Scapegoats And Saviors Series

Three scarlet threads … one tied to the horns of the goat marked “for the Lord,” the second tied around the neck of the “scapegoat,” and the third one attached to the door of the Temple. What do these three threads and Yom Kipper have to do with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ? Well, if your mind has been drifting or you’ve been picking cotton so to speak, you might want to focus and listen up right now because I wouldn’t want you to miss this.

According to Jewish history as recorded in the Mishnah, something amazing happened in the year 30 AD. The scarlet thread attached to the Temple door stopped turning white. From 30 AD until the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD … a span of forth years … the thread on the Temple door stayed scarlet red, leading many to believe that God was no longer forgiving the Jewish nation of their sins and why the Temple was destroyed.

Though Jewish scholars and commentators see it as a sign of God’s disfavor, we see it differently. Hummm … what happened in 30 AD? 30 AD was during the time of Jesus’ ministry and death. For us, the thread remaining red isn’t a sign of God’s displeasure but a sign that sacrifices and scapegoats are no longer necessary because Jesus … the spotless Lamb of God … has made our sins as white at snow through His own blood!

Those three threads lead us back to Calvary and the three crosses. One man … Jesus … died as an offering “for the Lord” like the goat that was sacrificed on the altar. Another man died rejecting Christ … and he was given over to Azazel, or Satan, like the second goat. The third man accepted Christ’s sacrifice and his sin became as white as the thread attached to the Temple door.

Jesus of Nazareth: The King of the Jews … His crime was that of our salvation. We know that He lived a sinless life. We know that He was tempted in every way as we are tempted … but did not sin. We know that He was wounded for our transgressions. We know that He was bruised for our inequities. We know that He was hung up for our hang ups. We know that He took our place on that old rugged cross. We know that the sign over the cross should have detailed all our sinful deeds. We know that we should have been crucified in His place on the cross because the Bible says that the wages of sin are death. We know that God knew we could never pay the ransom for our souls that we forfeited to the Devil by our choice to sin. We know that we were barred from eternity in Heaven because the blood of goats and bulls no longer met the penalty price. We know that we could not get across the Divide that existed between us and God because of sin.

“Jesus of Nazareth: King of Heaven.” He came to us because we could not get to Him. He came to tear down the wall that separated us from the Father. He died on the cross so that we could cross the Great Divide between us and God. He became fully human so that He could take our place and fully pay the price for our sin.

Our guilt and our shame have been covered up and erased by the blood of Jesus of Nazareth. Many may know your past … and even your present … but only Jesus of Nazareth knows your future. When I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, everything that was ever being held over me no longer held me. The chains that had me bound were loosed in the name of “Jesus of Nazareth: The King of the Jews.” The sin that tried to take me to hell was destroyed in the name of “Jesus of Nazareth: The King of the Jews.” The shame that tried to hold me back was broken … how? You got it! In the name of “Jesus of Nazareth: The King of the Jews.” The disease that tried to take my life was healed how? That’s right … in the name of “Jesus of Nazareth: The King of the Jews.” The debt that I could never pay was cancelled how? Common, say it with me: “Jesus of Nazareth: The King of the Jews!”