Jesus Died For Us (Animals and Humans), NOT Instead of Us! By Dr. Chapman Chen

Summary: The immediate cause of Jesus’ death is His direct action to liberate animals from the Second Temple (Matthew 21:12–13; Mark 11:15–17; Luke 19:45–46; John 2:13–16), which severely offended the Chief Priests and scribes by greatly compromising their lucrative commercial interests (Tabor 2012; Akers 2020). Secondary causes include long-standing grudges or religious discrepancies between the Jewish priests and Jesus, and the Romans’ concern about the subversive, anti-colonial potential of Jesus’ influence.

In general, Jesus died to wake us from our falsities, cruelness, and meatism (Matt. 4:17, 5:27-28, 7:12, 23:13, 25:40; Mark 11:15-18) to spirituality, love, and veganism (Matt. 5:3, 44, 6:19, 18:8-9, 5:27-28, 22:39, 25:40; John 15:13; Luke 12:31). But He died for us, not in lieu of us. He expected us to emulate Him and share in His sufferings and revival (1 Peter 2:21-24). Equally importantly, God and Christ forgive without demanding blood. The stories of King David (2 Samuel 12), the adulterous woman (John 8), and the prodigal son (Luke 15) are cases in point. Everyone must be responsible for their own deeds (Deut. 30:19; Joshua 24:15; Proverbs 16:9). No one can die in place of another (Ezekiel 18:20).

The concept that Jesus cleanses our sins with His precious blood was concocted by Paul (Tabor 2012; Akers 2020; Hyland 1993). The original Eucharist was vegan (cf. Didache; “Rule of the Community”, Dead Sea Scrolls). Jesus was literally turned by Paul, the anti-vegan apostate, into the very thing He was protesting: a sacrificial lamb whose flesh and blood ends up in the Pauline cannibalistic communion or blood voodoo (Thompson 2024; Hyland 1993). Although animal sacrifice per se ended with the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, it survives today in the Pauline Eucharist and in meatism — sacrifice to the belly-idol (Proverbs 23:20-21; Philippians 3:19). Cut out all meaty vice, and follow the Vegan Christ this Easter, if you have not already.

Full Text: https://www.vegantheology.net/post/jesus-died-for-us-animals-and-humans-not-instead-of-us-by-dr-chapman-chen

1. The Temple Raid as The Immediate Cause of Jesus’ Death

Why did Jesus get killed? The immediate cause was His assault on the Temple to liberate the animals being prepared for sacrifice when Passover was drawing near. That direct action severely compromised the Jewish religious leaders’ commercial interests (cf. Akers 2020; Tabor 2012). In those days, the Temple had already been turned into a slaughterhouse, where millions of animals were bought by Judaic believers and murdered by the chief priests and their underlings on the spot around Passover (Hyland 1993). These animals were ostensibly offered to God, but in actuality, the chief priests and scribes made outrageous profits from the business.

In emptying the Temple of innocent creatures about to be slaughtered for sacrifice, and in calling the Temple-turned-butcher-shop a "den of murderers" (Matthew 21:12–13; Mark 11:15–18; Luke 19:45–46), Jesus debunked the fraudulent and violent nature of animal sacrifice. His act disrupted the priests’ lucrative revenue stream. As a result, the chief priests and scribes began conspiring to destroy Him (Mark 11:18), which eventually led to His arrest, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection at Easter (cf. Akers, 2000, pp. 117–118; Hyland 1993).

Their tactic was to approach the Roman authorities and falsely accuse Jesus of subversion—claiming that He was trying to lead an independence movement by proclaiming Himself the “King of the Jews” (Luke 23:2; John 19:12).

2. Grudges Between Jesus & the Chief Priests

The conflict between Jesus and the religious elite had a long history. They often accused Jesus and His disciples of violating Mosaic law—for example, by eating without first washing their hands (Mark 7:1–5), or by healing people and rescuing animals on the Sabbath (Luke 13:10–17; Matthew 12:11–12). Jesus retorted that these were merely human traditions, not God’s commandments (Mark 7:6–9). He also bluntly called them hypocrites—beautiful on the outside but inwardly full of filth and “dead men’s bones” (Matthew 23:27–28).

Many of their followers had shifted their allegiance to Jesus, threatening the priests’ religious authority. His Temple raid, which directly harmed their business interests, was the final straw. They resolved to get rid of Him by handing Him over to the Romans.

3. The Romans’ Concern About Anti-Colonialism

As for the Roman authorities, they initially had little concern about the Jews’ internal struggles. They could tolerate Jesus’ extraordinary teachings and acts to a certain degree. However, when Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly, welcomes and applauded by tens of thousands of Jews shouting “Hosanna!”—a phrase associated with “Son of David” or “King of Israel” (Mark 11:9–10; John 12:13)—it alarmed the Romans. The political, anti-colonial undertones of Passover, a festival commemorating Jewish liberation from Egypt, heightened their fears of rebellion.

At this critical moment, the chief priests and scribes approached the Roman governor Pontius Pilate and accused Jesus of claiming to be “King of the Jews” (Luke 23:2–3; John 19:12). Though Pilate knew they acted out of envy (Matthew 27:18), in order to play it safe and to accommodate the pleas of the influential Jewish priesthood, he sentenced Jesus to crucifixion after all.

4. Jesus Died For Us, Not on Our Behalf

In a broader sense, Jesus went to the cross to awaken us from our hypocrisy, violence, and “meatism” to spirituality, love, and veganism. “Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21-24 KJV) (cf. Rillera 2024). In other words, Jesus died for us, NOT in lieu of us. There’s a subtle but crucial difference between the two. Jesus is not a scapegoat! He did not die to atone for our sins!

5. God and Christ Forgive Without Requiring Bloodshed

The Bible is clear on this: each person must bear their own responsibility. Everyone has free will, as gifted by God, and is accountable for their own actions (Deuteronomy 30:19; Joshua 24:15; Proverbs 16:9). No one can die in place of another (Ezekiel 18:20).

God and Christ forgive without requiring bloodshed. The notion that God needed Jesus’ blood to forgive humanity contradicts Jesus’ teachings on divine mercy (cf. Luke 15:11–32). As Jesus Himself declared (Matthew 19:16–29; John 8:11), the way to receive forgiveness and attain eternal life is through keeping the commandments, helping the poor, confessing, repenting, and ceasing to sin—not through the shedding of another's blood. The stories of King David (2 Samuel 12), the adulterous woman (John 8), and the prodigal son (Luke 15) all demonstrate that forgiveness can be granted without sacrificial death or bloodshed.

6. Jesus’ Vegan Eucharist vs the Pauline Cannibalistic Version

The concept that Jesus’ blood cleanses our sins was concocted by Paul the anti-vegan apostate (Eisenman, 2012). Paul transformed Jesus into the very thing He was protesting—a sacrificial lamb (Thompson, 2024). Jesus proclaimed, “I desire compassion, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13; 12:7, quoting Hosea 6:6). His Temple raid was a clear effort to abolish the sacrificial system.

According to Bruce Chilton (2014), Jesus established the vegan Eucharist as a “mimetic surrogate” for animal sacrifice. This radical substitution was seen as a serious threat by the Temple authorities. Jesus’ Eucharist was vegan—instead of flesh, He blessed only grape juice and bread (Luke 2:14-20; Mark 14:22-24; Matt. 26:26-29) —and He deliberately hosted it before the carnivorous lamb-eating Passover (John 13:1-2).

The Synoptic Gospels’ accounts of the Eucharist as Jesus’ flesh and blood (Mark 14:22–25; Matthew 26:26–29; Luke 22:15–20; cf. John 6:52–56) come straight from Paul’s discourse in 1 Corinthians 10:16–17 and 11:23–26 almost word for word (Tabor, 2012). Paul’s reinterpretation shifted a peaceful vegan meal into a cannibalistic cult or blood voodoo—despite the Torah’s strict prohibition against consuming blood (Leviticus 17:10–14). Yet Jesus said, “I have not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it” (Matthew 5:17).

In contrast, Didache, a handbook for early Christians, discovered in 1873 and dating to the early 2nd Century or even earlier, is a simple thanksgiving VEGAN meal of grape-vine juice and bread with no atonement via Jesus' blood and body mentioned. The original Messianic Eucharist as described in the Dead Sea Scrolls ("Rule of the Community“) is also a communal meal consisting of bread and wine as a preview of the reunion in Heaven (Tabor 2012; Chilton 2011).

7. Return from Paul the Anti-vegan Apostate to the Vegan Christ

According to Professor Robert Eisenman (2012), Paul—also known as Saul—was a relative of King Herod and a mole planted by the Roman Empire to infiltrate and corrupt Jesus’ vegan Church from the inside out. For 2,000 years, Paul’s propaganda has hijacked Jesus’ original vegan messages. Enough is enough. Put down our evil knives; Follow the Vegan Christ!

Works Cited

• Akers, Keith. The Lost Religion of Jesus. Lantern Books, 2000.

• Chilton, Bruce. The Way of Jesus: To Repair and Renew the World. Abingdon Press, 2014.

• Chilton, Bruce. Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography. Doubleday, 2000.

• Eisenman, Robert. James the Brother of Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Vol. 2. Grave Distractions Publications, 2012.

• Tabor, James D. Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity. Simon & Schuster, 2012.