Scapegoat
One
The Two Goats of Leviticus
One of the earliest books of the Bible that many people skip over is Leviticus. It’s full of liturgical rules for the priests, the Levites, and the descendants of Aaron, the brother of Moses and the High Priest. So, for most people, it doesn’t make for exciting reading. But there is one interesting passage that a lot of people have heard about, and it has to do with the scapegoat on the day of Atonement.
Actually, there were two goats for the day of atonement, and both of them were involved in absolving the people of their sins. One goat was slaughtered as a sacrifice, the other goat had all the faults and transgressions of the people confessed over it, symbolically “placed upon its head.” And that second goat was driven out into the wilderness.
These two goats played different but complimentary roles in atonement for the people. What were these two roles? And what, exactly, do these goats symbolize?
Two
The Two Aspects of Salvation
On the Day of Atonement one goat paid the penalty for the people’s sins, the other goat took away the people’s sins. But of course, goats don’t really have the power either to atone for sins, nor to take away sins. So what do these goats represent?
Who has both the power to suffer for the sins of the people, and the power to take those sins away? It’s not a goat who can do either. Only the Lamb of God can do both. Jesus Christ, whom John the Baptist calls “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” is the one who fulfills both roles.
He not only suffers the penalty for our sins but removes them from us entirely.
Three
The Divine Power to Remove Sins
Human beings have the power to destroy things they can’t rebuild. A thug with a sledgehammer could wreck Michelangelo’s sculptures but that thug couldn’t make anything nearly as precious. A penniless arsonist could burn down a millionaire’s mansion but the arsonist couldn’t afford to reconstruct what he’d destroyed.
It’s easy for us to murder. It’s impossible for us to bring back to life. Sin works the same way. Sin destroys things we can’t restore. Sin destroys our friendship with God. It kills divine life within us. It collapses the bridge to Heaven. And these are all things that are beyond human power to reconstruct. But God can rebuild anything we destroy. Even the things our sins destroy. Even things of infinite value. Only God can take away sin, because only God can restore what sin destroys. And so, to truly take away sin requires divine power. It requires a nature that is divine.
Four
The Human Power to Atone for Sins
But there is one thing a divine nature can’t do: suffer. Suffering is the response to the absence of some good that should be present. But no good is absent to God. He is all good. There is no good in creation that isn’t already unshakably present in God. In that sense, God can’t suffer in His divine nature because for Him to suffer, something would have to be missing, and He’s perfect, which just means He can’t be missing anything.
But part of atoning for sin is suffering. It’s not enough to ignore sin or pretend it never happened. Real atonement means dealing with the consequences of sin. And really dealing with the consequences of sin, including the sins of others, means suffering.
So if the people were really to be saved from sin, they had to be saved by someone who had the infinite power of God, and who also had the human capacity for suffering. That means we could only be saved by Someone who is at the same time God and man, a God-man.
Five
The Two Natures of Christ
On the Day of Atonement, Israel needed two goats: One to be sacrificed for sin and one to take away sin.
Lent is preparing for our great day of atonement, Good Friday, when we will be saved from sin not by two goats, but by one Savior with two natures. Jesus’ human nature enables Him to suffer and die for our sins. Jesus’ divine nature enables Him to take our sins away by restoring what was destroyed.
And the final point for this mediation is this: Every sin comes with a price. Each one must be paid for. Each sin of yours and mine makes Christ’s suffering more intense, more prolonged. The Israelites who watched one goat slaughtered and one goat exiled into the wilderness had a sense of what their sins did. Do we have that same sense when we look up at the Crucifix, and see Jesus, true God, and true man, hanging there for our sins? Do we see what our sins have done? And do we let the weight of that truth move us to greater repentance and love?
Suggested Resolutions:
Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you.
Each time you’re wavering between sin and virtue, try to imagine Christ taking on the consequences of that sin for you.
Remember that each sin must be paid for, either in purgatory or in confession. Reflecting on this, make an examination of conscience and find a time to go to confession.