Jesus' Self-Sacrifice

One of the requirements for my degree at Ozark is that I take two doctrine classes. These classes are difficult to say the least, as the primary assignment in each of them is to produce a 20-25 page paper regarding some theological aspect of the subject matter. I took both of my doctrine classes last year--Doctrine of the Church in the fall and Doctrine of Christ in the spring. If you were around me much last year, it may have been easy to tell when the due date for my doctrine papers was coming up. For one thing, I would start growing a nasty, wispy beard because I considered myself too busy to shave and become presentable. Also, I would become even more irritable and socially distant than normal and would rarely be found playing cards or going out to Chick-fil-A. So if you were ever walking around campus last year nervous about the homeless guy walking around mumbling to himself with his head down, don't worry. It was just me in Term Paper Mode.

For my Doctrine of Christ class last semester, I wrote my paper on Jesus' role as the great high priest, as found primarily in the book of Hebrews. I really enjoyed my subject, and I learned a lot while researching. For the next three posts, I'll be drawing from my paper and the research that went into it to discuss several aspects of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, as well as what it means for us and how we live and minister to others. After these three posts, I'm probably going to be due for another post in which I make fun of the fact that I'm single. People love those.

Sin demands that judgment be meted out against the offender. This is bad news for humankind. As rebellious, sinful people, we deserve to be the objects of God's wrath. Fortunately for us (and thanks to God), sacrifice was given as a means to attain forgiveness. In Old Testament times, animal sacrifices were offered, and herein lied the central function of the Levitical priesthood. There were all sorts of sacrifices: burnt offerings, fellowship offerings, sin offerings, grain offerings, etc. All of these sacrifices came to a climax on the Day of Atonement, when the high priest would take the blood of a sacrifice into the Most Holy Place to atone for the sins of the nation. The ministry of the priests was glued to the altar, and animal sacrifices were the hapless victims of the system.

If Jesus is now our great high priest, as the New Testament affirms (Heb. 4:14), he needs a sacrifice to offer. Now there are a lot of things I don't know about the gospels, but I can't think of any instances when Jesus butchers a goat on an altar. No, the picture we get of his sacrifice is something else entirely. John the Baptist calls Jesus "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world" (Jn. 1:29). Jesus claims that he came "to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mk. 10:45) and that he lays down his life "of my own accord" (Jn. 10:18). Hebrews notes that Jesus "offered himself" (Heb. 9:14) and makes "the people holy through his own blood" (Heb. 13:12). Jesus is not a priest who brings in the third party of livestock to make atonement. He is a priest who offers himself. He is both "priest and oblation" (Thomas F. Torrance, Atonement 81).

So what's our reaction? First should certainly be wonder, awe, and intense thanksgiving. I remember thinking about the idea of Jesus as our shepherd when I was younger. I thought, "The idea of a shepherd dying for his sheep is silly. A human life is worthy infinitely more than a sheep's life. That's ridiculous." But how much more ridiculous is it that God (whose worth is distanced from ours so much more than a human's from a sheep's) would offer himself for the sake of mankind? And still, that's what happened. And it's a fact that should cause unceasing amazement within ourselves. Dennis Kinlaw puts the absurdity (but the wonderful truth) like this:

Normally, shepherds keep sheep so they can eat them and wear the wool or sell them so someone else can eat or wear them. Now Jesus tells us about a shepherd who keeps sheep, not so that he can eat or wear or sell them, but so that the sheep can actually eat and wear him. (Let's Start With Jesus, 86)

Second, if Jesus sacrifices himself, how much more should we be self-sacrificing? It's idiotic for us to be okay with Christ giving himself for us so that we can loaf around and be comfortable and think that God is there to serve us. In my Bible reading this week, I've been reminded how little room there is for selfishness in the Christian life. A Christ-follower must "deny himself and take up his cross daily" (Lk. 9:23). We are told to offer ourselves as "living sacrifices" (Rom. 12:1). Christ calls us to climb up on the altar. Of course, our sacrifice is not like his in the sense that it atones for the sins of the world, but we are charged to expend all we have of ourselves for the sake of Christ. So what do you need to sacrifice?

In an unrelated note (which is how I like to end many of my posts, because I'm awful at conclusions), our middle school group at Suburban is going to be going on a mission trip to work with Union Gospel Mission in Salem, OR next month. Several of the students are working with me to keep up a blog so that others can see how we're preparing, and we'll update it while we're there so that people can see what we're doing. So the link's on the sidebar. Check-a-check-a-check it out.