Friday, February 11, 2011

Forsaken Goats

Scripture verses that caught my attention today: Leviticus 16:20-22 When he has finished atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21 Then Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and sending it away into the wilderness by means of someone designated for the task. 22 The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a barren region; and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness.

Observation: This is one rather odd experience with a goat.

Application: It is sometimes natural to talk to animals, particularly pets—be they cats, dogs, horses, or whatever. It’s a safe place to occasionally pour out one’s heart. But in a humane-society world, we don’t usually then take said animal out and either slaughter it as a sacrifice or, as is the case above, take it out to some deserted wilderness and set it free, quite possibly only to die. Old Testament peoples apparently tried quite a few different methods to atone for their sin and/or uncleanliness. It would appear that none of these methods ultimately worked, however. Hence, in our Christian tradition, the Son of God takes on human flesh, identifies with the people and saves the day. Interestingly, he too spent significant time in the wilderness. And in a very real way, when the crown of thorns was placed on his head it was as if all of humanity was bestowing their sin upon him and then having him ushered away to place so lonely that even he cried out “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

Prayer: Lord, thanks for the reminder of what you have done for us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Scripture Readings today included: Leviticus 15-17 and Acts 18)

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