No More Animal Sacrifice… But Redeemed by the Blood of Jesus

“Who is Jesus?” This question has always generated different sorts of answers or debates throughout the history. Many people had to say different things about who Jesus was and is. That is to say, he was a god to a guru; he was a mere lunatic to moral teacher. Some go even farther to deny him his historical existence. Even Jesus was interested to know what his disciples thought who he was (Matthew 16:15). I leave these topics for some other days to discuss but want to focus on Jesus as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29, 35).

Generally, Hindu converts do not need someone tell them what the animal sacrifice is about. The ritual killing and offering of animal such as goat, buffalo, hen, or duck to the shrines in the temple is not something new to them. Animal sacrifice is one of the means to appease god or goddess. Through that satisfaction, they believe they can maintain or sway the divine favor on their side. For the ritual, they would keep or find a sacrificial animal without any blemish, by which means it has to be spotless or woundless that has never been hurt or wounded before. That is, therefore, a consecrated offering for the remission of sin of the entire household.

If any question that a person should be asking, it is this- how much blood of animals would be enough to wash the sin of a person? What if the person committed any sin just before her/his death with due sacrifice? How do we know that the sacrificial animal’s blood has blotted our sin? We, unless deluded, know well that none of the existing creatures comes close to human beings in terms of intelligent mind. Then, why some are told that the blood of an animal vindicates a man from the judgment of his wrongdoings! An animal cannot be equated with a man.

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Therefore, God himself took a human body to be a perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins, so that we might live through his blood.

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There is nothing that can cover our sin, not even with human blood, since the Bible tells us that no man is righteous and all men have sinned (Romans 3:23). As a result of sin, we are inevitably destined to the grave because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). No man is without blemish, so it does not leave us an option to sacrifice a sage to turn the table of judgment. Therefore, God himself took a human body to be a perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins, so that we might live through his blood. Jesus became a lamb who was sacrificed on the cross on our behalf while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). His flesh was cut open with lashes; his limbs were nailed. He was pierced and his holy blood was poured out. And only that holy and unblemished blood of Jesus can wash away our sin and make us clean, pure, and holy. Through this blood of Jesus, we are saved from the grip of sin and its power thus are redeemed (Ephesians 1:7). Unlike animal sacrifice that covers our sin temporarily, the sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God is for the eternity.