The Scapegoat
Leviticus 16:21-22 KJV And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: [22] And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
Hebrews 13:11-12 KJV For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. [12] Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
I. INTRODUCTION -- WHY THE TYPES?
-The Bible is an incredible book. It is the Book of books. Far too often, especially in the past, I have fair misjudged the value of the Book. While many of us have more than one and we probably purchased some of them very cheaply, I am coming to understand that the Bible is worth more than all of the money in the world.
-This Book is so full of spiritual wealth that yet remains to be tapped into. I am more and more confident of the fact that the more I study the Word that the less I really understand and grasp it’s majesty, it’s power, it’s direction, and it’s intensity.
-I understand the basic concepts of the New Birth and a few other doctrines that are presented here but the fact remains that I will go to my grave having barely scratched the surface of the magnitude of God’s Word.
-One of the deeper ways to look at the Scripture is to gain insight into what is referred to as the “types.” The Greek word is TUPOS which means “to beat or to strike.”
-A type is an imperfect impression, image, resemblance, or representation of a person, thing, or event. The anti-type is more perfect and excellent in its kind, but comes after the type.
-One could understand that the Old Testament is a picture of many New Testament events, people, or things. This emphasizes to us the vast importance of diligently comparing the Old Testament to the New Testament.
-Looking at the types in this fashion does a number of things for us:
• It creates a powerful unity of the Scriptures.
• It aids in the interpretation of doctrine (i.e., The OT Tabernacle can help one see NT salvation.)
• It can help give a proper understanding of prophecy.
• It strengthens the fact that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are within the pages of the Bible.
A. An Example
Leviticus 2:13 KJV And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.
-Salt in the Old Testament was important for the sacrifices but when we get to the New Testament salt becomes something more.
• It is a symbol of the purifying influence of the Spirit.
• It preserves us from the tainting of sin.
• It not only keeps us pure but helps us to become change agents in the world.
• Salt will stop the corrupting influence of sin.
-This is just a small example of how the types work. One could go even further with the materials and colors of the Tabernacle because all of the contents were significant of some greater truth.
II. THE SCAPEGOAT
-The Scripture setting that we read presents one of the most important types in the Bible. Leviticus 16 gives the instructions of what to do with the sacrifices on the Day of Atonement.
-Two goats were to be selected by the priests. One of the goats was to be killed and the blood was taken into the Tabernacle and sprinkled on the Mercy Seat. One goat was to be sacrificed for the sanctification and rolling back of Israel’s sins.
-The second goat was to be turned away into the wilderness. The priest would lay his hands on the head of the goat and all of the iniquities, transgressions, and sins of Israel were placed on this “sin-bearer.”
-At this point the goat would be taken to the wilderness at the “hand of a fit man” and he would be cast off into (as Scripture states) “a land not inhabited.”
Psalms 103:12 KJV As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
-This goat was to go out, unprotected, into a wilderness of wild animals, little water, and very limited pastures. While goats do not have human emotion, this animal was bearing the sins of the nation would be subjected to:
• The pain of separation.
• The misery of isolation.
• The future of wandering.
• The presence of fear.
• The danger of predators.
• The possibilities of starvation.
-The goat would be turned out at the hands of a fit man who would either trick him and escape from him or he would begin screaming, arms waving, and perhaps beating him with a rod, “Go, Go, Go!!!!”
-Imagine the surprise of the goat. He would look up with trusting eyes at the man wondering what had caused his now maddened state. The hand that had perhaps fed him was about to hurt him. The face that had once been friendly was now about to betray him to the wilderness.
-This powerful type was to be played out in the life of Jesus Christ at Calvary. He was to become the scapegoat.
Isaiah 53:8 KJV He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
-The scapegoat was the innocent victim.
2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Hebrews 9:28 KJV So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
-There was no scapegoat like Jesus Christ. Innocent, pure, clean, and without malice. He was everything that we are not!
III. THE SCENES OF THE SCAPEGOAT
-The last night of Jesus Christ prior to the Crucifixion were taxing on Him not just spiritually but physically also. It is doubtful that He slept at all that night. Everything that would be played out in real time had already been embraced in the mind of Jesus Christ.
-Because He was God in flesh there was nothing that night that was to catch Him off-guard. He knew that He would be the scapegoat.
A. The Last Supper
-The Last Supper had been preceded by Jesus washing the feet of His disciples. They had been jockeying for position in the Kingdom and awaiting the appearance of a servant to wash their feet (this was the custom). What they did not know was that the ultimate Servant had slipped on the garments of the servant and had taken the basin and the towel.
-He would not only wash dirt from their feet but He would also begin to try to wash away the filth from their souls.
• The filth of ambition.
• The filth of defilement.
• The filth of selfishness.
• The filth of social nearsightedness.
• The filth of denial.
• The filth of deceit.
• The filth of hypocrisy.
-It would take far more than water to wash away all of these scaly things from their hearts. In less than twelve hours, His blood would spill from His scalp, His back, His hands, His feet, and His side. . . . this blood would be part of the final remedy.
-Consider what it was like to have been in the room with all of His disciples. Imagine their silent humiliation in the presence of the Lord who had washed their feet. After He had washed their feet, He begin to tell them of some heart-probing things:
• He announced that one in the room was His betrayer (Matt. 26:21-22; Mark 14:18-19; Luke 22:21-23; John 13:21-30)
• He told Peter that he would deny Him (Matt. 26:34-35; Mark 14:30-31; Luke 22:33-34; John 13:36-38)
• He spent time telling them who He was (John 14:8-31).
• He told them the purpose of the True Vine and the branches (John 15:1-17).
-This was some of the conversation that was accompanying the meal of the Passover. I wonder what thoughts were going through His mind at that point? Was the Lord fully grasping the role of the Scapegoat?
• When He broke the bread, was it with trembling hands?
• When He passed the sop, was fear pounding in His heart?
• When He poured the wine into the cup, did He feel the pressure of His not yet prayed prayer?
• When He looked Judas in the eyes, what did He really see?
• When He watched Peter eating and talking was His heart stirred with remorse?
-As the Last Supper progressed, there is a chilling interaction between the Lord and Judas. Whatever must be done, must be done quickly! The whole gamut must be accomplished in the next 16 hours.
B. The Garden of Gethsemane
-The next scene that we see the Lord is in the Garden of Gethsemane. Here we find one of the most anguishing prayer meetings in the history of man.
• A Savior on His Knees.
• A Pleading Savior.
• A Forsaken Savior.
• A Lonely Savior.
• A Weary Savior.
• A Grieving Savior.
• A Savior finally on His face.
-The bitter cup is brought up to be swallowed. Yet there is a hesitation as the Scapegoat looks at the swirling, murky contents. He can almost smell the putrid, rottenness of sin in the bitter cup.
-He lowers it and begins to pray again with desperation.
Luke 22:44 KJV And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
-The anguish of prayer. I have never prayed this type of prayer in my life. . . but reason tells me that this prayer was marked more by groans, by sobs, by tears, and by pain than it was by words.
-Sleeping disciples who cannot help are replaced by strong angels who minister to Him one last time. The Scapegoat brings to us hope that in the moment of life’s greatest battles, in the perplexities of pressure, in the very teeth of a kiss of betrayal. . . There will be angels to minister.
-He looks at the contents of the cup once more and prays earnestly. . . waves of nausea grip His entire body as He once again brings the cup back to His mouth. . . the contents are so bitter. . . the fate is inevitable. . . and before He finally drinks the cup. . . He utters:
Luke 22:42 KJV Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
-Then with amazing swiftness, He gasps and swallows the vile contents of the cup. . . Reeling from nausea, He rises and once again finds the disciples asleep. But this time they are not alone. At the edge of the Garden, He sees a group of the Temple guard and they are accompanied by Judas who is about to deliver the traitors’ kiss.
-What has been played out in the mind of Jesus numerous times in the past is about to be played out on this dark morning.
-For the next few hours, He would have to endure a mockery of a trial. He would stand before the High Priest, before Herod, and before Pilate twice. The Scapegoat is about to be anointed with the sin of every man.
C. Before Pilate
-The contrasts between Jesus and Pilate on that Passover morning are striking:
• Pain vs. Luxury
• Selfishness vs. Generosity
• Arrogance vs. Humility
• Sin vs. Holiness
• Power vs. Weakness
-There stands Jesus in front of Pilate. Even though Pilate is the man whom controls the country, he appears confused.
• Confused that a King would attempt to set up a kingdom in the manner that Jesus has pursued.
• Confused that the religious leaders are still fighting against their prophets.
• Confused about the religious leaders who make long speeches about the sovereignty of God and then beg for tax breaks.
-He notes the mob that seems to be restless on that morning. They are howling about something and they are quite serious about their requests. Again, Pilate retreats to the recesses of his mind and tries to recall what he knows about this up-country preacher.
-Of all the problems and perplexing issues that have come to him during his tenure in Jerusalem, none are so troubling as his review of this hoax of a trial. Pilate has been taken out of his element in trying to understand what began with John the Baptist and will end with this Jesus of Nazareth.
-The words in the heart are as of yet unspoken, “I find no fault in this man.” But before he states the objective, he mentally reviews the last three years:
• A widow’s son is miraculously called from the casket.
• The bride whose wedding almost went bad had more wine than she bargained for.
• The cripple who walked out of the house with his bed.
• The parents who rejoiced over their daughter’s restoration to life.
• The thousands who were fed with just a small amount of fish and bread.
• The sermons, the parables, and the teaching that flowed were cut from such powerful wisdom.
-All of this Pilate remembers. Yet, he recalls hearing of how this country prophet had entertained some midnight guests. Some of the upper echelon in the religious world had been curious but embarrassed to approach in broad daylight. So under the cover of night Pilate had knowledge that Nicodemus had come to Jesus.
-What shall Pilate do with this man? He decides to send Him to Herod. The only thing that this will do is forge a friendship between Pilate and Herod. It does not deliver him from his dilemma.
-So the mob is offered a choice. . .
• An innocent man or a guilty man.
• A restorer of life or a taker of life.
• One that is pure in heart or one that is wicked in heart.
• One whose touch is tender or one whose touch always brings pain.
• One whose hands will heal or one whose hands will shed innocent blood.
-The choice that day is very easy for the mob, they scream. . . Barabbas, Barabbas, Barabbas. . . Give us Barabbas! Crucify the Christ! Free Barabbas and kill the Christ! Give us the Goat!
-Pilate is stunned by this choice. He pulls up the basin and washes his hands of the whole affair and delivers Jesus to the whipping post and finally to the Cross.
D. The Scourging
-Pilate delivered Jesus over to his soldiers for a fearful beating. All that Jesus would endure had been foretold by the prophet Isaiah hundreds of years earlier.
Isaiah 53:1-3 KJV Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? [2] For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. [3] He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isaiah 53:4-6 KJV Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. [5] But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. [6] All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:7-9 KJV He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. [8] He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. [9] And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Isaiah 53:10-12 KJV Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. [11] He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. [12] Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
-After this beating, He now must carry the Cross.
E. Simon the Cyrene and the Via Dolorosa
-What an incredible commentary it is that the Salvation of the world must have another to bear His cross.
-The Cross that became Simon’s on that day was:
• A Compulsory Cross -- He had no choice to bear it. No life is without a cross, you must bear it.
• An Unexpected Cross -- He was on the way to worship at the Passover and suddenly the cross came to him without any warning nor any planning.
• An Honorable Cross -- The Value of the Cross depends on the spirit in which we take it up.
-So the Lord, near the point of total exhaustion needs help to carry His Cross.
-But the soldiers did not care that Simon was the one compelled to bear the cross. Here was a man who had saved his money the whole year to make it to the Passover in Jerusalem. He was perhaps fulfilling a lifetime dream of traveling in the neighborhood of 800 miles to worship. Almost before he knew it, a heavy hand slaps his shoulder, and his is commanded to carry the Cross.
-He struggles to get away from it, but Luke informs us that the soldiers “laid hold” of him to prevent his escape. Simon feels the humiliation of having to carry the Cross of the Criminal. His face burns hot with embarassment. He feels sick when he catches a glimpse of the blood on the Cross.
-He slowly bends under the weight of the Cross and unwillingly follows the stumbling Prisoner. But in just the short few seconds of time, something eternal is awakened in the heart of Simon. Here was a man who had come to Jersulem to live out one of his most cherished ambitions of a lifetime.
-But in those few seconds of time, something between the Lord and Simon takes place. Simon’s resentment, his bitterness, his anger starts to melt and it gives way to wonder. . . . . . to faith.
-Jesus stops and turns:
Luke 23:27-28 KJV And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. [28] But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.
-In that interval, Simon catches a heart-moving glance of the most wonderful Man he has ever seen. It changes his life.
-Onward they march, through the jeers and taunts of the crowd along the Via Dolorosa. More than once along this path of about a mile, Jesus stumbles under the weight of the Cross and the weight of sin.
F. The Crucifixion
-Finally, the summit of Golgotha is conquered. A few minutes over six hours are left in the life of this Scapegoat.
-He is pushed to the ground. There is no effort on the part of the soldiers to lessen the pain from the scourging. They are only interested in hurrying the execution along.
-The Cross is placed on the ground and the grisly task of nailing hands and feet begin. The pound of the hammer on a rusty spike sounds like thunder. The rusty nails pierce the calloused hands. The hammer pounds on and on and Jesus writhes in the last hours of His agony.
-The crown of thorns encircle His noble head. King of the Jews. . .
-Then the Cross is lifted and it is dropped into the hole.
• His lips are now bloodied and bruised.
• They are parched, cracked.
• The mouth fills full of cotton, a throat so dry He could hardly swallow.
• A voice so hoarse He could hardly speak.
• To find the last time that He has had anything to drink would be to reverse time for twelve hours to the meal in the upper room.
-Since the last time He had drank anything, He has been beaten, spat upon, cursed, bruised, and cut. . . . . to a word, humiliated. He has been a cross-carrier, a sin-bearer, and no liquid has soothed His throat, He is now in the torture of thirst.
-Why doesn’t He do something about it?
• He could turn water into wine.
• He made a wall out of the Jordan River.
• He made two walls out of the Red Sea.
• He calmed the seas.
• He banished the storms.
• Psalm 107:35 gives Him power to bring water springs out of dry ground.
• Psalm 78:16 informs that He brought streams out of a rock.
• Isaiah 44:3 tells us that He will pour water on the thirsty.
-Six hours earlier, He had been offered a drink, but He refused it. Before the nails were pounded into the relenting flesh, a drink had been offered. Mark says the wine was mixed with myrrh. Matthew described it as being mixed with gall.
-Both myrrh and gall contain sedative properties that numb the senses. But Jesus refused them. He refused to be mystified by the drugs, opting instead to feel the full force of his suffering.
-Why did He endure all of this? Why did He not want something to numb the pain?. . . . . Because He knew. . . . . .He knew. . . . . . He knew that we would feel these feelings too!
• Weariness
• Forsaken
• False Accusation
• Taunts from the Enemy
• Anger
• Betrayal
• Humiliation
• Doubt
• Shame
• Jealousy
• Sleepy
• Hungry
• Grief-stricken
• Hurt
-We are unaware of who mingled it and offered it to the Lord. We will never know that this side of heaven. I am sure it was kindly meant. But for all the kindness and sympathy intended, the Lord refused the cup. He came to suffer for those along the way but also for you and I.
-Not unkindly but firmly and deliberately.
• He had come to suffer.
• He had come to die.
• He was bearing the whole weight and curse and transgression of the world.
• He was enduring the Cross.
• He was despising the shame.
-From the hour that He refused to turn the stones into bread until the moment when He refused the myrrh on the Cross, try to realize that He was reaching for you.
IV. CONCLUSION – IN CHRIST ALONE
-If the Christ has never found you by His call, I wonder if now, He might bring you with His refusals?
• His refusal in becoming the Scapegoat.
• His refusal in dodging the scourging.
• His refusal to give up the shame.
-For every rejection of that Man of Nazareth was serving a fallen world. He did not seek to please Himself.
-When I have known:
• Sin
• Worldliness
• Failure
• Depression
• Sorrow
• Fear
• Pain
• Weariness
• Oppression
• Prayerlessness
• Apathy
• Pride
• Lust
• Jealousy
• Envy
• Debate
• Deceit
• And I could keep going. . . . .
-I have felt all of these things ebbing slowly away from me on the head of the Scapegoat.
“In Christ Alone" Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow’r of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.
Philip Harrelson
April 1, 2007
