Chapter VIII.
The qualities by which the offering of Abraham's sacrifice is pleasing to God are expressed, namely swiftness, perseverance, and faith. God commands swiftness in both Testaments, which he himself exhibits when he not only gives quickly, but also goes before us.
29. Therefore, the first thing to be grateful for is the swiftness of the solution. Indeed, when Abraham was commanded to offer his son as a holocaust, he did not wait for days like Cain did, but he rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two young men with him, along with his son Isaac. After cutting the wood for the holocaust, he rose and went to the place that God had told him, on the third day (Gen. 22:3). First, notice the prompt and eager desire to sacrifice; there was no delay in expectation, except until the oracle was heard. Then, in preparing his donkey and taking care of everything himself, he undertook all the necessary obedience and prepared for the sacrifice. And with these two virtues, faith and hope, accompanying him, he led his own victim, certain of God’s power and secure in his goodness.
30. But as He said on the third day, or what should be continuous and perpetual devotion. For time is divided into the past, present, and future. Hence, we are reminded that there should be no forgetfulness of God's past, present, or future blessings, but rather a steadfast memory of His grace and unwavering obedience. Or because the one who sacrifices should believe in the unity, the splendor, and the light of the Trinity. For indeed, to the one who sacrifices faithfully, the day shines, and there is no night. And so, in Exodus, Moses says: 'We will go for a journey of three days and offer a sacrifice to the Lord our God' (Exod. III, 18). But also elsewhere, when God appeared to Abraham by the oak tree of Mamre: Looking up, Abraham saw with his own eyes, and behold, three men were standing before him. And when he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them, and he bowed down to the ground and said: 'Lord, if I have found favor in your sight' (Gen. XVIII, 2 and 3). He sees three, worships one. He offers three measures of a likeness. For although God is immense, he still holds the measure of all things, as it is written: Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and weighed the heavens with a span, and enclosed the whole earth in his hand (Isaiah 40:12)? Therefore, in each individual person of the Trinity, within the secret recesses of the mind, that is, in the spiritual likeness, the holy Patriarch offered this sacrifice to the Father. This is the likeness, which that woman in the Gospel grinds: For, she says, one will be taken and the other left (Matthew 24:41). Let the Church be assumed, let the Synagogue be abandoned. Or a good mind is assumed, an evil one is abandoned. But so that you may know that Abraham also believed in Christ: Abraham, he said, saw my day and rejoiced (John VIII, 56). And whoever believes in Christ, believes also in the Father. And whoever believes perfectly in the Father, believes in the Son and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, there are three measures, one likeness, that is, one sacrifice which was offered to the venerable Trinity with a certain measure of devotion, and with suitable fullness of piety.
31. Still, learn the swift ardor of devotion: He ran, he said, and took a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant, and hastened to make it (Gen. XVIII, 7). Devotion is diligent everywhere, and therefore it was an acceptable gift to God. You have it elsewhere, so that you may anticipate the sunrise with prayer: Meet it, he said, at the sunrise (Sap. XVI, 28). You have it in the Gospel, with the Lord Jesus saying: Zacchaeus, come down quickly (Luc. XIX, 5). And because he had obtained what he desired, to see Christ; and he had obtained more, to be seen and called by Christ, he hastened and descended, and received him with joy; and therefore the Lord approved his affection, and rewarded him quickly, saying: Because today salvation has come to this house (ibid., 9). For the Lord hastened to do a favor; and therefore he did not wait to promise and later fulfill, but he first did it, and later declared it. For he said: Salvation has come: which indeed was of the one who was to come, not promising. Therefore, the just man commends his vow with swiftness. And our fathers hastened to eat the Passover, having their loins girded, and their feet shod with shoes, and carrying burdens of the body, so that they would be ready for the passage; for the Passover of the Lord is a passage from sufferings to exercises of virtue. And therefore it is called the Passover of the Lord; because even then in that Lamb the truth of the Lord's Passion was announced, and now it is celebrated by his grace.
32. Go quickly, therefore, and search for this, my soul; so that you may quickly also hear, just as Jacob heard: What is this that you have found so quickly, my son (Gen. XXVII, 20)? And he answered according to the teaching: What the Lord your God has handed over into my hands. God gives quickly; for He said, and things were made; He commanded, and they were created. For the word of God is not, as someone says, a work, but a working, as you have written: My Father works until now, and I work (Joan. V, 17). He surpasses all things; for He is before all things, as the Father, and in all things as the same Father, penetrating all things. For He is strong and sharp, and sharper than any sword, penetrating even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow. He anticipates the thoughts of all, of whom the Father God says: 'Now you will see if my Word comprehends you, or not' (Num. 11:23). For where God is, there is the Word, as He said: 'We will come and make our dwelling place with him' (John 14:23). And as you have read in other places about God: I stood here before you (Exod., XVII, 6): so also the Word says: Before you stood under the fig tree, I saw you (John I, 48). And about him it is said: The Word, that is, the Son of God, stands in the midst of you whom you do not know (Ibid., 26). For wherever the saints are, there the Word of God fills the hearts of each one, encompassing the seas and the lands. And though he is here, he is also elsewhere; not changing his place, but surely filling it with his presence. For the Word of God is everywhere, going through all things and in all things, leaving no place to be immune from itself. And where it is present, it has always been; and where it has been, it is present. And for this reason, one who knows that the Word of God is swift, quickly asks and quickly obtains.