“But if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring to the LORD as his compensation for the sin that he has committed two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering” (Lev. 5:7).

∗   ∗   ∗

While sitting in the backyard this week, I was startled by a bird that flew into one of our windows before swooping down to a rough landing near my feet. It was a mourning dove and it looked stunned from its collision. As soon as he began to try to flutter away, it was apparent that he was not okay. I thought perhaps he had broken a wing in his accident. I watched as he moved several feet before he fell into a narrow hole where an upright 4×4 post had been removed on the property. Not wanting to leave him in there, I put on a pair of gloves and managed to pull him out again. Holding him for a minute, I couldn’t help but notice how small he was. There he was in my hands, tiny, helpless, and weighing just a few ounces. I left him in the yard overnight where he couldn’t fall into the hole again, and to my surprise, when I went out the next morning, he took flight and flew away into the trees, evidently recovered from his eventful night.

Reflecting on it later, I couldn’t help but think of the Old Testament sacrificial system, which prescribed the sacrifice of doves for certain sins and purification offerings. The act of taking a live dove up to the temple to offer as a sacrifice would have been a very tangible reminder that there must be a payment for sin. Offering a lamb or a dove would drive home the truth that if I am to be forgiven of my sins, payment must be made. Something else must take my place and bear the punishment for me in order for my sin to be atoned for. The sacrifices of the Old Testament served to teach the Israelites the truth that “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22). But those sacrifices could not actually take away sins completely.

In order to completely pay for our sins and remove them forever, there had to be a much greater sacrifice—a representative for us, a perfect man, a willing sacrifice. And this is the beauty of the gospel, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became a man and became a sacrifice for us. He was our representative, the perfect man, and a willing sacrifice. Without animal sacrifices to tangibly remind us of the cost of our sin, we are in danger of cheapening the cross. But his sacrifice was much greater than all the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament. This Sunday let the communion be a reminder of the sacrifice that was made for you—a sacrifice much greater than that of doves.