Scapegoat

Have you ever heard someone refer to another person or themselves as the scapegoat when things go wrong? Have you ever wondered where that phrase came from? It is actually a biblical phrase, and ultimately a reference to Jesus. We will see this in our text today which comes from Leviticus 16. Leviticus 16:20-22 says, “And when he had made and end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and that altar, he shall bring the live goat. Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head to the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.”

The Lord is giving Moses instructions on how the high priest will deal with his sins, and the sins of Israel on the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement is in the seventh month of Israel’s religious calendar, which coincides with our September. It was the one day of the year that the high priest could go into the most holy place and offer the sacrifice to have Israel’s sins covered by God. The order of how it was to be done is very important. First, there must be a blood sacrifice of an animal made, and the blood must be applied to the altar and on the mercy seat. Then, the high priest was to lay his hands on the head of a second goat, confess over it the sins of Israel, and the goat was to be led out of the camp, into the wilderness. This was symbolic of God removing the sins of Israel from them. This second goat was the scapegoat. This goat had to bear the guilt of the people, and be lead away from Israel. This order of events is mentioned again in the New Testament in the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 9:22 says, “And according to the law, almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.” Again, we see that there must be a bloody sacrifice offered before sins could be removed. Both the sacrificial animal and the scapegoat point us to Jesus. In Isaiah 53:5 we read, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” It is only by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that we can have our sins forgiven. When we bow our heart and life to the resurrected King in faith, trusting in His death and resurrection as our only hope of being restored to a right relationship with God, we see what God does with our sins in Psalm 103. Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Therefore, because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, it is possible that our sins can be removed from us.

This is yet another reminder that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. It is nothing that we do, but rather it is entirely based on what Jesus has done for us. Not only is this a message for the sinner to come in faith to Jesus, but it also has a powerful message for the believer. Satan loves to remind us of our past or even our present sins. He does this to paralyze us. He knows that if he can get us to focus on our shortcomings, we will feel unworthy of God’s love, His grace, and in many cases we will start to question our salvation. The truth is, we are unworthy of God’s love and grace. But God already knew that about us before Jesus died on the cross to redeem us. From the moment God by His grace saved us, He removed our sins from us and gave us a perfect standing with Himself because of Jesus. This is why Paul wrote in Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.” God has removed our sins from us on the basis of Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection. Therefore, we no longer bear the guilt of our sin, because Jesus bore that guilt on the cross in our place. So, when Satan brings us your past and present struggles, preach the Gospel to yourself that you stand no longer condemned, but fully and freely forgiven by the blood of Jesus. Confess your sin, turn from it, and ask God for His help to overcome it; but always remember, your guilt was bore on the cross and paid for by Jesus. Therefore, no longer walk condemned, discouraged, or defeated. Rather, walk in the victory that has been granted to you by Jesus!

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin