Scapegoat

Leviticus 16:6-28

Today’s reading from Leviticus describes what Aaron must do to atone for his sins and the sins of the Israelites.  There’s an awful lot of steps he must take, but then again this is the Old Testament where rituals and sacrifices were commonplace.

Thanks be to God for sending his Son so that today’s story is quite different.  No longer are we required to slaughter bulls and goats and then sprinkle blood with our finger seven times before the atonement cover.

No, the ultimate sacrifice was made by way of Jesus’s death on the cross.  He shed his blood for our sins.  Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering (Isaiah 53:4).

Jesus became the new scapegoat.

In Leviticus 16:21-22, Aaron 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 wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.”

Hebrews 9:11-14 gives us a new story, one to rejoice over: But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

Witnessing Old Testament foretelling come to light in the New Testament is fascinating.

Thank you, Father, for fulfilling your promises and giving us the ultimate gift of mercy - a willing scapegoat for our sins. 

Am I Going to Heaven or Not?

READ: Romans 3:21-31

Scripture often reveals truth in stark contrast to what we hear about Christianity. Such is the case today.

Ever hear that good people go to Heaven and bad people go to Hell? Big problem: There are no good people. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All deserve to be punished, yet all are freely justified by Christ’s sacrificial atonement. Does that mean all are going to Heaven? No. Only those who accept this atonement Christ freely offers are saved; without it, any one of us would be going to Hell. No wonder Paul instructs us not to boast in our good works, but to boast only in the cross of Christ!

So, then, if it’s not what you do, but what you believe, is God’s grace a free pass to sin? Little problem: Definitions. Believe doesn’t mean profess as true; it means accept as true. And if we accept something as true, we act on it. So to believe in Christ is to obey his teaching - all of it! Hence the conclusion in James 2:14-26: Faith without works is dead.

But I thought the New Covenant of God’s grace replaced the Old Covenant of the Mosaic Law? Nope. As it turns out, we don’t nullify the law by faith, we uphold the law. By believing in Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit he gives, we live according to the moral law God gave Moses. When we fail, the sacrifice of Christ atones for us, but by the Spirit we are assured of God’s final victory: not only our freedom from the penalty of sin, but our freedom from the power and presence of sin as well.

Restored at a Price

It was Augustine of Hippo who confessed, “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they can find peace in you.”¹ He certainly spoke for me. In fact, so restless was I one Sunday evening years ago that I called my mother to vent my frustration. “Mom, over the past ten years, I’ve prayed, read the Bible, gone to church, and begged and pleaded with God; but I’m just not getting it.” She listened patiently to my lament and then responded, “I hear you speak of God, but I don’t hear you mention Jesus.” And with so few words, she had gotten to the crux of the matter.

“That’s a sore spot with me,” I replied, “I know the Bible teaches salvation comes through Jesus’ death and resurrection, but I don’t understand why. Why all the drama? Why couldn’t He have just clicked his heels together three times and that be good enough?” (It somehow seemed like a plausible alternative at the time.) Now my mother had been a Bethel Bible Series teacher, and so she summarized the two-year course for me in about five minutes! She shared Leviticus 17:11, where God made it clear that “. . . the life of the creature is in the blood . . . it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” In other words, it takes one life to redeem another life lost.

Then, pulling it all together, Mom said, “In the Old Testament, it was the blood of bulls and goats that was shed for atonement, but that was only a foreshadowing of what was to come. After all, how many goats are you worth? Only God’s life is able to save our life, which was made in His image. Jesus sacrificed His perfect life to pay for our imperfect ones.”

At the heart of redemption is this: Jesus “gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own.”² We are so treasured and He loves us that much! For life, which is sacred, costs life that is sacred. No other currency spends in the Kingdom of God. No other funds are sufficient. Jesus’ blood—Jesus’ life—is required and nothing less.

Everything clicked. After saying our goodbyes and hanging up the phone, I went to my room, knelt beside my bed, and entrusted my life to Jesus and His payment for my sins.

And, redeemed, I have rested well.

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18, 19)

[Read today’s Scripture in 1 Peter 1:17-21.]

¹ Augustine, Saint Bishop of Hippo, The Confessions of Saint Augustine, trans. Rex Warner. (New York: The New American Library, 1963), 17. ² Titus 2:14

This post is taken from Christ in Me. Copyright © 2016 Paul Nordman. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Jesus is a guilt offering

 ApriL  11

Read Isaiah 53:4-11and reflect on the passage.

Isaiah 53 gives a rundown of hardship, blame, wounds, oppression, sorrow, sin, suffering, and death. As I read it, I want to yell, “YOU’VE GOT THE WRONG GUY, GOD! I’m the guilty one.”

In the Old Testament, when a neighbor sinned he made restitution to the victim, and gave a guilt offering to the Lord because sin against neighbor = disobedience to God and indebtedness to Him, too. This offering was a precursor to Jesus giving His own innocent body as a guilt offering to restore the broken relationship we have with God.

We owe the Lord a debt far greater than we could repay. But we do not need to pay. The Son of Man gave His life as a “ransom for many” paying our debt for us. Jesus says we must simply write off the debts that others owe us. This demand is modeled on and empowered by God’s love toward us: we must forgive and restore as He does.

God had the right guy in Isaiah 53—the only guy willing and able to do the job of carrying the crushing weight of our sin. Because of the joy set before Him, Jesus “endured the cross, scorning its shame.”

To learn more about the biblical concepts of Sacrifice and Atonement, I encourage you to watch this excellent video from the Bible Project: http://bit.ly/SacrificeAtonement

Questions

1. What “debt” does someone owe you? Who has hurt or offended you?

2. What steps can you take today to simply write off that debt, empowered by the love of Jesus?

Prayer

Jesus, You covered my debt saving me from the penalty and power of sin. Make me ready to forgive; gracious and merciful like You.

—Jane Bruns