If Jesus died to "pay for our sins"

[Elijah John]

If Jesus' death was a sacrifice to "pay for our sins", why didn't Jesus present himself to the temple priests and say "I have come to offer myself as a sacrifice to pay for the sins of the world"?

[Willum]

[Replying to Elijah John]

"Far-fetched"?...I would call your interpretation "unconventional" at best, "creative" to be diplomatic, or "bizarre" at worst.

Nah, just one of many logical conclusions based on the evidence provided.

By the way, "Deus" did not replace YHVH in the NT. Deus is simply the Latin name for "God". The NT was written in Greek, so the word would be "Theos".

EJ, you've been ignoring me. Deus and Theos are used interchangeably in Latin and the Bible particularly.

And if we want to get back to Jesus Hebrew/Aramaic roots, "YHVH" is the "Elohim" of Jesus, a Hebrew, a Jew and not a Roman, nor a Greek.

YHVH originated with the Canaan, who wrote in Phonetician, without vowels. Elohim means "gods."

No pagan deity says:

...

What is your basis for that? I am aware of very few bloodthirsty deities NOT of semitic origin. There's the South American, but other than that; the story of Isaac was to show you no longer needed to sacrifice children to YHWH, the story of JeDeus was that you didn't need animals anymore.

What was it Able sacrificed again, and Cain did not, incurring God's apathy?
Why was Moses pushing into the river?

Human sacrifice and animal sacrifice are part of the good book, just not parts that were embarrassingly expunged.

[Justin108]

If Jesus' death was a sacrifice to "pay for our sins", why didn't Jesus present himself to the temple priests and say "I have come to offer myself as a sacrifice to pay for the sins of the world"?

I see your point. It's funny how Jesus only "offered" himself after he was arrested by armed soldiers. You'd think if Jesus really offered himself as a sacrifice, he would approach the crucifiers rather than the crucifiers approaching him.

[Elijah John]

If Jesus' death was a sacrifice to "pay for our sins", why didn't Jesus present himself to the temple priests and say "I have come to offer myself as a sacrifice to pay for the sins of the world"?

I see your point. It's funny how Jesus only "offered" himself after he was arrested by armed soldiers. You'd think if Jesus really offered himself as a sacrifice, he would approach the crucifiers rather than the crucifiers approaching him.

I agree in that Jesus martyrdom was not the central focus of his ministry, and may have even been somewhat unexpected.

If Jesus had offered himself to the Temple priesthood for sacrifice, he would have been dismissed as insane, and rightly so. There is no provision in Judaism for human sacrifice, never was.

Also, he did not offer himself as a sacrifice at all, even to the Roman authorities. He co-operated, but did not actively seek crucifixion. In fact, he prayed to the Father to be spared.

The whole idea of Jesus dying to "pay for out sins" seems to have been Paul's attempt to find meaning in the death of a failed Messiah. (Messiah's were supposed to be triumphant, the first time around)

Jesus himself taught mercy and repentance for atonement of sins, not sacrifice. (The Lord's prayer, the Beatitudes, the Parables)

In that he was aligned with John the Baptist ("baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins") and the Hebrew prophets, who also taught unbloody atonement ("I desire mercy NOT sacrifice").