Ed. note: Written by hand February 9, 2008 at our home at 491 S. Reed Ave. and posted later.ÂÂÂ
History is full of treasures and surprises. In Will Durant’s Caesar and Christ I was privileged to read about the Roman religious sacrificial system. It turns out that animals sacrificed to Rome’s gods were thought to become the gods themselves.
Thus it was that the sacrifice was thought to be not just a sacrifice of an animal, but a sacrifice of the god himself. I see in this the seed or foreshadow of the concept of Christ’s substitutionary atonement. After the sacrifice was complete, the animal’s internal organs were given to sacred flames and the flesh served to the priests and worshipers. Thus it was hoped that the god’s strength and glory would pass to the people.
There are several ways to interpret the relationship between this practice and Jesus’ Godly sacrifice. One is that Christianity merely borrowed the concept from older religion. That may be. But I prefer to see in this practice a foreshadow of humanity’s spiritual center of gravity: Christ’s sacrificial death and glorious resurrection. The Romans were no fools, and this drama, this death-of-god, is hardwired into humans past and present. It’s a truth we know with a source we don’t.
Jesus may have had this god-sacrifice in mind when he said in John 6:53, “Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” He was indicating that the glory and strength of God can pass into our lives only because of his sacrificial death and atonement.
The ancients would have understood, and now I do, too.
Andrew: Can you imagine what “the people” said when Christ told them to “eat his body and drink his blood”? Weird, Cannibalistic, etc. and to tell us that we have no life when we do not do as we are told is certainly a difficult kind of obedience. To be so filled up with Christ would cause us to be perfect as we are called to be – but how many time have I failed? how many times have I been forgiven? how many times have I had to start over? and how many time have I experienced God’s love and forgiveness? and how many times have I started over? Each day is new experience and each day another opportunity to eat and drink from the bread and water of life. What a delicious life!!!!!!