Sacrifice is an ancient religious ritual. It is practiced by the religion of Militarism. Throughout history, Militarists have practiced blood sacrifice on animals but also on human subjects (War is the most routine example). Jesus never practiced sacrifice rituals. He never shed the blood of any human being. He certainly never taught that sacrificing any living creature was a godly act or that it reconciled him or others with a God. He never taught others to sacrifice to him or to engage in such practices. Sacrifice simply was not a part of Jesus’ faith life. Suggesting it is confuses Christians about blood sacrifice. It obscures the truth that blood sacrifice was the practice of Jesus’ opponents. It is Jesus killers who practiced blood sacrifice – on Jesus. It is Jesus who saves us from Militarism’s bloody practice.
On Thursday, considered the day before Jesus was rendered as yet another victim of Militarism’s blood sacrifice tradition, he shared a meal with disciples. That meal is mistakenly thought to be a sacrifice. It is mistakenly compared with the Passover blood sacrifice of lambs and humans. The Passover is the shedding of lamb’s blood and the shedding of human blood – the firstborn children of Egypt who were blood sacrifice victims in the tenth plague. But connecting the Passover to the Mass is a horrendous perversion. Jesus’ Thursday last supper meal on which the Mass claims to be based repudiates and replaces Militarism’s blood sacrifice system. Jesus’ meal lacked his killing of a lamb. Neither did Jesus identify himself as a lamb during the meal. Jesus replaces dead creatures with life-giving care. More fully, Jesus replaces deadly Militarism with his living way. In place of Militarism’s practice of a sacrificed body and spilled blood Jesus offers living sustenance that evening instead. Sacrificed bodies are replaced with nourishing bread. Spilled blood is replaced with flowing wine. The altar of sacrifice is gone; the table of communion is thriving. Bread and wine are Jesus’ living body and blood. Jesus is establishing a paradigm for a life-giving communion flowing from a life-giving earth. Jesus’ communion meal thus replaces and heals Militarism’s deadly blood sacrifice system. Sadly, those who practiced Militarism’s violent blood sacrifice ritual targeted Jesus for murder, as he understood they would. Militarists thus murdered Jesus the next day in one of their blood sacrifice rituals. There is no reason for we who seek to follow Jesus to associate ourselves with Militarism, certainly not its deadly blood sacrifice practices responsible for murdering him. We need to practice his nourishing life giving witness instead.
We Christians have from Jesus a generous and life-giving practice for being in communion with the world. The world hungers and we have bread. The world thirsts and we have drink. How are we doing with following Jesus’ lead to nourish the world, to share its abundance? Do we scrutinize and shrivel to nickels and dimes money given for people and the common good? Do we at the same time hemorrhage people and resources for the death penalty and war? As we do so we ensure continual victims for Militarism’s present day altars of blood sacrifice.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, I vow to nourish life.
Question: What can I do to shift Christian gatherings away from militarism’s bloody sacrifices and toward Jesus’ living nourishment?
Sacrifice: June 2, 2013 Gospel Luke 9:11-17 Feast of the Body and Blood