The Perfect Lamb

Leviticus 16: 6-10

“6 “Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. 7 Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 8 He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. 9 Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. 10 But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.”

Have you ever felt that people were blaming you for something someone else did?  Were you ever asked to take the blame for someone else?

By casting lots, Aaron, the High Priest, had to select one goat for sacrifice as a sin offering, and one goat, the “scapegoat, on whose head the priest laid all the sins of the people.  Afterward, the scapegoat was sent into the wilderness where it presumably died.

Christ died for our sins.  All our sins were laid upon him.  The time he spent on the cross was the wilderness for him.  The first time he faced the wilderness he overcame it by refusing to be tempted.  He overcame the wilderness of the cross by forgiving those who crucified him.

The scapegoat of the High Priest was in reality God’s perfect lamb.  The lamb was resurrected. And sin and death were defeated once and for all.  

May the Love of 'Christ Be With You,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)