Jesus and the peace offering (Leviticus 3)

The outcome of the peace offering was that worshippers, priests and God shared together in the sacrifice. Their mutual participation depicts what is the case in the new covenant era – God and believers now enjoy the fulfilment of what the peace offering indicated. There are at least three ways in which this is the case.

First, the slain Jesus is the source of salvation. On one occasion Jesus said to the crowd that unless they ate his flesh and drank his blood they would not have eternal life (John 6:54, 56). I am not suggesting that the Saviour was referring to the peace offering when he said these words, but we can see an application. The Israelite worshippers had to eat a meal in which the central feature was the flesh of a slain sacrifice – they could not drink the blood because it had already been utilised at the altar. Christian worshippers feed on Jesus who was slain, and receive the benefits of his sacrifice, what he purchased for them; they also experience the benefits of his shed blood, including the forgiveness of sin and cleansing from its defilement. The slain Christ is the ground of all our spiritual blessings. We plead his merits when we approach the Father to give us his blessings.

Second, Jesus was a willing sacrifice. In the Levitical ritual the animal was not a willing sacrifice, nor was it capable of becoming an intelligent offering. How different was the sacrifice of Jesus! He was both fully willing to become the sacrifice and fully aware of all the details involved in doing so. He was prepared to undergo divine wrath at Calvary, to enter the place where there was no shalom, in order for us to have it (peace, prosperity and joy). This is a reminder not only of the cost of our peace, but of the willingness and determination of Jesus to bring it about.

Third, Jesus through his sacrifice brought permanent shalom into the experience of his people. Obviously a meal connected to a peace offering in Israel would only last a short time until all the food had been consumed. In contrast, the provision of shalom (the peace of God) will last for eternity. Jesus refers to himself as the hidden manna (Rev. 2:17) on which his people will feed forever. He is the slain Lamb who will give them the blessings of the eternal inheritance. In this life, their enjoyment of the inheritance is disrupted often; in the next, all will be shalom, but the redeemed of the Lord will always remember who was the Peace Offering on Calvary.