So why sacrifice in the Old Testament? Why kill animals? And how on earth does Jesus dying really equate with sacrifice???

So why sacrifice in the Old Testament? Why kill animals? And how on earth does Jesus dying really equate with sacrifice???

According to Chris Marshall this stuff all has to do with justice and I think I agree with him – well most of the time =). When the whole sacrificial system came in to existence it was as a result of Israel’s sin. (Meaning the nation – not just the person!). God had chosen to enter into a covenant – a special relationship – with Abraham and all of his descendents (the ultimate purpose of which was to restore all people to relationship with God). Problem was their sin (placing their own agenda’s before God’s) meant that they kept breaking the covenant – living in ways that God simply could not agree with (duh our agenda always pales in comparison with God’s!). To restore their relationship God had to provide a system through which they could show their regret and well repentance really and commitment to putting Him first. IN ADDITION Marshall suggests that sin was (and is) like an infectious disease, spreading quickly from person to person. So not only did God need a way for the people to show repentance but He needed it to halt sin spreading in its tracks – providing cleansing.

Hence we have the sacrifice system where the people of God would bring an offering to God (be it whatever type of food or drink or animal that the law required though the more serious sins required the shedding of lifeblood), and through participating in the ritual publicly at the temple repentance was demonstrated, God was able to forgive, sin’s spread was stopped and the ‘disease’ was cleansed from the community, and ultimately relationship with God where God and His agenda are placed first was restored.


Thing was this system had its limits and the people kept falling into deep sin over and over and over again. God needed to create a way to enable all people to be in relationship with Him and halt sin altogether. It was clear we human’s were unable to do this so He himself had to come down, live as a man, and die. It is this act that cleanses us all from sin and enables sin to be removed from community. HOWEVER just as in the sacrificial system God requires us to participate in this with repentance and choosing to follow Him, putting His agenda first. We do this by declaring that we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, accepting His sacrifice on our behalf and choosing to follow Him with our lives – putting Him first in all things. In addition we do this publicly and in community – hence baptism and the need to be a part of the Church.

By joining our belief and lives with Christ’s sacrifice, death, and resurrection we are forgiven by God and able to live freely in relationship with Him, as was always His plan. Quite clever really.