A Farewell to Mars: An Evangelical Pastor's Journey Toward the Biblical Gospel of Peace

by Brian Zahnd

“Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matt. 9:13 NIV). ...

“If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned t...

Jesus is to be the last innocent victim condemned to suffer as a scapegoat f...

crowd. The cross is to transform us. When we look at what scapegoating did to Jesus, we repent of it. His innocent death shocks us into realizing we cannot participate ...

It was human systems of blame, sacrifice, and violence that put the Son of God to death. But this sacrificial death drags the sin of the world into the light where it is forgiven by Christ and where it is to be forsaken by us.

But now we must rethink our lives and resolve to live according to Jesus’s alternative way of producing peace. The Jesus way of producing peace is based in mercy and forgiveness, not blame and retribution. We must not continue to build Babylon upon the blood of sacrificial victims—instead we are invited to join the New Jerusalem built on the blood of Jesus.

Jesus is the sacrificial victim who shows us that sacrifice is not what God wants. God wants mercy, not sacrifice; forgiveness, not scapegoating.