Ask any Christian clergyman why Jesus was crucified and you will get one of two answers:
A. He died for our sins.
B. He died to establish a new covenant.
In this post I will address point A.
If a clergyman tells you that Christ died for your sins ask him how he knows this. If he’s like 99.999% of his flock he will not know where that idea came from. It simply does not occur to people to ask why God would send his son to earth to be slaughtered. Nor do they consider what a strange concept it is to believe that by slaughtering God’s son mankind should earn forgiveness and eternal life.
The root of the idea that sacrifice purchases forgiveness is to be found in the ancient Jewish ritual of the “sin offering”. It first appears in the Bible at Ex. 29:14:
“But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung shalt thou burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.”
Scores of similar examples of the practice of sin offering of animals are scattered throughout the O.T. But the practice was virtually unheard of by N.T. times when sacrifice came to mean the giving of money to the clergy. In fact the practice of animal sacrifice had become so unusual in Judaism by that time that the “priesthood” was replaced by the “rabbinate”. A priest performs the ritual of animal or human sacrifice. A rabbi is simply a religious guide or teacher.
The sin offering, however, was not limited to the sacrifice of cattle and other animals. Children were also sacrificed to Yahweh with some regularity. In Isaac’s case the sacrifice was made as a signature to a covenant with a God; it was not a sin offering. But there were other reasons for sacrificing children than for forgiveness of sin. In Judges 11 a story is told of a military leader named Jephthah who bargained his daughter’s life for victory in battle.
The Christian notion that Jesus’ crucifixion was a sin offering comes directly from Micah 6:6&7:
“What shall I bring before Yahweh…shall I give my firstborn son for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sins of my soul?”
If you were to look these passages up you would see that Micah’s firstborn son is only one of the items he considers offering to Yahweh. The son is merely one of the possibilities lumped into a list of things an O.T. Jew might commonly sacrifice to his God. We don’t find a lot of examples of Jews sacrificing their children to Yahweh in the O.T. but from Micah’s casual attitude about the subject it would seem that it was a rather common practice in his day.
It might still have been being practiced at the time of Christ. After all, the idea that Jesus was a human “sin offering” – a firstborn son sin offering at that – was immediately understood and accepted by early Christians. Only the passage of time has dimmed Christianity’s eyes to the true meaning of this human sacrifice.
7 comments on An Offering
Add a comment
To add comments without entering your email and image verification, you must be logged in. Login or Join Blogster
I suspect you may be testing me with your question. The answer seems too easy for you not to know it.
A redemptive sacrifice is one in which something is sacrificed in place of a required sacrifice. By way of explanation see Num. 18:14-19. Accordingly all firstborn things are to be dedicated on the altar to Yahweh by right. But some things may be "redeemed". That is to say another thing of value may be sacrificed or given to the preist in its place. That way a man might purchase his son's life from a priest. This "redemption" clause was a later development in Judaism.
I checked all of the passages you cited and find them all in general agreement with what I've written with one exception, Gal. 3:13. It's somewhat off topic but since Benedicts asked about the same topic I will treat it briefly.
Early Christians had a passion for releating Jesus to every Scriptural passage that was in any way even remotely relevent. And so we see that Jesus' death could be viewed as a sin offering, a sacrifice as a blood signature to a covenant, a Pascal offering and, as in the Galatians passage, a sacrifice of redemption.
In this case the "redemption" is meant to free one from an obligation in the way a redemptive sacrifice freed a father from the obligation to sacrifice his son. Here it frees mankind from his obligation to Scriptural law.
I hope this answers your question.
John 11:38>Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. :39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha(=a lady), the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. :40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, IF THOU WOULDEST BELIEVE, thou shouldest see the glory of God? :41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. :42 and I knew that thou hearest me always: but BECAUSE OF THE PEOPLE which stand by I said it, that they may believe THAT THOU HAST SENT ME. :43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus(=whom God helps), come forth. :44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. :45 Then many of the Jews which came to Mary(=a tear), and had seen the things which Jesus did, BELIEVED ON HIM.
John 11:46>But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. :47 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, WHAT DO WE? for this man doeth many miracles. :48 If we let him thus alone, ALL MEN WILL BELIEVE ON HIM: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. :49 And one of them, named Caiaphas(=depression), being the high priest that same year, said unto them, YE KNOW NOTHING AT ALL,
John 11:50(#50=Jubilee, Liberty, Pentecost)
Nor cosider that it is expedient for us, THAT ONE MAN SHOULD DIE FOR THE PEOPLE, and that the whole nation perish not. :51 And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that JESUS SHOULD DIE FOR THAT NATION. :52 And not for that nation only, but also he should gather together IN ONE THE CHILDREN OF GOD that were scattered abroad. >>Ephesians 2:13>But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. :14 For he is our peace, who hath made BOTH ONE, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us: :15 Having abolished in HIS FLESH the enmity, EVEN THE LAW OF COMMANDMENTS contained in ordinances; for TO MAKE IN HIMSELF of twain ONE NEW MAN, so making peace; :16 And that he might reconcile BOTH unto God IN ONE BODY by the CROSS, having slain the enmity thereby. :17 And came and preached PEACE TO YOU which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. :18 For through him WE BOTH HAVE ACCESS BY ONE SPIRIT UNTO THE FATHER.
........and the beat goes on......