. . . we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles… (1 Co 1:23)
St. Paul took the bull by the horns when he bluntly wrote this to his little community of Jesus followers in their city in Greece, a country long identified with its search for and esteem for wisdom.
It was hard for the early Greek and Jewish Christians alike to come to terms with the crucifixion, but the Jewish ones found at least some understanding from their ancient religious traditions and practices—the sacrificial nature of the death of Jesus.
Every devout and faithful Jew was familiar with the sacrificial rules and rituals of the temple in Jerusalem. Their divine origin was described in the first sever chapters of the book of Leviticus, and detailed regulations were given for each kind of sacrifice:
– Burnt offerings: animal sacrifices in which the victim was entirely consumed, for the purpose of the offerer being restored to God’s favor or of giving thanks, a kind of ransom or payment;
– Cereal offerings: offerings of agricultural produce, first fruits;
– Communion sacrifices: sacrifices in which the sacrificial offering is shared between God and the offerer, a sacred meal expressing the covenantal bond between the offerer and God;
– Sacrifices for sin: various kinds of sacrifices of atonement for sin involving either the high priest, the whole community of Israel, a leader of the community, or a private individual;
– Sacrifices of reparation: sacrifices of atonement with a strong element of measurable repayment.
The greatest of sacrifices was the one sealing the covenant between God and his people, the foundation of all their religion.
Boldly, Jesus’ first disciples described his apparently ignominious death—and were consoled by it—as a sacrifice.
They understood his sacrifice in multiple ways, as a total offering of his very life, as the first fruits of a new dispensation, as a new communion with God, as a definitive act of atonement for everyone, as the ultimate reparation to the Father for everyone’s sins, as the very foundation of a renewed, a new covenant between God and his people.
A devout and practicing Jew could fully appreciate these powerful metaphors—and could also be shocked and offended by them.
Non-Jews of the first centuries could also appreciate them, after some instruction in details of Jewish religious practices, since they, too, lived in cultures where temples existed and sacrifices were offered.
A terrible irony of history was that forty years after the death of Jesus the great temple of Jerusalem was destroyed and Jewish ritual sacrifices ceased.
Students of Torah may study these ancient traditions of sacrifice, but they haven’t been practiced for two thousand years. For Christians, rooted in messianic Judaism, sacrifice is still a core element of their faith.
In our day, we are not so much moved by sacrificial atonement as by the heroism of people willing to pay any price, even their lives, for the sake of others (but not those who make sacrifice of others, even if they include themselves).
To be faithful to the will of his Father and not to be betray his commandment and witness of love, Jesus was willing to pay the ultimate price. That was the heart of his sacrifice.
14 July 2019