On the origins of the Sunday Roast...

"13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:

14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

(Hebrews 9:13-14, AV)

AND SO, AS ONE'S THOUGHTS AND NOSTRILS TURN from prayer books and Church to the matter of the Sunday roast, one wonders if there is some happy connection between our crispy Sabbath meal and the eternal Sabbath meal eaten earlier at the altar.

Do we eat roasted bulls and heifers in grateful memory that their sacrifice to God is no longer necessary? Just as we eat the flesh and drink the blood of the risen Christ in memory of his final sacrifice that superseded them?

I would like to think so. I am fairly convinced, anyway, that the only thing better than roast beef is the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; and am pleased to see this an opinion expressed by our God and Father in the Holy Scriptures too.