In ancient religious traditions, animal sacrifice was
commonplace and a part of essentially every known culture to appease "the
gods." Animal sacrifice still occurs in some parts of our world,
particularly in tribal religions such as animism, but for most modern
people living in the West, animal sacrifice seems far removed and
difficult to understand. In ancient times, people believed that their sin
could only be �atoned� for (that is, made "right" or �satisfied�) by
sacrificing innocent animals to their god(s). Animals were the
"scapegoats" for the sins of the people and bore the brunt of the evil and
fear of humankind.
I do not believe God ever intended this or was satisfied
with such a system, but it was a widely spread cultural practice and God
tends to work from within a culture rather than impose on it from outside.
However, at times in Scripture the message from God is clear that this was
not God�s intention, "I desire mercy not sacrifice!" (Hosea 6:6) and Psalm
51:16-17 "For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do
not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart; These, O God, You will not despise." The
Judeo-Christian God, unlike the multitude of pagan gods, was not
�bloodthirsty.� �Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and make thanksgiving your
sacrifice to the Most High� (Psalm 50:13-14).
However, people continued doing what they were used to
doing and killing animals in an attempt to atone for their sins. Then
finally Jesus came along. Apparently Jesus did not approve of the
sacrificial system of the Temple. In fact, he became very angry and drove
everyone out of the Temple who had been selling animals due to be
sacrificed for the Passover (John 2:13-22). The Scriptures also never
record Jesus as participating in the animal sacrifice at the Temple,
although the custom at the time required it.
Instead, on the night of the Passover, when the Jewish
people were celebrating the sacrificing of the paschal lamb, Jesus began
to talk about his own body and blood being shed and given up for the sins
of the world. �While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and
after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, �Take,
eat; this is my body.� Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave
it to them, saying, �Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of
the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of
sins� (Matthew 26:26-28). Within hours Jesus was arrested, tried, and
crucified.
Jesus� disciples quickly made sense of the crucifixion,
this highly symbolic and transformative act: Jesus had died at Passover in
place of the sacrificial lamb. Jesus became, literally, the Paschal Lamb,
the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." The Greek word for
�world� used in this Scripture is �cosmos,� and it includes the entire
world, all creatures great and small. Applying the belief that was held
about atonement, it was understood that Jesus died, just as the
sacrificial animals used to, on behalf of the world�s sins.
Christians understand Isaiah 53:7-8 to refer to Jesus: "He
was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; like a
lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its
shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. By oppression and judgment
He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was
cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of
my people?"
It is painful to imagine how much Jesus may have
identified with the millions of animals who had been lead to slaughter
before him. Jesus was innocent, just as the sacrificial animals had been,
because he was perfect, without sin, and the Son of God. But Jesus� action
put an end to the system of animal sacrifice once and for all. Jesus' life
and death revealed the flaws of the animal sacrificial system. God
revealed to humanity that we need not kill innocent animals because �God
himself would provide the sacrifice� in form of Jesus, God incarnate.
(Genesis 22:8). This is good news for humanity! It is also good news for
all creation and for God�s innocent creatures, the animals. Like Jesus,
they had been abused, exploited, and killed by humanity.
Animals have been victims of humanity�s fears and sin
since the beginning of time. Today we engage in our own form of animal
sacrifice. We continue to pin our fears and sins upon innocent animals in
contexts such as our factory farms, sport hunting, slaughterhouses, and
laboratories. We abuse, exploit, and kill animals every day for our
selfish purposes. We justify our actions, saying eating meat will make us
strong and healthy when we have evidence to the contrary. We hunt and kill
for sport, believing this will prove our prowess and courage. Meat, fur,
purebred animals, and leather are all signs of wealth and prosperity and
cause us to feel �good� about ourselves by playing into worldly standards
of success. We experiment on animals, driven by our fear of death and
disease, because animals are helpless to resist. We dominate and exploit
the created world in order to prove our power over it and to help us feel
in control. Animals continue to bear the sins of humankind in all its
tragic forms. Their suffering never seems to cease even though Jesus came
to seek an end to suffering on earth.
Jesus died to bring us into a new reality. The cross is
redemption for humanity and it is redemption for all God�s creatures. We
must no longer sacrifice animals for our own purposes. We must no longer
pin our fears and sin upon the innocent animals of God. We must live in
the reality of the redemption that Christ won for us on the cross and live
at peace with all God�s creation, praying for a complete restoration of
God�s kingdom, where there is no violence, no killing, and where �the lion
lies down with the lamb� (Isaiah 11:6).
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world. Have
mercy on us.
Go on to Passover and
Vegetarianism
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