The Purpose of Sacrifice
For the ancient Jewish people, all sacrifice expressed three basic ideas: giving, substitution, and coming closer.
A sacrifice requires that the person making the offering gives something that belongs to them. This is why sacrifices were of domestic animals and cultivated plants, and not of wild game or fruits, and why grain offerings were usually flour or meal. Wild animals do not belong to us.
A sacrifice is a substitute for the person making the offering. The offering dies in the place of the one who gives the offering. This is not a sign of a cruel God, but rather a sign of God’s mercy. God is willing to accept a substitute. The Jewish people understood this. When the Hebrew scriptures refer to God in the context of sacrifice, the word they use is the name which refers to God as merciful or compassionate.
Finally, the concept of coming closer. This is really the heart of the sacrifice. In fact, the Hebrew word for offerings or sacrifices literally means “to draw near.” Every sacrifice has the purpose and the reality of bringing a person closer to God.
For the Jews, sacrifice is not just about the forgiveness of sin. In fact, forgiveness was not the primary purpose of sacrifice, rather a means by which the sinner could come closer to God.
Jews offered sacrifice to praise God, to become closer to God, and to express thanks, love and gratitude to God. They offered sacrifice to celebrate holidays. And, yes, for the cleansing of sin committed through ignorance.
Interestingly, the sacrifices alone did not atone for deliberate, malicious sin, and were only effective if the person was sincerely repentant and also made restitution. Serious sin against God was atoned for only after confession, restitution or apology, sacrifices, suffering and observing the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.
There were many ways to offer sacrifice.
- A burnt offering represented submission to God’s will, and was completely burnt on the altar.
- A peace offering was an offering of thanks; a portion was burnt on the altar, and the rest was shared by the people who made the offering.
- A sin offering was made after confessing the sin as an expression of sorrow for what we Catholics call venial sin, and a desire to be reconciled to God. The remaining portion was consumed by the priests.
- A guilt offering was a “just in case” offering, for when you were not sure whether you’d sinned, but you wanted to be sure things are right between you and God.
Jesus, the Lamb of God, is our sacrifice. Like the Jewish people, we offer something that is ours as a substitute for ourselves, in order to come closer to God.
Truly, nothing is ours that we have not received. Everything is a gift from God. This Lamb of God is no different. God has provided this lamb, but God has given him to us, and therefore he belongs to us. This Jesus is a child of Eve, and belongs to our human family.
This Lamb of God is a substitute or representative for us. Through the mercy of God, It is our sins he bears. It is for our iniquities that he suffers.
And the purpose is the same – so we can come closer to God.
Theology nerds – don’t read too much into the word substitute. This is in no way intended to wade into the waters of atonement theology. That is well above my pay grade. 🙂
