He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 John 2:2 NIVUK
Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.
Psalms 32:1-2 NIVUK
In 2007, the film ‘Atonement’ was released to critical acclaim. Ironically, it was about a woman who falsely accused her sister’s boyfriend and who could not make atonement for her mistake.
Other than that, we would struggle to find a modern usage of the word.
You see, it means much more than just to ‘make amends’ or to ‘make up’ for your error. And it definitely is not a fine paid by the already wealthy that lets them get away with whatever they want.
It’s far, far deeper than that.
The festival of atonement – known nowadays as Yom Kippur – is outlined in Leviticus 16.
If you take the time to read this chapter, it will not take you long to realise this festival involved a lot of just about everything: prayer, fasting and the ritual shedding of animal blood. It is quite a gory, gruesome celebration that, to our modern (especially vegan) eyes is very violent. I dare say that if the Jewish community tried to reinstate this festival in its original format in many Western countries, there may well be protests.
But what is atonement? What does it mean? Why is it so violent?
And why is it so relevant to Easter?
The Hebrew word for ‘atonement’ means ‘to cover’. The idea is, as David Guzik explains:
‘...was that God was above the mercy seat(I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat, Leviticus 16:2), and as He looked down upon the ark of the covenant, He saw the sin of man. Man’s sin was represented by the items in the ark of the covenant: Manna Israel complained about, tablets of law Israel broke, and a budding almond rod given as a response to Israel’s rebellion. Then, the high priest sprinkled atoning blood seven times on the mercy seat – covering over the emblems of Israel’s sin. God saw the blood cover over the sin, and atonement was made.’
In other words, the gory ritual was a clear and unequivocal statement on three things:
· The visibility of the sins to God
· The culpability of their sins – that they bore the consequences
· The gravity of their sins – that only a blood sacrifice would be sufficient to cover them
The blood was symbolic, as in Jewish thinking the blood was the life of the animal (Leviticus 17:11-14; Deuteronomy 12:23). So right from the very creation of Judaism, it is ingrained into them that there can be no forgiveness without loss of life.
In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Hebrews 9:22 NIVUK
So then we come to the cross.
It is impossible to find a more barbaric way to die. Even the Romans themselves thought so – and they used it frequently. Cicero called it ‘the most cruel and hideous of tortures’. They saved it for the lowest of the low – the very worst of humanity. The scum of the earth, if you will.
But – and this cruel irony lies at the heart of the Christian faith – Jesus Christ was crucified despite being innocent (Matthew 27:19).
Why?
For us.
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21 NIVUK
This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:22-26 NIVUK
The blood-thirsty barbarity of the Jewish sacrifices of atonement were painful but necessary. They demonstrated to the Jewish people that God saw and imputed to them, and considered to be serious, every sin they had ever committed. That is why they were necessary.
The cross was necessary for the same reasons.
Christians revel in the cross. Some of us wear it around our necks or hang it on our walls. To an extent, rightly so, because it’s through the cross that we are saved.
But we cannot also escape the message of the cross: that it is necessary because we are sinners (Romans 5:8). It is necessary because our sin is visible to God, because we are guilty of it and because it is serious.
If none of these were true, there would be no need for the very Son of God to have died. But He did, because they are true.
The cross is a highly confrontational symbol.
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18 NIVUK
Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
1 Corinthians 1:22-25 NIVUK
The cross is like an x-ray of the highest resolution. In its violence, it exposes precisely what God thinks our sin, and that is a thoroughly uncomfortable thought.
But at the same time, it talks of the incredible love that Jesus showed us by being willing, and choosing, to die, bearing our sin on our behalf:
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:7-8 NIVUK
The cross is the biggest declaration of love the word has ever known, and will ever know. That is why Christians are so joyous about Easter.
But as we prepare for Easter Sunday, it is absolutely right that we consider the violence and the pain that Jesus bore for us.
There is also a further side to this. Because of the cross, our sins, though great and costly, are forgiven (Colossians 1:13-14).
This is what Jesus came do (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45).
However, we, as His followers are required to forgive as we have been forgiven (Matthew 6:12). Even at great cost, if necessary.
There is even a famous, but nonetheless challenging, parable of a servant who refused to do exactly that, and suffered for it (Matthew 18:21-35).
Easter is a truly wonderful time. But amidst all the thanksgiving and praise – which are all fully deserved and correct – we must also remember the challenge to live as Jesus did.
And since He came to earth to bring us atonement, leading to the forgiveness of our sins, we must also forgive.
If we want to be like Him, that is.
Questions
1. Why were Jewish sacrifices so violent and gory? What does this teach us? What connections do we see between them and the cross?
2. What does atonement mean to you? Why is there such a close connection between it and forgiveness?
3. Is there anyone you struggle to forgive? Why is that? How can you become able to forgive them?
תגובות