Atonement/Forgiveness/Scapegoat
Preaching
Life Everlasting
The Essential Book of Funeral Resources
Object:
Aaron shall bring the goat ... 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 desert as a scapegoat.
"He [Aaron] shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull's blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. He is to do the same for the Tent of Meeting, which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
"When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites -- all their sins -- and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert."
Funeral and memorial services are wonderful times to remind ourselves not only of the resurrection, but of the work Jesus did that made the resurrection possible. He atoned for our sins. He was our scapegoat. A reflection on the original day of atonement and the scapegoat can make what Jesus did seem more real. As the scapegoat symbolically bore away the sins of Israel, Jesus actually bears ours away. He takes them to the desert where they are seen and heard from no more. He removes them from us, "as far as the east is from the west." We can remind our people that the Christian who has died carries no sin burden into the next life because it has been removed from them.
"He [Aaron] shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull's blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. He is to do the same for the Tent of Meeting, which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
"When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites -- all their sins -- and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert."
Funeral and memorial services are wonderful times to remind ourselves not only of the resurrection, but of the work Jesus did that made the resurrection possible. He atoned for our sins. He was our scapegoat. A reflection on the original day of atonement and the scapegoat can make what Jesus did seem more real. As the scapegoat symbolically bore away the sins of Israel, Jesus actually bears ours away. He takes them to the desert where they are seen and heard from no more. He removes them from us, "as far as the east is from the west." We can remind our people that the Christian who has died carries no sin burden into the next life because it has been removed from them.
