Payment
for sin
Throughout
the history of our faith, people recognised that we all sin and fall short of
God’s standards. The Hebrews under Old Testament law made sacrifices to God to
take away the sins of people. In the Middle Ages, many sought forgiveness of
sins through indulgences (e.g., donations, good works, specific prayers,
memorial masses for the dead, visits to holy places, etc.). Some still feel
they must make sacrifices during Lent by giving up something, perhaps in echo
of earlier practices.
In his
letter to the Hebrews St Paul reminds us Jesus has changed this requirement. We
cannot-and no longer need to-atone for our sins through any human agency. Paul
writes it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins, but
by God’s will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. John’s Gospel records the words of Jesus-I am the good
shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
By His
single act of sacrifice on the cross, Jesus has paid once and for all time for
human sin - all those things that separate us from God. If we accept His gift
of salvation then we are freed from the need to make sacrifices to earn God’s
favour. Then as Jesus says I will remember their sins and lawless deeds no
more.
Tom Buckner
Good
Shepherd
By Torhamn, Gunnar, 1894-1965.
From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity
Library, Nashville,
TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55855 [retrieved
March 2, 2019]. Original source:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:S%C3%B6der%C3%A5kra_kyrka04.JPG.
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