Jesus and God aren't the same people.
At least it really seems that way when you read the old testament. I mean, it really seems that way. It's hard to imagine that the same God who gives intricate detail on how to slaughter livestock en masse for mostly just the purpose of setting their mutilated carcasses on fire because 'it is a pleasing aroma' is the same God that encourages people to be kind to one another.
Did you know the book of Leviticus is mostly full of instructions on how to harvest and clean the fatty tissue from organs in cows and goats and other animals? Did you know the book of Leviticus also has extensive lists of what kind of animals are ok and not ok to eat?
Did you also know Peter(one of Jesus' disciples) has a vision in the new testament of a large sheet filled with all kinds of animals being lowered down to him? In the vision Peter hears a voice that commands him to kill and eat. But Peter knows better: Peter refuses to kill or eat the animals because in the book of Leviticus there are rules against eating these kinds of animals. Rules set by God. They're also pretty serious rules: if you eat the wrong animal you're 'unclean' for twenty-four hours and even then you still have to kill another kind of animal or burn a certain kind of grain to become 'clean' again.
But then Peter hears the voice say this: "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."(Acts 10:15, NIV)
Wait, wait, wait: God can just do that? So you're telling me God had an entire nation of people go through complex, life-threatening rituals for hundreds of years when he could have just changed the system and vetoed things being 'unclean'?
This exchange between Peter and God happened three times in a row. So it's not like Peter misheard God the first time or God misspoke. Shortly after having this vision, Peter has an opportunity to speak to a large gathering of people about Jesus. This is what he says: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right".(Acts 10:34b-35 NIV)
Remember, Peter is talking about the same God who--only a few hundred years earlier--laid out explicit instructions on how to handle the entrails of a cow so that God didn't strike you dead by accident.
What's going on here? Did God change his mind by the time Jesus came around? Is the bible riddled with cognitive dissonance? Were the ancient Hebrew people wasting their time sacrificing livestock in the desert for hundreds of years?
The answer is yes. And no. And...who knows.
Before I explain I want to make sure we're clear on something: nobody really knows anything. Especially about God and anything that happened before we were born. And when you were born: did you start acquiring knowledge that would help you understand the detailed history of an ancient civilization right away? No. You don't remember the day you were born. Most of us don't remember at least our first year. So when we talk about God and the bible and history we're not doing anything much more sophisticated than playing make believe with action figures. The sources we have for our knowledge of God and the bible and history are some copies of books that people wrote about things that happened after the fact and deteriorated objects we dug out of the ground. Oh, and verbal tradition. Ever play a game of telephone?
I don't say any of this to say that we shouldn't try and learn more about God, or the bible, or history, or anything. All I'm saying is that no matter how sure anybody seems it's all actually quite mysterious and mystical and magical. But of course it is: We wouldn't be moved to worship something that was normal and explainable and predictable. Nobody worships math equations.
Anyway.
In Leviticus chapter six God lays out some rules for what the priests of Israel may and may not eat from the sacrifices that are made in the temple. When it comes to meat from the sin offering, God says that the priest who oversees the ritual sacrifice may eat the meat if it is cooked in a clay or bronze pot...on a condition. The clay pot must be shattered after cooking the sin offering. If a bronze pot is used, it must be "scoured and rinsed with water".
Earlier on in Leviticus God gives detailed instructions on sacrifices and rituals that must be performed if someone has committed a wrong against a neighbor or against God without realizing it. Once all the ritual instructions have been completed the section ends by saying, 'They will be forgiven'(Leviticus 4:26, 31, 35).
In Leviticus 16 God gives instructions for something called a 'scapegoat'(yes, this is where the term comes from). A priest is to lay his hands on the head of a goat, confess 'all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites' and send the goat off into the wilderness to never be seen again.
At the end of every set of instructions for a burnt offering we are told 'it is a pleasing aroma to the Lord'.
Are you getting the imagery? The clay pot that held and cooked the meat representing someone's wrongdoing will be shattered into pieces. If it was a bronze pot, it will be thoroughly cleaned. One might say it should be made spotless.
A person who has committed a sin will be forgiven.
The weight and guilt of a nation's wrongs are symbolically placed on the head of a goat and lost in the wilderness.
God will be satisfied by what you bring to Him.
This imagery is all quite final, don't you think?
There's no gray area.
No room for questions like, "Has God forgiven me yet?" or, "Am I good enough, yet?" or one of my favorites: "Does anybody love me?"
A certain phrase comes to mind.
"It is finished".
In case you are unfamiliar, this is what Jesus says as he draws his last breath on the cross. You know; the place where he dies for all the sins of mankind.
Jesus doesn't say, "Hopefully now you'll all be acceptable to God". He doesn't mutter, "You guys better appreciate this or it doesn't count". He doesn't raise his eyebrows expectantly at his friends and family, waiting for them to thank him.
"It is finished."
Not just the wrongs you have committed. But also the wrongs that have been committed against you. You don't have to carry them around anymore. The person who wronged you may never apologize, but that's for God to sort out.
You.
