In our culture in America, most people are so blessed that they believe no one should ever have to sacrifice anything for themselves. To sacrifice is to surrender something for the sake of someone else. You may sacrifice your lunch so that someone else can eat. You may sacrifice your time by using it to help a neighbor. We see these as sacrifices, but they are nothing to us. If I miss a meal, it is no big deal. I will probably make up for it at the next meal. If I gave my time to a neighbor, my former plans would probably not be important anyway. So, what we deem sacrifices do not cost us much. These are meager offerings that are not true sacrifices. A true sacrifice is an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important. If your sacrifice can be given without a second thought, it is not much of a sacrifice. The highest sacrifice you can offer will cost you the most valuable thing you have: your life.
In the Old Testament, animal sacrifices were required to cover the sins of the people. They could not forgive the person, but they were pointing toward the perfect and final sacrifice of Jesus. They were symbolic of holding off the wrath of God until the perfect sacrifice was made. A shadow is a rough outline of something, an image, but not the real thing. The law was a shadow of what would happen when Jesus was offered as a sacrifice for our sins. He was the real sacrifice. The sacrifices referred to in Hebrews 10:1 were offered yearly on the Day of Atonement. These were considered the most sacred, effective sacrifices of all the offerings. The writer of Hebrews shows their deficiency by letting us know they must be done yearly.
Hebrews 10:1 “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.”
In Romans 3:25, God presented Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement by shedding his blood, which is to be received by faith. “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” God presented the highest sacrifice that could be made. He presented the perfect, sinless Lamb of God. In John 1:29, John looks and sees Jesus coming and says, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” The Jews understood the significance John was placing on Jesus when he made this statement. A lamb was offered in the temple every morning and evening as part of their daily worship. In Isaiah 53:7 it was foretold that the Messiah would be the Lamb led to the slaughter. A lamb signified patience, innocence, meekness, and gentleness. The prophecy tells us He was oppressed and afflicted, but He would not resist the giving of His life. He was the patient redeemer. He held the power to change everything, yet He relinquished the power to change everything!
Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.”
In I Peter 2:23, Jesus is reviled. He does not return harsh words or actions. He suffers greatly but does not threaten His accusers. In Matthew 12:24, the Pharisees call his miracles an act of the devil. “This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.” In John 10:33, they label Jesus a blasphemer.
I Peter 2:23 “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.”
John 10:33 “The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, made thyself God.”
This perfect Lamb of God, sinless, and full of love for us laid down His life. In John 10:18, no one took it from Him. He gave His life for mine. The highest sacrifice anyone can ever make is to give their life for us. This sacrifice was not just for those who were Jews or certain ones of a particular status. It was not for the educated or wealthy. It was given for all who would believe and accept Him as their Savior. In John 3:16-17, a very familiar passage, God gave His Son for the sins of the entire world. Only those who reject Him will not benefit from His sacrifice; they will receive condemnation and the wrath of God because they reject the highest sacrifice God could offer for their redemption. God gave His Son, and the Son willingly laid down His life. Because of this, I can sing, “What a sacrifice that paid sins price, O the blood of Jesus speaks for me.”
John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
John 10:18 “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”
