Isaac, Jesus and the Ram

In the new movie “A Different Story” by the Israeli director Avi Nesher, a tour guide asks his group during a walking tour through the Old City of Jerusalem what Jesus has to do with Isaac. No one answers. As the tourists look questioningly at each other, some start to Google on their smartphones. This scene prompted us to consider once again something about which we have often had discussions with a group of friends. Is the offering up of Isaac an allegory for the atoning sacrifice of Jesus? Or is Jesus actually prefigured by the ram, who at the…