Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

EXPIATION

A sacrificelike action that removes a barrier of sin which blocks fellowship between God and people. Expiatory concepts are closely linked with ideas of guilt, purity, divine judgment, and mercy. OT and NT ideas about expiation are further linked with broad patterns of sacrificial thinking in the ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world. In modern times there has been much discussion of differences between “expiation” and “propitiation,” the former suggesting divine initiative and the latter human activity (aimed at turning aside divine wrath). Such distinctions cannot be readily derived from individual Hebrew and Greek terms in the Bible. The Bible does seem to regularly assume, however, that humans cannot control or manipulate God’s response to their misdeeds.

The OT generally affirms the value of expiatory sacrifices, but never presents a general interpretation or explanation of their efficacy (cf. Heb. 9:22). Naturally many statements about expiation connect it with priestly sacrifices. Leviticus in particular offers detailed prescriptions for sacrificial rituals suited to various classes of transgressions which are said to “expiate” them. A few passages speak of the deaths or executions of human beings as purifying the nation and eliciting divine forgiveness (Phinehas: Num. 25:7-13; Sir. 45:23; David: 2 Sam. 21:1-14). However, OT prophets often declare that sacrifices do not gain forgiveness when sacrificers are unrepentant. Passages like Mic. 6:6-8; Jer. 7:21-23 (cf. Ps. 51:16-17[MT 18-19]) come close to denying that any sacrificial rites expiate sin. The fourth Servant Song of Second Isaiah (Isa. 52:13–53:12) develops with unique power the idea of a voluntary human death which functions as a vicarious sacrifice for the forgiveness of the sins of others. A Hellenistic Jewish text, which may have influenced early Christian soteriology, speaks of martyrs whose deaths atone for the sins of Israel (4 Macc. 17:20-22; cf. 2 Macc. 7:30-38).

Most NT statements about expiation are connected with Jesus’ death, and such statements are widespread in the NT. The influence of Isa. 53 is particularly apparent in Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 2:18-25; 3:18. Yet early Christian interpretations of Jesus’ death as an expiation for sin often imply that that event both fulfilled and replaced sacrifices performed under the OT law.

Paul’s letters, the oldest NT writings, incorporate pre-Pauline formulas interpreting Jesus’ death as a sacrifice for sins (1 Cor. 11:23-26; 15:3; Rom. 3:24-26; 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:20-21). Paul appears to accept such ideas himself, though he does not explain or dwell on them. Deutero-Pauline letters also assume the validity of expiatory patterns of interpretation (Eph. 1:7; 5:2; Col. 1:20-22; 2:13-15). It is noteworthy that the Pauline and Deutero-Pauline letters explore further meanings of Jesus’ death, especially freedom from the law (Gal. 2:19-21; 3:10–5:12; Rom. 7:1–8:4; cf. Eph. 2:14-16; Col. 2:13-15) and ongoing Christian experiences of suffering; Pauline interpretations of the death are not limited to expiatory ones.

In the Synoptic Gospels, sacrificial interpretations of Jesus’ death are suggested especially in the Lord’s Supper narrative (Mark 14:22-25 = Matt. 26:26-29) and the possibly related “ransom” saying in Mark 10:45 (= Matt. 20:28). The Gospel Passion narratives also hint that Jesus’ death is specifically related to the temple and its sacrifices (Mark 15:29, 38).

A special interest in interpreting Jesus’ death as an expiation for sins is shown in 1 John (esp. 1 John 2:2), and this is clearly related to an emphasis on Jesus’ humanity (4:2-10; cf. Heb. 2:17). In the Gospel of John expiatory thinking surfaces in the Baptist’s description of Jesus as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29; cf. 11:50), but that Gospel speaks of Jesus’ death mainly in nonsacrificial ways. The book of Revelation also alludes to expiatory views of Jesus’ death (Rev. 1:5; 5:9).

By far the fullest appropriation of expiation categories in the NT is found in the Letter to the Hebrews. The author presents a meticulous argument about the one-time self-offering of God’s Son in the heavenly sanctuary for the sins of “many” (Heb. 9:1–10:18). Jesus’ death is understood as simultaneously fulfilling and rendering obsolete the sacrificial worship of the Old Covenant.

Bibliography. C. B. Cousar, A Theology of the Cross: The Death of Jesus in the Pauline Letters. OBT 24 (Minneapolis, 1990); R. G. Hamerton-Kelly, Sacred Violence: Paul’s Hermeneutic of the Cross (Minneapolis, 1992); M. Hengel, The Atonement (Philadelphia, 1981).

David M. Hay

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

EXPIATION

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)