Yom Kippur
‘Yom Kippur’, not a tasty fish dish as you might think, nope, it’s Hebrew, and it means "Day of Atonement", the holiest and most solemn day in the Jewish calendar. Held every year on the 10th of Tishri (September/October). It’s a day of repentance, fasting, and prayer, marking the culmination of the Jewish High Holy Days, where Jews seek forgiveness from God for sins committed over the past year. We find God’s command for it in Leviticus 16, but there’s one part in particular that I’d like to focus on, the ‘two goats’
“Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats; one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.
Leviticus 16:6-10
Long before Pilate's courtyard, God had already written the script for substitution!
Every year on ‘Yom Kippur’, the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would perform the ritual involving two goats for the nation, not knowing that it also pointed forward to Pilates in and around the year AD30!
What’s in this religious ritual?
1. The Lord's Goat
This goat is ‘slain’, having its throat cut, its blood is then brought into the Holy of Holies. It represents an ‘atonement’ payment for sin before a holy God
2. The Scapegoat
The High Priest would ‘lay hands’ on this goat, confessing Israel's sins and thereby transferring them to the animal. It was then ‘driven into the wilderness’, carrying away the nation's guilt. It represented ‘removal’ the taking away of sin from the people
In this, we begin to understand how God established that dealing with sin required both ‘payment’ and ‘removal’. Blood had to be shed, and sin had to be carried away!
Not that easy, right? But more often than not, we try to deal with our own guilt in pieces; we admit part of it, we even try to make up for some of it, but we never fully let it go. But that’s not good enough, and God's system shows us that He wants to deal with it completely.
God’s Pattern Comes to Life in Pilate's courtyard, as these ancient symbols became flesh and blood!
When Pilate presented Jesus and Barabbas, he unknowingly staged the ultimate ‘Yom Kippur’ drama. Let's break it down:
Barabbas is cast as the Scapegoat
- He was the guilty one deserving death
- He was released into freedom
- He literally walked away from judgment
With Jesus, the Lord's Goat
- He was the innocent one without sin
- He was slain as a sacrifice
- His blood would become the atonement for our sins!
But that's not all, for in Pilate's courtyard, there’s a revolutionary twist. In the Old Testament, there were two different goats, yet at the cross, Jesus became both goats!
Jesus doesn't just fulfil the ritual; He completes it because He is:
- The sacrifice whose blood makes atonement,
- The scapegoat who carries our sins away forever and
- The High Priest who offers the sacrifice
Barabbas walks away free as the scapegoat, but Jesus died as the Scapegoat who would carry all our sins away.
This is the Greatest Exchange story there’s ever been, and it’s our Story because;
All of us are Barabbas! The guilty ones who get to walk free because of Jesus, the sinless innocent One, who took our place!
This isn't ancient history or interesting theology, no, this is our story!
We Are Barabbas
All of us stand guilty before God's justice. We deserve the penalty for our rebellion and sin. We're imprisoned by guilt, shame, and the consequences of our choices
But Jesus Takes Our Place
He stands in our trial for us, He receives our sentence, as He goes to our cross!
The result is we walk free, our cell door swings open, our chains fall off, as we're declared "Not guilty", not because we're innocent, but because Jesus took our guilt.
Theologians call this ‘Substitutionary atonement’, it isn't a dry doctrine! It’s the most personal truth in the universe, the righteous for the unrighteous, the sinless given for the sinful. The Son of God is substituted for you and me, the sons and daughters of rebellion.
The cross is where our guilt met God's grace and lost. So, if you've been set free, live free, and point others to the One who took your place!
Hiw should we live once we've walked out of our prison cells?
Live in Gratitude, Not Guilt, we're no longer defined by our past mistakes. We're redefined by Christ's sacrifice, so our response isn't to try to earn what's already been given to us freely.
Carry the Message of Freedom and spread the ‘good news’. Just as Barabbas had a story to tell ("I was condemned, but another took my place!") So we also have a story of substitution to share.
Embrace Your New Identity, we're no longer "guilty prisoners" We've become "pardoned children of God". No longer the scapegoat, for we’ve been set-free!
Remember the Cost, because our freedom wasn't free. It cost the life of God's Son. Let that reality shape your values, choices, and priorities
The Great Exchange: When the Scapegoat Met His Substitute
in Pilates courtyard the mob chose a murderer to walk free, and in that choice, God revealed how He would set every willing guilty soul free!
Since that day everything changed, it's so special we gave it a name, ‘Good Friday’
Now, just for a moment, imagine that you're Barabbas, in that prison cell, condemned to die by crucifixion. You hear the mob outside shouting, then they start screaming your name! But they're not calling for your death; they're screaming for your freedom. Suddenly the Roman guards come and open your cell door, and you're brought before Pilate. As you walk out into the sunlight, the light forces your eyes closed; it hurts, so you blink. Then, as they adjust, you see another man, he’s been beaten, bloodied, and is being led to the cross that you were supposed to die on. His name is Jesus. Pilate turns to you and says. "You’re free to go, this man Jesus is taking your place."
And in that moment, you understand grace in the most personal way possible: The innocent is condemned so the guilty can go free!
This isn't just a dramatic scene from history. This is the living, breathing heart of the gospel. And it's something that God prepared before the dawn of time.
The Cross is the ultimate Yom Kippur, the Once-and-for-All Atonement!
The writer of Hebrews makes the connection crystal clear:
He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
Hebrews 9:12
The Old Religious System, with its annual repetition of animal sacrifice, temporary covering, and symbolic removal of sin, was made obsolete by the cross of Christ. Christ's Work was a ‘Once and for all’, a complete payment, with permanent removal!
Yom Kippur happened every year because the work of atonement was never done. Good Friday happened once because the work was finished. This is what Jesus meant on the cross when he said,
‘it is finished’. With that he gave up this spirit.
John 19:30
Today, right now, Jesus stands before the judgment seat of your life. He says to the accuser, to your guilt, to your past: "Release them. Let them go. I've taken their place. I've borne their punishment. I've carried their sins away."
Are you still living like Barabbas in the prison cell, condemned, guilty, awaiting punishment? The door is open. Walk out into freedom.
Are you living like the forgiven Barabbas but forgetting the cost? Remember whose took your place on the cross.
Today, you can accept the great exchange: Your guilt for His righteousness, Your condemnation for His freedom, Your death sentence for His eternal life
May you live today as someone who's walked out of death row because Love Himself took your place!
Have a great Passover,
Trev.