This blog is dedicated to peering more deeply into the Death of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In our previous blog, we showed from scripture that Jesus indeed went to hell in our place.
"He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption," (Acts 2:31).
The Soul of Jesus Typified in the Old Testament
You may want to read the entire sixteenth chapter of Leviticus, but let us point out the key verses here: [some words are emboldened for emphasis]
5 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.
7 And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat.
9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
10 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.
20 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:
21 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 them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:
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.
30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.
The work of salvation accomplished by our blessed Savior was of such magnitude that it took two goats to make one atonement. In addition, one ram had to be offered as a burnt offering one the Day of Atonement.
Jesus is our Scapegoat. A scapegoat is one who bears the all the blame for others and suffers in their place. In modern-day vernacular he may have been called by synonyms such as our Fall Guy, or Whipping Boy, or Laughingstock.
Of course the goat that was chosen by lot to be slain represents the death of Jesus' body which died upon the Cross of Calvary. But the scapegoat was presented ALIVE before the Lord.
The work of the slain goat alone did not COMPLETE the atonement! Read verse ten again. The success of the scapegoat was necessary to complete the assignment of atoning for the sins of God's people. In other words, those who believe that the work of salvation was completed at the Cross, have missed the significant contribution required of the scapegoat. Compare Leviticus 16:21-22 above with this verse from Isaiah:
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all,"(Isaiah 53:6).
It's curious that the end of Lev. 16:21 states that, once the sins and iniquities of the people had been laid upon the scapegoat, it was necessary for it to be led away by the hand of a fit man [a man who had been appointed and was standing by...ready and able to handle the goat]. Can you imagine what that goat must have gone through when the sins of the nation were spiritually transferred to it? Not one of us can understand what it must have been for Jesus to bear the sin of the world [the sins of all mankind in all generations from Adam to the last soul that will ever be born].
"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him," (2 Cor. 5:21).
I pray that you're beginning to sense how much more Jesus truly suffered... beyond what happened in His Body, but in His soul as well. Jesus' soul was three days in hell. He wasn't there idly waiting to be resurrected. He was on an assignment! In a later blog we'll take a look at scriptures that reveal what He accomplished while He was there.
Our Lord was resurrected; meaning, He arose from the dead. He was raised. Remember he had commended his spirit back to the Father? So, if his spirit were to return to his body, he would have to descend from above.
"Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell..." (Ps. 16:10a).
Jesus' soul had never been separated from his spirit, but the Word of God was so sharp in his life, and his death was so thorough, that in dying, his spirit returned to the Father, his body lay in a tomb, and his soul went to hell. All his earthly life, the soul of Jesus had been continuously under the tutelage of the Spirit; and the Son had to learn obedience by the things he suffered (Heb. 5:8).
Try to see the Son of God (Jesus' spirit) and the Son of Man (Jesus' soul) as two unique entities that lived as One. "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit..." (Heb. 4:12)
Jesus always spoke and acted in accordance with the Father's will. In other words, his spirit man maintained control and dominated his earthly walk. The soul of Jesus - his human mind, will and emotions - suffered and learned obedience. Anything that the Son of Man may have wanted to say, think, or do that was outside of the will of God, the Son of God overruled. He couldn't have a girlfriend. He couldn't just be a carpenter, get married and live a simple life. He couldn't drink too much or allow himself to do many of the "natural" things we do; yet he suffered being tempted in all points like as we are... yet, without sin (Heb. 4:15). Indeed, he was a living "sacrifice".
After learning obedience, the soul of Jesus had to pay the ultimate price: "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death," (Mt. 26:38). He had to pour out his soul unto death (Isa. 53:12).
It's the body that experiences death when the soul and spirit leave it. Jesus' body died on the Cross. But, how does a soul die? The soul that sins shall die [Ezekiel 18:4,20]. Recall that death is separation. A soul dies when it is separated from God. Perhaps the greatest agony for Jesus' in Gethsemane was the knowledge that he was going to be separated from the Father as he became our sin offering. "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mt. 27:46). It would be the first time the Son of Man would ever be on his own: the piercing word (will) of God would divide or separate the soul from the spirit. Only the spirit would return to the Father when Jesus breathed his last breath. Alone, the scapegoat would have to enter hell, fulfill the will of God, and return with the keys of hell and of death. So, let's answer the question,
Why Two Goats?
Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission for sins (Heb. 9:22). "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins," Matthew 26:28. The word "remission" means "the cancellation of a debt, charge or penalty". The wages or penalty of sin is death. Jesus paid the debt and cancelled all charges against us! We overcome by the Blood of the Lamb. Amen. The work of the slain goat signified our sins being FORGIVEN.
However, God knew it would not be enough for us to just be forgiven. We also needed to be CHANGED. Our sin nature needed to be removed. The scapegoat was led away to an uninhabited, wilderness place [what else could symbolize or typify the soul going to hell?]. John the Baptist saw Jesus in his role as our scapegoat and declared, "Behold, the Lamb of God who TAKES AWAY the sin of the world," (John 1:29). To this the psalmist agrees: "As far as the east is from the west so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (Ps. 103:12).
Jesus had to dispose of sin in order to truly liberate us from it. Next week, as we continue to take a deeper look into the death of Jesus, I want to share with you a revelation on Jesus, Our Burnt Offering.
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