(…continued) But it was never meant to be just a show. The symbols were to be symbolic of something else. And so later on in Old Testament times, when the faith and worship of the people became corrupted, the rituals became nothing more than a show, and, were even thought to be a guarantee of God’s presence and protection. The people, led by the priests, ignored and neglected the truth behind the symbols– the truth that they had sins that needed forgiving and that God was a loving and forgiving God who cared for them, but who also wanted their obedience. God wanted them to live in the ways of justice and peace. What God did not intend and did not want was that the people would use the rituals in an attempt to buy God off, and then sin without worry, dealing with each other unjustly and oppressing the poor and needy. By the time of the prophets, all these rituals and symbols had become no longer an aid to faith, but a barrier to pure faith and devotion. It was for this reason God said he now hated their sacrifices and rituals. He hated them because they had become nothing more than a symbol, and the truth behind the symbol had been completely forgotten. What had become a call to obedience had turned into a license for disobedience; what had been a sign of God’s love and mercy, had become a way to take advantage of God’s love and mercy.
By the end of the Old Testament, the symbols were useless, the system was broken, and something new was needed. Jeremiah told the people that God would make a new covenant with them. Centuries later, when Jesus broke bread with his disciples on the night he was betrayed, he picked up on Jeremiah’s words and said “This is the new covenant in my blood.” No longer would it be the symbolic shedding of an animal’s blood. Now God himself, in Christ, would shed his own blood. Now it would not be just a symbol of the cost of sin, but now, in person, all would see the pain that our sin causes in the very heart of God. No more would there be sacrifices of lambs, for now the perfect lamb of God was sacrificed for all people of all time. There are deep and meaningful symbols of this from the beginning of the Bible to its end, and all this one meditation can do is point out that it is there. But in the death of Jesus on the cross, the symbol becomes the reality.
The suffering of Jesus on the cross was not just a one time event, but it was the physical expression of the pain and suffering that had been in the heart of God from the beginning of the world, when God first created people and they sinned against him.
Most of the symbolic actions of the Old Testament priests are no longer practiced, but Christian worship is still filled with symbols. The most universally recognized symbol in the world is the cross, so most Christian churches have a cross up front and in the center, symbolizing its central importance to our faith. The colors of the paraments on the altar symbolize the season of the church year that we are in. Candles on the altar can symbolize Christ as the light of the world, or, they can be a symbol of God’s Word which is a light on to our path. Many churches have one candle burning all the time, throughout the week, symbolic of the fact that Christ is always with us. (continued…)
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Isaiah 1:10-16 (portions) — Hear the word of the Lord:… “The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me? I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats… Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me… I cannot bear your worthless assemblies… They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood! Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight, and stop doing wrong.”
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I call to you, Lord, come quickly to me;
hear me when I call to you.
May my prayer be set before you like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
–Psalm 141:1-2
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