The Myth of Sisyphus

Bible Reading

Heb. 9:24-28 “24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

The Myth

In Greek Mythology, Sisyphus was the founder and first king of the city of Ephyra (later known as Corinth). He was a sneaky person, and apparently cheated death twice. As punishment for his hubris, he was sentenced to forever roll a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down on its own and for him to have to start over again

The very definition of a useless task

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results.”

The Sacrificial System

In Israel, the sacrifice was supposed to take away the sins of the people and the High Priest himself. But the New Testament reveals that it never really did that. Instead, the people were, in a way trapped in a Sisyphean loop…doing the same things over and over again, and not getting the results they expected.

We often think (if we think about it at all), that it must have been easy for them—just a tradition that they went through—but their faith would not allow it to be “just” anything...

The Bible Project:

“For the Israelites, cutting an animal’s throat and watching its blood (that is, its life) drain from its body was a visceral symbol of the devastating results of their sin and selfishness. The stakes are high--human evil releases death out into the world. When an Israelite cheated their neighbor or stole a donkey, they would be tempted to think it’s not that big of a deal; multiply that wrongdoing by tens or hundreds of thousands of people and you get a violent and corrupt community. This animal’s symbolic death is a physical symbol of what’s really at stake. The life or death of the community. You could call this part of the symbol a deterrent.”

However, the symbol did even more. This animal’s death was not just a reminder of sin’s tragic consequences; its life was also offered as a symbolic substitute.

Since blood represents life--or the opposite of death--its sprinkling around the temple would act like a detergent. It can symbolically wash the temple of death (the natural result of sin) and defilement. The end result is that God’s presence stays squarely in the midst of the people of Israel.

Animals Are Not Humans

But Jesus is.

So, Jesus’ blood is the ultimate detergent.

And His death is the ultimate deterrent.

The more we understand that “I” cut Jesus’ throat, and the more I realize how deeply that has cleansed me, the more I do not want to sin.

Yet, We Persist...

We persist in pretending that Jesus’ sacrifice was somehow not good enough, or we persist in pretending that it wasn’t really necessary. How many times have we heard: “I’m really a good person”, or “I’m so terrible, that God could never forgive me.” Neither is true.

We also persist in looking for our meaning and fulfillment in places other than in God.

What Now?

Spend time with God. Read the scriptures. Do a Bible study rooted in the Second Part of the Heidelberg Catechism “Of Man’s Deliverance”

Take captive every thought…think of the animals you love and how terrible it would be to have to kill them to preserve your own life…now think of the people you love the most…how terrible it would be to have to kill them to preserve your life…now think of your Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who love you more than any of them…and how you and I killed him…and he willingly let it happen....surely a deterrent and a detergent that beats Sisyphus.