Channels, Spring 2018

Page 2 Pape • The Accomplishment of Biblical Theology on Atonement atonement is accomplished through a sacrifice made to God in the place of a person. However, in the New Testament, Jesus is the sacrifice that atones sin. Scripture assists us in drawing intertextual connections between these themes. When we study the covenants within the canonical context and observe the type of sacrifice and accomplishment of the sacrifice, we better understand the relationship between New Testament and Old Testament atonement and sacrifice. Type of Sacrifice Under the Mosaic covenant, atonement for sin was made through the sacrificial system. There were regulations for offering sacrifices and specific offerings for specific occasions. On the Day of Atonement, the people gave a sin offering for the priest and the people. 2 First, a bull was killed as a sin offering for Aaron, the high priest. The sin offering for the people had two parts involving two goats for atonement. The high priest was to “cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.” 3 Similarly, Jesus is presented as a sin offering in the New Testament for “he made him to be sin who knew no sin.” 4 The canonical context in which these sacrifices are made allows us to bring together the work of atonement under these two covenants by observing the intertextual comparison between the types of sacrifices. Under the Mosaic covenant, an unblemished animal sacrifice was necessary to atone for sin. However, throughout the Old Testament, it is clear that atonement is not given through the work of sacrifice but in accordance with the heart of the worshipper. “It is only as the offering is properly handled by the priest and accepted by God, and as the people’s lives and hearts reflect loyalty to God, that the blood of a sacrificial offering achieves atoning force.” 5 The work of atonement; therefore, is clearly not enacted through an offering but by God’s granting of it. The Old Testament prophets testify to this truth saying, “as for my sacrificial offerings, they sacrifice meat and eat it, but the Lord does not accept them.” 6 “The sacrifices and offerings in Leviticus reveal humanity’s need for substitution and 2 There are also two burnt offerings (rams) offered after the sin offerings on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:24), however, these offerings do not play a role in atoning for sin rather they act as an offering that renews dedication to the Lord having just been cleansed from sin. 3 Leviticus 16:8-10 4 2 Corinthians 5:21 5 Terry Briley, “The Old Testament ‘Sin Offering’ and Christ’s Atonement” Stone-Campbell Journal 3, no. 1, (Spring 2000): 97 6 Hosea 8:13a