#9 THE SCAPEGOAT 8-20-26
On the Day of Atonement, two goats were brought before the Lord. One would be offered as a sacrifice. The other would become the scapegoat.
The high priest would lay his hands upon the head of the living goat and confess over it the sins of the people. Symbolically, their sins were placed upon that goat, and it was sent away into the wilderness, carrying their iniquities where they would never be seen again (Leviticus 16:21–22).
What a picture of Jesus.
Our sins were not merely overlooked. They were dealt with. They were laid upon Christ. “The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). The innocent One stood in the place of the guilty. The spotless Lamb bore the sins of those who had stained themselves with sin.
The scapegoat was sent away from the presence of the people, carrying their sins into a solitary land. And that points us to the completeness of Christ’s work. He didn’t simply make forgiveness possible. He bore our sins away. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).
Think about that. East and west never meet. You can travel east forever and never arrive at west. God isn’t saying that our sins have been moved a few miles down the road. He is telling us that when He forgives, He removes our sins completely.
How often do we keep carrying what God has already carried away? Christ took our sin, yet we continue to drag its memory behind us. God has forgiven us, yet we keep condemning ourselves. God has buried our transgressions, yet we keep digging them back up.
The scapegoat says that Jesus carried something away that we could never carry ourselves.
“He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). He took what belonged to us so that we could receive what belonged to Him. Our guilt was placed upon Him. His righteousness is given to us through faith.
And when Christ carried our sins away, He didn’t leave them halfway between us and God. He finished the work.
That is why the Christian can look back at a sinful past without being imprisoned by it. We remember what we were, but we don’t have to remain what we were. We can say with David, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” (Psalm 32:1).
The scapegoat walked away carrying the sins of Israel. Jesus went to the cross carrying ours.
The goat disappeared into the wilderness. Christ went into the grave and rose again in victory.
And our sins? If they have been forgiven through Christ, they have been removed as far as the east is from the west.
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Lord Jesus, thank You for bearing what we could never bear. Thank You for taking our sins upon Yourself and carrying them away. Help us to stop living under the condemnation of sins You have forgiven. Teach us to walk in the freedom of Your grace, remembering that our transgressions have been removed as far as the east is from the west. Amen.
BDD
