Should the Jewish Christian community before 70 CE have continued going to the Temple in Jerusalem? Should they have kept sacrificing animals?
If Jesus is indeed the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, this community was called to stop participating in animal sacrifices—even when facing bullying and social ostracization from their peers. We know that the Christians who fled Jerusalem shortly before its destruction in 70 CE escaped death because they held a mindset fundamentally different from that of their contemporaries, who remained tied to Temple sacrifices.
Hebrews 13 reminds us that a similar shift occurred with the tabernacle in the time of Moses. It was originally placed in the center of the camp, but because of the people's sin, it was moved outside. As Scripture says:
10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the Holy Place by the high priest as an offering for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the gate, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood. 13 So then, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. 14 For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.
— Hebrews 13:10–14
Jewish Christians were called to step "outside the camp"—leaving behind the comfort of their traditional lives and accepting social rejection for Christ, knowing that Jesus is the ultimate, resurrected sacrifice.
