Abraham just before he could take his son’s life on that mountain. As Abraham had already spoken, God provided the offering that day.
And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.(Gen 22:13)God spared Abraham's son and provided the offering in Abraham's day, but he did not spare his own son when Jesus died on the cross. Abraham's "test" on the mountain in Moriah foreshadowed the perfect offering of God’s only begotten son as the ultimate sacrifice for sins.
Pilate went out again and said to them, "See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him." So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Behold the man!" (Joh 19:4-5)Interestingly, although we don’t know the exact geographic location of Calvary (a.k.a. Golgotha), the place of Christ’s crucifixion, it is believed that Calvary is at least within half a mile of Mt. Moriah (Heb. 13:12), just outside of the walls of Jerusalem.
2 comments:
Forgot to mention that some believe that Calvary is the exact same location where God brought Abraham and gave him the "ram in the bush."
Excellent and interesting points. I actually just went trough this in a Mega church attempt to read through and understand the entire chronological bible in one year. We were actually exposed to some findings that showed that Mt. Moriah and Golgotha were actually one in the same. I found that parallel to be fascinating when considering the two sacrifices given, a ram in Isaac's place and Jesus in ours, in that spot.
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