Sacrificing Christians

Note: Crap Essay 2: The Revenge.

As in Judaism, sacrifice is an important element in Christianity.
As Christianity has its roots in Judaism, Christianity shares many
of Judaism’s sacrificial elements. There are, however, fundamental
differences in the way Christians see sacrifice.

As followers of Jesus, Christians will necessarily follow many ways
of the Jews, including their sacrificial rituals. During Passover,
Hebrews reminisce their liberation from Egypt by eating lamb. Jesus,
being a Jew himself, followed that tradition up to the Last Supper,
which was a Passover meal.

During the Last Supper, Jesus announced that he was going to be
betrayed by one of his disciples. Soon afterwards he was crucified.
Many Christians view the crucifixion happening during Passover as
no coincidence—Jesus sacrificed himself as the traditional lamb
so that all of humanity will be liberated of their sins, clearing
their way to return to God.

Judaism has many priests. “As the … priest changes from
time to time, so we get changes in style and character, and emphasis,
and in some ways the new man is better than the last one, and in
other ways he is not as good. Each have their own strengths and
weaknesses. Not only was and is the priesthood imperfect, it was
also interrupted by death. There are many priests, because no one
priest can live
forever.”
(http://biblepilgrim.com/mtor/priesthoodjesus.htm)

Judaism has many priests, each with their own individuality. This
causes Judaism to be led differently every time a priest dies and
is replaced.

In Christianity, Jesus is the one high priest. This is because
Jesus is believed to live forever and will forever be their high
priest. “…but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent
priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come
to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for
them.” (Hebrews 7:24–25)

By having Christians always follow Jesus, Christianity can be kept
“on track.” (There is, of course, still the problem of inaccurate
translations and changes in languages that affect the Bible itself,
not to mention different interpretations of the Bible that oppress
or neglect certain groups, such as women, homosexuals, blacks, and
little boys. One of the more extreme examples would be the Ku Klux
Klan’s interpretation of the Bible.)

Baptism is another way in which Christians sacrifice. The act of
putting a person underwater and then pulling her or him out is
symbolic of death, and then life. “The concept of baptism is
encapsulated in the word immersion. To be baptized is to be immersed
in something, whether it be in repentance, in sanctification, in
the Holy Spirit, in the body of Messiah, in suffering, in death,
or in water. In whatever form it is manifested, it represents a
complete surrender to God, to his will and his
Word.” (http://www.restorationfoundation.org/volume_4/4217.htm)

The Scriptures tell of the story of how God commanded Abraham to
sacrifice his son, Isaac:

Some time later God tested
Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied.
Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love,
and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering
on one of the mountains I will tell you about.’ (Gen. 22)

When Abraham was on the verge of killing Isaac, he had proven his
faith to God. God then told him to stop. Instead, Abraham was given
a ram and told to go home.

Many Christians are still doing sacrifices, though not by merely
using an animal. Many Christians now work hard and sacrifice a
portion of their salary to their local church as a token of good
will, known as tithing. Priests can, in turn, use what others’ have
toiled for and sacrifice it upon their own cars. What they need,
they can make more by opening new churches. (This cynical outlook
is not without cause. A friend’s mom owns a car repair shop, which
priests frequent. When presented with the cost of the repairs, one
response was along the lines of, “It’s okay. We’re opening a
church soon, so I’ll have the money to pay for the repairs.”)

Some forms of Christianity mandate monetary sacrifice, while others
merely “suggest” it. More noble and ideal Christians may only
perform sacrificial rituals involving time and effort, such as
helping out at a soup kitchen or converting some poor godless
tribes in Africa.

Sacrifice is very prevalent in Christianity, in no small part due
to its relationship to Judaism. Practicing Christians all sacrifice
in one way or another. Sometimes they are symbolic, as during
baptisms, while other times they are very literal.