Jesus Our Scapegoat Part 2

Jesus Our Scapegoat Part 2
Study Center | Home Page | PDF Version

Isaiah 53:4-9:

Surely he hathe borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did see him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chatisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 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. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 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.

The word "death” in verse 9 is translated in singular form. In the Hebrew it is actually plural. Jesus went to the cross and died twice. Everyone else who went to the cross died once. Jesus died a unique death: He died twice on the cross.

Isaiah 53:10:

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.

Why did it please the Lord to bruise Him? Why did it please God the Father to bruise Jesus on the cross? It pleased Him because He knew when Jesus was bruised on the cross, He would see His seed manifested in this earth; and we are that manifested seed. New seed cannot sprout forth until the old seed dies; Jesus was the seed of Abraham who had to die on the cross. Through His death, burial, and resurrection, He became the first-fruits--the firstborn among many brethren; and we are the brethren of whom He is the firstborn! Again, God the Father was pleased to bruise Him.

Isaiah 53:11-12:

He shall see the travail of his soul, and he shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 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.

When Jesus rose from the dead and conquered Satan, principalities, and powers, He spoiled them; and on the way up he gave gifts unto men; He shared the spoils!

Isaiah 53:4 again says, "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." Verse 10, "...he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin." The words "borne" and "carried" in verse 4 and the words "offering for sin" in verse 10 refer back to the scapegoat. When Jesus "bore" our sins, the same word is used of the scapegoat who "bore" the sins of Israel off into the wilderness. When Jesus "carried" our sicknesses and pains, the same word is used of the scapegoat. When it says Jesus became an "offering for sin," it is the same word used when the goat became an offering for sin and carried the sins and iniquities of the people away.

Speaking of the scapregoat, Leviticus 16:5 says, "And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering." The "he" referred to is Aaron. Aaron is the high priest.

Leviticus 16:7-10:

And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation and Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

Leviticus 16:15:

Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat.

Leviticus 16:20-21:

And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: 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 him upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness.

Notice, there were two goats. One goat was slain, the other goat was left alive. The goat that was slain had its blood sprinkled in the Holy of Holies and upon the mercy seat. The priest (Aaron) put both of his hands on the head of the live goat and then sent it out into the wilderness. Notice, again, two goats. Why? Because Jesus died twice on the cross! The first goat represents his outward man, or physical death. Jesus' body was slain; but you cannot slay the inward man. The inward man was represented in the second goat, which bore and carried our sin, sicknesses, and diseases into the wilderness. I want you to notice something here: the priest laid both of his hands on the goat. Why does the Hebrew bring out so emphatically that he laid both his hands upon the head of the goat? Because Jesus not only took sin, He took sickness upon Himself as well. The physical death of Jesus did not save us; His spiritual death did.

Leviticus 16:22:

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.

The words "not inhabited" mean "cut off or" separated." The spiritual death of Jesus meant Jesus even took our sin and our sicknesses into the pit. All the sins we have ever committed, all the sicknesses known to mankind, and the curse against mankind, He took into an uninhabited land. However, after three days and three nights, when the penalty for sin was paid for mankind, Satan had no right to hold Him there any longer. Jesus arose from the dead, free from sin and sickness. He had paid the uttermost for them; and the door stands wide open today! We can walk free!

"Whom the son has set free is free indeed!"

1 Corinthians 5:21:

For he, (God the Father), hath made him, (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

This verse not only tells us Jesus removed our sins; He actually became sin on the cross. God did not die when Jesus died spiritually, anymore than God died when Adam died spiritually. When Jesus died spiritually on the cross, God had to turn His back on His spotless Son. This "Adam" who came to earth did not yield to sin and did not yield to temptation; and when Jesus went to the cross as the spotless Lamb of God, He was therefore, qualified to take the sins of the world. It was at this time He, (God the Father), made Him, (Jesus Christ), to be sin for us. The reason He could bear our sins away is because He actually became sin. God made Him sin on the cross for us; and the moment He became sin on the cross, His outward man physically died; and His inward man bore our sins and our sicknesses into the bottomless pit and took care of them once and for all! Jesus was the Lamb of God until He went to the cross, and there He became the goat; He died spiritually--He became the goat. Jesus who was the Lamb of God, became the goat on the cross that we, as goats, might be made into sheep of the Lord Jesus Christ! If Jesus had not become sin, we would not have become righteous. If there is no removal of sin, there is no removal of sickness. If Jesus only bore our sin, He only bore our sickness. However, Jesus did become sin and therefore, He became sickness that we might become holy and healthy and walk in His health. Jesus did not commit a sin to become sin. No, it was put upon Him by God the Father. Jesus walked in righteousness until the time of the cross, and there on the cross, He accepted sin. I do not have to commit a righteous act to become righteous; I openly accept the righteousness of Jesus; it is a free gift. The work of the cross is the divine exchange. He exchanged my sin for His righteousness. I have become the righteousness of God! Glory to God!

Bob Yandian

If you like this article, check out Our Redemption at the BYM Store.