A regular daily blood sacrifice is an alien concept to us. The very idea seems foreign and barbarian. What an irony of history that it is the foundation of Christian doctrine. That Jesus, the Christ, is our sacrifice; the Lamb of God. In Old Testament times through the intertestamental period, right up until the destruction of the Temple in 70 a.d., the priests would put on their robes and go through the prescribed sacrifices given in God’s Law. Julius Scott writes a wonderfully concise description of the process.
“Each day, near dawn, the priests who had slept in the temple were summoned. An officer cast lots to determine priestly responsibilities. Those priests who had been selected for duty that day washed their hands and feet; the others were dismissed. The temple precincts were inspected to assure that the courts had not been defiled. Ashes were removed from the bronze altar, and wood placed upon it. Worship began when daylight arrived. The lamps were cleaned, and fresh oil put in them, ashes removed from the altar of incense, and the temple doors opened to indicate the beginning of worship (Scott 1995, 151).”
“A sacrificial lamb was led into the slaughter area on the north side of the bronze altar. It was given a drink of water from a golden bowl and then killed. Its blood was collected, and its bodily parts divided, arranged, and kept on a marble table until they were to be carried to the altar. Priests and worshipers recited the Ten Commandments, the Shema, benedictions, and other prayers. The Mishnah set the particular psalm to be sung each day of the week (Scott 1995, 151).”
“…the priests who had been selected to offer the burnt offering threw the body parts of the sacrifice onto the altar. When the high priest officiated, the other priests handed the parts to him, and he performed the rite. The pouring out of the drink offering which followed was the signal for the Levites to begin singing, which was interspersed with the blowing of two silver trumpets. The people prostrated themselves with each trumpet blast. The end of the singing concluded the worship (Scott 1995, 152).”
When John the Baptist first meets Jesus, he proclaims, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (Joh 1:29)!” But before that, in the angel’s announcement to Mary, she is told that Jesus, “will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end (Luk 1:32-33).” When the angels appeared to the shepherds, the shepherds were told, “unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Luk 2:11).” And the wise men came looking for the one, “who has been born king of the Jews (Mat 2:2)?” Great, Son of the Most High, heir to the throne of King David, King of the Jews and Lamb of God. It seems so incongruous.
But Jesus had come to be the Lamb. “And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour (Joh 12:27-28).” He came to be the blood sacrifice that the justice against my sins requires! The Son of the Most High came for this purpose. He, “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Php 2:7-11).”
This is why we worship on Sunday! This is why we sing! This is why the angels sang joy to the world! This is the source of peace between men and God! This is why we worship on Sunday!
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Photo by John Price on Unsplash