“Then Aaron shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins” (Leviticus 16:15-16).
“For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate” (Hebrews 13:11-12).
On the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered the tabernacle with two goats as part of the atonement ritual. The first goat was sacrificed as an offering for sin. The remaining live goat had the sins of Israel ceremoniously laid upon it and was sent into the wilderness symbolizing their sins being taken way. This goat was known as the scapegoat and we will talk about it next time.
For now, let’s return to the first goat, the sin offering. This goat is a clear symbol of Jesus being our sin offering, the One who “sanctified us through His own blood.” Jesus is our sin offering, a truth laid out for us primarily in the books of Romans and Hebrews.
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as a sin offering, He condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:2-3). Jesus’ sin offering for us set us free from the condemnation of the Law, sin, and death. If you have believed the gospel message of Jesus Christ, Jesus is your sin offering!
Jesus is the sin offering, because Jesus was there from the beginning!