sacrifice

sacrifice. Sacrifice is fundamentally the offering to the Deity of a gift, especially a living creature. It is a widespread feature of religion. Early in the OT there is the record of the sacrifices of Cain and Abel (Gen. 4: 3–5), while the demand for the sacrifice of Isaac (Gen. 22) underlies the need for the offering to be a costly one. Sacrifices were also associated with the making of covenants, such as that of God with Israel at Sinai (Exod. 24: 4–8). After the settlement in Canaan, sacrificial observances became more elaborate; from the 7th cent. BC they were restricted to the Temple at Jerusalem. The chief annual sacrifices were those of the Paschal Lamb at Passover and those of the Day of Atonement.

In the NT Christ appears to have tolerated the current practice of sacrifice, but He quoted with approval the teaching of Hosea subordinating ‘sacrifice’ to ‘mercy’ (Mt. 9: 13, 12: 7; cf. Hos. 6: 6). At the Institution of the Eucharist, He pointed to the sacrificial quality of His death (cf. Mk. 10: 45), speaking of the shedding of His Blood in a New Covenant. The Fathers developed the ideas of the NT, stressing the uniqueness of His sacrifice in that He was: (1) a voluntary victim; (2) a victim of infinite value; and (3) Himself also the Priest. In the Middle Ages the relationship of Christ's sacrifice with the Eucharist was elaborated. Christian theology also commonly asserts that the individual's conscious obedience to the will of God may be a form of sacrifice.