Lev. 16: 21 "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 goats head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task."
Lev. 16 describes the Day of Atonement, a day when the high priest would make atonement for the sins of the entire community. One goat would be sacrificed and another, the scapegoat would symbolically carry all of the sins outside of the camp into the desert. It was a big important deal!
I love how a "man appointed for the task" is required to lead the scapegoat into the wilderness. That job would suck. He had to take the goat with all of the sins of the whole nation on it and walk for miles into the wilderness. Then he had to ceremonially clean himself before he could come back into town! And you have to ask, why the scapegoat? Was that really necessary? Wasn't this a bit of overkill? The scapegoat showed that not only were sins forgiven, but they were taken away never to be seen again. Jesus became the final scapegoat. Jesus has forgiven and removed my sin, so it is never to be seen again! And that is a big important deal!
Dear Jesus, thank you for your awesome sacrifice! Amen.
