Does it not also seem odd that Jesus himself instructed his disciples to partake in a memorial meal that highlighted his death?13 In fact, does it not seem odd that the earliest apostolic teaching on the atonement was performative rather than propositional. Simply put, Jesus’ earliest disciples were engaging in atonement theology every time they took part in the Lord’s Supper. Before any of the Gospels were begun, before any book of the New Testament was penned, even before Paul’s Damascus-road experience, Christians regularly met and engaged in a ritual meal filled with atonement metaphors.
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