Bloody Sacrfice

The Nasoreans, whose theologians were the Essene Monks of Qumran, took the position that the Temple in Jerusalem was profane. It is not clear whether it was the building or the sacrifices in the building that were profane, but they certainly denied that the priesthood was performing the sacrifices in the correct and proper way. As they hardened that position, they began to think about the nature of sacrifice and especially about what kind of worship existed before Moshe instituted the bloody sacrifices set forth in the Torah.

Professor Jodi Magness has said that she has found bones buried at Qumran in a ritual like way. The bones had been gnawed indicating that the meat had been taken off of them through eating. This position supports the conclusion that ritual acts of sacrifice were taking place at Qumran. However, a more radical position was also developing at the headquarters of the Nasoreans represented by John the Baptist. That position reflected on Melchizedek, a very important figure in Essene theology, and noted that the sacrifice of Melchizedek was bread and wine. These more radical followers of Essene Theology argued that the worship of G-d did not always require the killing of animals, but was allowed by Moshe with the provision that the sacrifice be to the one G-d. The others argued that the shedding of blood was the only way to forgive sin. This issue was very important to the followers of Jesus who supported John's position.

Jesus believed that there must be a resolution to the question of bloody sacrifice. He suspected that the only solution was the acknowledgment that abolishing bloody sacrifice required the spilling of blood. After He came to recognize Himself as the Priest-King Melchizedek returned he began to contemplate the idea of a formal act of bleeding in which his blood would become the central event that changed the bloody sacrifice to the sacrifice of Melchizedek. He decided that the institution of a new sacrificial system or rather a return to the older sacrificial system required an event and an act of sacrifice so he chose Pesach, a feast which centers on a perfect lamb being slain and its blood placed in the form of a cross on the door post of ones house, and which also centered on bread and wine. The gospels set us up for this event from day one. John announces Jesus as the Lamb of G-d. Isaiah 53 calls him the Lamb silent. So on that fateful day at the Seder of the Essenes, Jesus says that the bread will be the Body of the sacrifice in his sacrificial system and that the wine will be the Blood in his sacrificial system. He then proclaims that he has arranged to be arrested and that one of them had cooperated in that act. He is arrested, acts as the silent Lamb, and is crucified so that his body physically represents the symbol which would be created by dabbing the blood on the doorway. In this way, he pays the price of changing the sacrificial system from the one proclaimed by Moshe in the Torah to the earlier one used by Melchizedek, whom Jesus was.

It takes much time for the Jewish followers of Jesus to get the full import of his act. They fail to understand that the Temple is ended, that the bloody sacrifice is over, and only with the destruction of the Temple do they finally get that point. In the book, Kerygmata Petrou, translated by Theodore A. Dornan and Jackson H. Snyder, Chapter 36 and 37, Clement says that Peter spoke about the bloody sacrifice:

"When meantime, Moshe, the faithful and wise steward, perceived that the vice of bloody sacrifice to idols had been deeply ingrained into the people from their association with Egypt, and that the root of this evil could not be extracted from them, he allowed them bloody sacrifice, but it be done only to YHVH that by any means he might cut off one half of the deeply ingrained evil, leaving the other half to be corrected by another, and at a future time; by Him, namely, whom he said Himself, 'A prophet shall YHVH your Archangel raise unto you, whom you shall hear even as myself, according to all things that he shall say to you. Whosoever shall not hear that Prophet, his spirit shall be cut off from his people.'"

Clement argues that Peter had said that Jesus was that Prophet, as, of course, all the followers of Jesus believed. He had the power to change the Law so long as he did it in accordance with the Law. As the new Law Giver, he was empowered to change the sacrifice. He did this and that is what happened to eliminate the bloody sacrifice from our religion.

Instead of the bloody sacrifice, Nasoreans weekly remember, as do all Jews, the Seder Meal in the Kiddush service at sundown on a Friday night, but Nasoreans recognize in the bread and wine the sacrifice of Jesus and of the true Lamb and recognize further that the High Priest Yeshua ha Meshiach, Jesus the Christ, pours out for us his blood as is taught in the Letter of Barnabas to the Hebrews (Hebrews in the New Testament) as we celebrate the remembrance of that night. Our daily imperfections, those minor sins that do not separate us from G-d, but taint our spirits, are taken away when we regret them and confess them. Major sins are taken away in the act of mikvah, baptism. The Lamb of G-d continues to pour out his multiplied blood for us and all mankind on the HaKapporet in the Temple Above.

There will be a new Temple, but it is profane before it is built. It is the house of demons, the seat of AntiChrist and those that would build it are blasphemers and heretics, damned forever by their act. There is no need for a temple as the Holy Spirit is Tabernacled in every assembly which meets in the Name of Yeshua. At the moment of our celebration, YHVH is with us, Emmanuel is present and our celebration is HaMakom, the Place that G-d has Chosen.