03/29/2026
The scapegoat…
“Then Aaron shall present the two goats before the Lord… one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat.” Leviticus 16:7–8
In Leviticus, on the Day of Atonement, two goats were brought before God. One was sacrificed, its blood making atonement for the people. The other had the sins of the people symbolically placed on it and was sent away into the wilderness, carrying those sins far from them.
One died so that the other could go free.
This wasn’t just an ancient ritual. It was a picture.
Years later, we see something strikingly similar unfold.
Two men stand before the crowd.
Jesus, the innocent one who had done nothing wrong.
Barabbas, a guilty man, a known criminal.
And the people are given a choice.
They choose to release Barabbas and send Jesus to the cross.
The innocent is condemned.
The guilty walks free.
And suddenly, what we saw in Leviticus comes into focus.
This is what God had been pointing to all along.
Jesus becomes both the sacrifice and the scapegoat, the One who not only dies for sin, but carries it away. And Barabbas becomes a picture of us.
Because the truth is, we are the ones standing in his place.
Guilty, yet released.
Not because we earned it, but because Jesus took it.
The true Son of the Father was condemned so that we could go free as sons and daughters.
He is also the perfect Lamb, the final sacrifice, the One who fulfilled what every offering in the Old Testament was pointing toward all along.
That’s Easter.
It’s not just the story of a cross.
It’s the story of an exchange.
He takes what was ours…
and gives us what was His.
And because of Him, we are no longer defined by our sin, but by His grace.
~Kelli Bachara
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1496924241789195&set=a.216410139840618&type=3
“Then Aaron shall present the two goats before the Lord… one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat.” Leviticus 16:7–8
In Leviticus, on the Day of Atonement, two goats were brought before God. One was sacrificed, its blood making atonement for the people. The other had the sins of the people symbolically placed on it and was sent away into the wilderness, carrying those sins far from them.
One died so that the other could go free.
This wasn’t just an ancient ritual. It was a picture.
Years later, we see something strikingly similar unfold.
Two men stand before the crowd.
Jesus, the innocent one who had done nothing wrong.
Barabbas, a guilty man, a known criminal.
And the people are given a choice.
They choose to release Barabbas and send Jesus to the cross.
The innocent is condemned.
The guilty walks free.
And suddenly, what we saw in Leviticus comes into focus.
This is what God had been pointing to all along.
Jesus becomes both the sacrifice and the scapegoat, the One who not only dies for sin, but carries it away. And Barabbas becomes a picture of us.
Because the truth is, we are the ones standing in his place.
Guilty, yet released.
Not because we earned it, but because Jesus took it.
The true Son of the Father was condemned so that we could go free as sons and daughters.
He is also the perfect Lamb, the final sacrifice, the One who fulfilled what every offering in the Old Testament was pointing toward all along.
That’s Easter.
It’s not just the story of a cross.
It’s the story of an exchange.
He takes what was ours…
and gives us what was His.
And because of Him, we are no longer defined by our sin, but by His grace.
~Kelli Bachara
**Tomorrow is Palm Sunday! And the start of Holy Week. Grab your Holy Week Guide here to help focus your eyes and heart on the scripture all around Jesus’ week leading up to Easter!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1692610355/holy-week-study-guide
