An understanding of the cross
The Lamb of God, the Sacrifice
Hebrews says that by his own blood Christ entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. The sacrifice understanding reads the cross through Israel's altar. The lambs and the Day of Atonement pointed forward; Christ is the true and final offering, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, once for all.
“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”Hebrews 9:12
What this understanding says
This understanding claims that the cross is the true sacrifice to which all of Israel's offerings pointed. In the old covenant, sin was covered as blood was brought to the altar and into the holy place, year after year. Hebrews says Christ entered once by his own blood and obtained eternal redemption, needing no repetition. The Lamb of God offers not the blood of animals but himself, the pure and willing offering that actually cleanses the conscience. Sacrifice here means giving of oneself at real cost, dealing with sin at its root and opening the way into God's presence. What the cross accomplishes is a finished atonement: the veil is passed, sin is put away, and worshippers are made clean and brought near, no longer waiting for the next offering because the last one has been made.
Its Scripture and its history
Sacrifice may be the oldest and most pervasive way Scripture speaks of the cross. The whole sacrificial system of Israel, the Passover lamb, the Day of Atonement, forms the vocabulary. John the Baptist points to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the world's sin. Paul calls Christ our Passover, sacrificed for us. The letter to the Hebrews develops it most fully, presenting Christ as both the perfect high priest and the final offering. From the earliest days the church has sung of the blood of the Lamb, and the theme runs through liturgy, hymn, and the Lord's Supper across every tradition. It is not a rival theory so much as the biblical language within which the other understandings find their words.
One cross, many facets
Sacrifice is one facet of the one cross, and in a way it is the language the others translate. Ransom, victory, substitution, and exchange each draw on the image of the Lamb offered for sin. Held rightly, sacrifice keeps the cross costly and holy, reminding us that sin is grave enough to require blood, and that God provided the offering himself. It guards against sentimentality on one side and cold mechanism on the other, for the Lamb is both willingly given and truly slain. Christians differ over how the sacrifice takes away sin, whether chiefly by bearing judgment, by cleansing, or by covering, and Scripture uses several pictures. But at every altar of Christian worship the confession is one, that Christ our Passover has been offered, once for all.
Questions people ask
Why is Jesus called the Lamb of God?
The title comes from Israel's sacrifices, especially the Passover lamb whose blood spared God's people, and the offerings that covered sin. John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It means Christ is the true and final sacrifice, willingly given, whose death does once and forever what the animal offerings only pointed toward.
Why does the cross involve blood?
In Scripture blood stands for life, and the shedding of blood signals a life given to deal with sin and to make atonement. Israel's altar taught that sin is serious and costly. Rather than requiring endless animal offerings, God provided his own Lamb. The blood of Christ speaks not of cruelty but of a life freely laid down to cleanse and to bring us near.