In the second chapter of The Atonement, Leon Morris talks about the use of the word sacrifice to describe Christ’s work on the cross. Morris says that “sacrifice is a term we use quite often, but in a very different sense from that which the ancients gave it. We dimly realize that once there were people who literally offered animals in sacrifice to their gods… But when we use the word it is almost always in a metaphorical sense” (p. 43). Morris goes on to explain how we in the modern world use this term to indicate giving up something – whether it is a parent giving something up for a child or an athlete sacrificing his time to win a championship.
Morris argues that sacrifices in the Old Testament and as understood by the New Testament audience understood “that the action was a symbolic transferal of the sins of the worshipper to the animal, so that when it died it was taking the punishment due to the worshipper for his sins” (p. 47).
The Israelites living under this sacrificial system did not approach God in a light, carefree manner. “Nobody who came thoughtfully to God by the way of sacrifice could be in any doubt but that sin was a serious matter. It could not be put aside by a light-hearted wave of the hand but required the shedding of blood” (p. 51).
So, the New Testament audience would have understood that sacrifice was a serious matter that resulted in the death of that which was sacrificed. They would have understood that it was the violent shedding of blood for a person’s sins. They would have understood that the animal sacrificed was taking the punishment that they themselves deserved. Every time they placed their hands on the head of a sacrificial animal they would have been reminded that this animal was dying in their place.
The New Testament writers refer to Jesus’ death on the cross in terms of sacrifice (Eph. 5:2, Heb. 9:26, Rev. 1:5). “The men of the New Testament used ‘sacrifice’ as a helpful category when they wanted to bring out something of what Christ’s death meant” (p. 44).
The death of Jesus, God incarnate, is significantly different from the death of mere animals. “The death of Jesus is to be seen as a sacrifice which accomplishes in reality what the old sacrifices pointed to but could not do” (p. 63).
So, what does a deeper understanding of ‘sacrifice” help us to know about what Christ’s death accomplished for us?
“Sacrifice was a splendidly solemn way of dealing with sins. It stirred the emotions and gave the worshipper something to do. But did it really take away sins? Could any thinking person believe that the death of some poor animal, a bull perhaps, or a goat or a lamb, would put him in the right with a God who was holy and just?
But the sacrifice of Christ was a different matter. All the old and familiar imagery helped them to understand what Christ’s death was about. They could appreciate references to blood as cleansing and to death as a means of putting away sins. And what was no more than dimly hinted at in the case of the animals they could see perfectly accomplished in Christ” (p. 66)”
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