What did Jesus think

[Elijah John]

What did Jesus think of Temple-based animal sacrifice? Any NT evidence pro or con?

[marco]

What did Jesus think of Temple-based animal sacrifice? Any NT evidence pro or con?

What he privately thought is a secret, EJ. When he cured the leper he told him to offer up the required sacrifice, as prescribed in Leviticus 14. When a leper was cured a procedure had to be followed:

"“And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and one log of oil. 11 Then the priest who makes him clean shall present the man who is to be made clean, and those things, before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 12 And the priest shall take one male lamb and offer it as a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. 13 Then he shall kill the lamb in the place where he kills the sin offering and the burnt offering, in a holy place; for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering."


So it would SEEM that Christ went along with this superstitious stuff.

Matthew 8:4 KJV
"And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them."

[Elijah John]

What did Jesus think of Temple-based animal sacrifice? Any NT evidence pro or con?

What he privately thought is a secret, EJ. When he cured the leper he told him to offer up the required sacrifice, as prescribed in Leviticus 14. When a leper was cured a procedure had to be followed:

"“And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and one log of oil. 11 Then the priest who makes him clean shall present the man who is to be made clean, and those things, before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 12 And the priest shall take one male lamb and offer it as a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. 13 Then he shall kill the lamb in the place where he kills the sin offering and the burnt offering, in a holy place; for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering."


So it would SEEM that Christ went along with this superstitious stuff.

Matthew 8:4 KJV
"And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them."

Indeed. That would seem to be the pro animal sacrificial position that Jesus took, but here's the "con":

"I desire mercy, not sacrifice"

Jesus quoting Hosea there.

Also, when Jesus committed the Temple disturbance, didn't he set some captive doves free? Saying that "my Father's house shall be called a house of prayer..." His actions, if not his words, seem to have supported his stance against animal sacrifice.

It should be noted here that for this particular thread, the whole question of his own impending "human sacrifice" as a replacement for animal sacrifice is another matter altogether.

[marco]

"I desire mercy, not sacrifice." Jesus quoting Hosea there.

I said Jesus went along with the custom. His portrayal suggests he acted out what he was required to do, but thought otherwise, as with the woman taken in adultery where he talked the accusers into walking away but did not condemn the barbarity of stoning.

In the case of the leper there was no compulsion on him to prescribe sacrifice; that was his choice, so here he placed himself in the position of upholding blood sacrifice.

I sympathise with his position for he is proclaiming love, mercy and kindness with a background of cruel events in the OT which he must at least pay lip service to - and does.

[paarsurrey1]

What did Jesus think of Temple-based animal sacrifice? Any NT evidence pro or con?

What he privately thought is a secret, EJ. When he cured the leper he told him to offer up the required sacrifice, as prescribed in Leviticus 14. When a leper was cured a procedure had to be followed:

"“And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and one log of oil. 11 Then the priest who makes him clean shall present the man who is to be made clean, and those things, before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 12 And the priest shall take one male lamb and offer it as a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. 13 Then he shall kill the lamb in the place where he kills the sin offering and the burnt offering, in a holy place; for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering."


So it would SEEM that Christ went along with this superstitious stuff.

Matthew 8:4 KJV
"And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them."

Leviticus is not from Moses, it is made by the clever clergy later for their own material benefits:

The traditional view is that Leviticus was compiled by Moses, or that the material in it goes back to his time, but internal clues suggest that the book developed much later in Israel's history and was completed either near the end of the Kingdom of Judah in the late seventh century BC or in the exilic and post-exilic period of the sixth and fifth centuries BC. Scholars debate whether it was written primarily for Jewish worship in exile that centered on reading or preaching,[3][4] or was aimed instead at worshipers at temples in Jerusalem and Samaria,[5] but they are practically unanimous that the book had a long period of growth, and that although it includes some material of considerable antiquity, it reached its present form in the Persian period (538–332 BC).[6]

Jesus did not believe in such things and never did he practice it on his own, please.
Regards