Was it Jesus or Abraham's Son?

 

Another argument that is sometimes presented concerns the comparison between Jesus' crucifixion and the account of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son.

Many Christians understand the sacrifice of Abraham's son as a foreshadowing of Jesus' crucifixion. According to this interpretation, just as God provided a ram in place of Abraham's son, Jesus became the sacrificial substitute who died for the sins of humanity.

However, those who reject this comparison argue that the two accounts are fundamentally different.

In the story of Abraham, when Abraham informed his son that God had commanded the sacrifice, the son responded with complete submission. As the Qur'an records:

"O my father, do as you are commanded. You will find me, if Allah wills, among the steadfast." (Qur'an 37:102)

Likewise, in the biblical account, Abraham's son offers no recorded objection or request to avoid the sacrifice. Instead, the narrative presents him as willingly submitting to God's command.

By contrast, in the Gospels, shortly before the crucifixion, Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane:

"My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." (Matthew 26:39)

According to this interpretation, Jesus is asking that the impending suffering be taken away if it accords with God's will. Those who advance this argument contend that this differs from the account of Abraham's son, who is portrayed as accepting God's command without any recorded plea for the sacrifice to be removed.

For this reason, they argue that the two narratives are not parallel in the way they are often presented. If Jesus were intended to be the direct counterpart to the sacrificial son in Abraham's story, they contend that one might expect the same immediate and unqualified acceptance of the sacrifice rather than a prayer asking that "this cup" pass from him.

From this perspective, Jesus' prayer is understood as evidence that he did not seek the crucifixion itself, but rather submitted to whatever God ultimately decreed. Consequently, proponents of this view conclude that the comparison between Abraham's son and Jesus is not as straightforward as is sometimes claimed.