February 14, 2011 The Greatest Valentine

Jesus, the Scapegoat
Read Leviticus 13-16

Lev 16:21-22 He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites — all their sins — and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. 22 The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert.

HERE WE see instructions to Aaron, Israel’s first priest, on how to approach the Lord. One of the requirements is to provide two goats—one for sacrifice, and one to be the scapegoat—on the Day of Atonement. This represents the complete removal of guilt from Israel.
Note how this parallels Jesus’ first acts of his ministry. He was baptized. Certainly John the Baptist laid hands on him, and the baptism was symbolic of atonement, the cleansing of our guilt. What did Jesus do next?
He went into the desert to confront sin in the Devil’s temptations. He resisted the Devil and took the next steps to teach, preach and heal the world of sin. And he carried the sin of the world with him to the cross, the sacrificial altar.
And now we can approach God through Jesus’ blood.
As we learn of God’s law requirements, we see how perfectly he fulfilled the law’s requirements to welcome us into his presence.
God is God of the Old Covenant and the New. Thank him for that today. Thank him that he offers to you a way to be made righteous through Jesus Christ, the scapegoat for your sins and mine.


Pause and Consider: Feel Jesus’ nail-pierced hands on you, freeing you.