What was the relationship between Isaac and Jesus?
Isaac is an ancestor of Jesus: Matthew names him at the beginning of Jesus’ genealogy. Matthew 1:2; Luke 3:34
They are connected in 2 ways:
1. Ancestor of Jesus
What the Bible says
Matthew 1:2
Abraham begot Isaac. And Isaac begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Judas and his brethren.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Did you know?
Jesus recalled that God is called “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And he said that he is not God of the dead but of the living. Matthew 22:32
2. Received back as a symbol
The Letter to the Hebrews says that Abraham received Isaac back “as a symbol.” Hebrews 11:17-19
What the Bible says
Hebrews 11:17
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered Isaac: and he that had received the promises, offered up his only begotten son;
Hebrews 11:19
Accounting that God is able to raise up even from the dead. Whereupon also he received him for a parable.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
What the Church teaches
By offering his son, Abraham becomes like the Father. The Father did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all.
Catechism 2572 · Catechism of the Catholic Church
Did you know?
According to a very ancient Christian reading, Isaac carrying the wood points to Jesus carrying his cross. Tertullian, Against Marcion III, 18; Genesis 22:6; John 19:17