Human sacrifice

[TheInquisitor]

It seems that God is against Human sacrifice in the Old Testament. How is Christ’s sacrifice on the cross not a human sacrifice which in turn God would possibly be against?

 

[1ke]

Jesus is not merely human. He is human and divine.

 

[Pfaffenhoffen]

It seems that God is against Human sacrifice in the Old Testament. How is Christ’s sacrifice on the cross not a human sacrifice which in turn God would possibly be against?

Very, very good question. We do not know the answer. What we know is that the Father wanted the sacrifice of the Son.

More than that, for me, it is pitch black…

 

[Tarpeian_Rock]

I think there’s a difference between “human sacrifice” and self-sacrifice, which Christ’s clearly was. “Greater love hath no man . . . .”

 

[Gabriel_Serafin]

It seems that God is against Human sacrifice in the Old Testament. How is Christ’s sacrifice on the cross not a human sacrifice which in turn God would possibly be against?

The depravity of man and the deception of the devil led pagans into offering human sacrifices to false gods. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is not merely a human sacrifice, but a divine sacrifice offered in atonement for the sins of man. Jesus Christ is Priest, Prophet, and King. The role of a priest is to offer sacrifice, and as True God and True Man, Christ made it possible to offer Himself of behalf of man’s sins.

**God the Author of life, offered Himself for us. **

After the fall of Adam, humanity became mired in great wickedness and it was in the midst of a world enslaved to Satan that God revealed Himself and formed His Chosen People through whom the redeemer would enter the world and unfold the act of salvation. Thus God set apart His Chosen People by giving them commandments, purifying and separating them from the depraved humanity in order to prepare for the coming of this promised messiah.

The term* sacrifice* in Biblical language means* to make sacred and holy.* While the pagan human sacrifices were not holy and were offered to demonic pagan gods, Christ’s sacrifice of Himself to His Father was and is an eternal act of love for our redemption. The penalty of sin is death because sin separates us from God the Author of Life. But because God so loved the world that He sent* “His only begotten Son”* to save us from our sins. Jesus (The Word of God made flesh) is GOD (second Person of the Holy Trinity) Himself becoming man in order to suffer in his body the consequence of sin. Sin is the misuse of the gifts of intellect and will which commit with our physical bodies.

The Wisdom of God

God’s ways are not man’s ways, and in His infinite wisdom God can bring good out of man’s evil actions. The bloody and violent scourging, crucifixion and death of Jesus is a vivid display of the horror of sin and a testament of God’s great love for man.

To be saved, man must cooperate with God’s grace which was merited by Jesus Christ on the cross. Thus, in order to be forgiven, man must repent and turn away from sin. A suffering messiah can stir sincere compunction in the heart of man as it’s much easier to repent of something when we see the consequence of our actions. God shows us His love and the price He paid for our salvation. He bought us by taking upon Himself the penalty of our disordered passions, our pride, our deceit, and made up for all the suffering which man brings into the world by the misuse of the gifts of intellect and will.

Finally, in order to be a disciple of Christ we must pick up our cross and follow Christ. Where did Christ take His cross? Christ carried the cross to be crucified and die upon it. Likewise, we too must carry our crosses daily and offer our life as a “human sacrifice” to be crucified with Christ by dying completely to ourselves and by making Jesus Christ the Lord of our existence. Jesus gave Himself completely for us, and thus he teaches that we must follow his example.

A vivid crucifix is a reminder for us of God’s great love for us and the horror of sin, which separates us from God. And thus, like Paul, *“we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” 1 Cor. 1:23
*

 

[bmonk]

I’d say that God was against the death of His Son, its injustice and cruelty. Those responsible needed forgiveness, as for any sin. Jesus Himself asked, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)

From the other perspective, Jesus was not offering human sacrifice, but giving Himself in obedience to the Father’s will, acting correctly in all things. As such, He showed us how to sacrifice ourselves, which is very different from offering a blood sacrifice (like the priests in the temple offered).

Consider a similar example. Muslims speak of suicide bombers as “martyrs” for the faith. But, in their dying, they kill others, often innocent bystanders. The Christian understanding of martyrdom is not at all to kill for the faith, but to do as Christ did in dying for the faith.

 

[TheInquisitor]

So how does this reconcile with Christ dying being called his sacrifice on the cross? Or for that matter, the bible and Catholic churches huge emphasis on how Christ was the lamb of God on passover (something that was sacrificed).

 

[bmonk]

So how does this reconcile with Christ dying being called his sacrifice on the cross? Or for that matter, the bible and Catholic churches huge emphasis on how Christ was the lamb of God on passover (something that was sacrificed).

OK, let’s see if I can hit the mark a little closer.

In that sense, Christ’s self-sacrifice is a human sacrifice, but it’s something he accepted and used rather than something he went out to do. The idea of one person killing another to offer them to God is abhorrent–the Old Testament already saw that in the story of Abraham and Isaac–and so the actions of the Jewish leaders and the Roman officials was sinful, on their part. But Jesus, in offering himself and taking advantage of his situation, did not sin, though he did make his death a sacrifice.

Still, Jesus’ sacrifice is different in other ways too. Temple sacrifices were limited, and to often repeated. (For example, every Passover in Jesus’ time, thousands of lambs would be sacrificed, as quickly as possible, in the permitted hours of 3 to 5 p.m., if I recall correctly.) However, in Jesus’ case, there is only one sacrifice, and it need not be repeated, so that the priests need not continually sacrifice other human beings.

Another idea is that this sacrifice, as a special case, had been prepared from the beginning of the relationship between God and His people. For example, when Isaac asks Abraham where the lamb is for the sacrifice, Abraham responds, “God himself will provide the sheep for the offering.” And so God did: Abraham found a ram caught in a nearby thicket and sacrificed that, but also in the fullness of time God provided a son for sacrifice, as Abraham had offered Isaac. And, in both cases, death was not final: Isaac remained alive; Jesus passed through death to fullness of life.

Is that a more complete answer to your question?

 

[TheInquisitor]

Thank you guys for your help I feel about satisfied with the reasoning.

 

[fisherman_carl]

Clearly Jesus’ sacrifice is not merely a human sacrifice. Any mere human sacrifice would not have been accepted by God, even a sinless human. I think it was Aquinas or maybe Anselm who wrote that if any sinless human sacrifice would do then we all would be indebted to this other human person for our salvation. But, rather it was more fitting that God himself was to be our Savior. It was God sacrificing himself to himself on the Cross.