Human Sacrifice
Originally scheduled for October 22
It is a consistent pattern among primitive
human beings: there is a hierarchy of things which can be sacrificed
to the gods. You can sacrifice grain; you can sacrifice wine, but
the highest level of sacrifice — most pleasing to the gods — is a
blood sacrifice. There seems to be some preference for a live blood
sacrifice; the chicken squawking on the altar seems to amuse the
gods, somehow. Of course, the highest level of blood sacrifice is
human sacrifice. It seems that humans are the tastiest of morsels to
the gods.
That, naturally, brings up the question of
where you’re going to get all those human sacrifices. The usual
answer is we will start at the lowest level with captives from the
last war. While these are less valuable than other kinds, they are
usually abundant in the winning culture, and any deficiencies can be
made up by the cruelty used in sacrificing them. But eventually you
get to higher levels of human sacrifice; female virgins are a
popular item. But as those usually don’t belong in your own personal
family, the most expensive item is one of your children. If you
think it didn’t happen, see Jeremiah 35:25. The kings of Israel took
their infant children and threw them inside a hollow idol which was
being heated. This was accompanied by loud music, so the parents
wouldn’t hear the screams of the children.
Into this world full of human sacrifices came
the story of Isaac. At first it looked like Abraham was going to
have to sacrifice Isaac like so many other children had been
sacrificed. But Abraham was confident of God; “God will provide the
sacrifice.” By its very example it prohibited human sacrifice for
the children of God. One reason for this, quite simply, is that
contrary to what most people thought human sacrifice was not
considered excessive. It was considered not good enough. The
sacrifice that takes away the sins has to be perfect, and none of us
are perfect. The only way there could ever be a perfect human
sacrifice, a perfect propitiation for sin, was if God provided the
sacrifice. He provided a ram for Abraham; he provided Jesus Christ
for all of us.
Think of that: all the chickens ever sold to
Colonel Sanders, all the cows and potatoes sold to McDonald’s, all
these things combined cannot possibly atone for the sins of mankind.
The only effective sacrifice is Jesus on the Cross. That is the
price God paid for your salvation. When you partake of this
communion, you see symbolically the blood of Christ in the cup, the
body of Christ in the bread. He asks that you do this to remember
the sacrifice he made. Until he returns again, this will always be
the most important event in human history. Please, examine yourself
and take this communion in a worthy manner — not lightly, not bored
but eternally grateful.
