YOU don't believe Jesus played the role of scapegoat, but Christian doctrine DOES. That is why I say I don't care what YOU believe. Doctrine sees the image of the OT scapegoat as a PREFIGUREMENT of Jesus, as well as the Paschal Lamb. I was a Christian. I was even an altar boy in the Catholic Church when Latin was still used. At every mass, we chanted:
"Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis"
(Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.)
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In the Book of Leviticus chapter 16, God instructed Moses and Aaron to select two goats every year for an offering. One was to be used as a sin offering to atone for the sins and trans-gressions of the people. Once killed, its blood was to be sprinkled on Gods mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant. There God would view the blood of the sin offering and have Mercy on the people and forgive their sins.
The high priest would then lay hands on the second goat which was allowed to live, and he would confess the sins of the people putting them on the head of the goat. The goat would then bear the blame for all the transgressions of the people and would be set free into the wilderness, where God would remember their sins no more. The goat became known as the scapegoat.
Jewish history records that it was a common practice to tie a red strip of cloth to the scapegoat. The red stripe represented the sin of the people which was atoned for by the red blood on the mercy seat. According to the Jewish Talmuds this red stripe would eventually turn white, signaling Gods acceptance of the offering.
There is an amazing reference in the Talmuds that verifies that after Jesus was crucified, God no longer accepted the sin offering and the scapegoat offered by the Jewish high priests. The Talmuds state:
"Forty years before the Temple was destroyed (30 A.D.) the chosen lot was not picked with the right hand, nor did the crimson stripe turn white, nor did the westernmost light burn; and the doors of the Temples Holy Place swung open by themselves, until Rabbi Yochanon ben Zakkai spoke saying: 'O most Holy Place, why have you become disturbed? I know full well that your destiny will be destruction, for the prophet Zechariah ben Iddo has already spoken regarding you saying: 'Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour the cedars' (Zech. 11:1).' Talmud Bavli, Yoma 39b
It's important to note that this event recorded in the Talmuds occurred 40 years before the destruction of the Temple which was destroyed in 70 A.D. The date of this amazing event was 30 A.D, the same year that Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice on the cross.
Jesus was the final sin offering and the scapegoat bearing the sins for all mankind.
"But Christ came as High Priest . . . . Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
. . . And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. . . . so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. . . . For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. . . .
By that will we have been sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all . . . . this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. . . . For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. . . . says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them," then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."
Hebrews 9:11--10:17 (NKJV)
Christ, the final scapegoat
