Troublesome Topic: Jesus Fulfilled All the Other Offerings as Well
Lesson 7 of 11Jesus Is Our Scape Goat
God placed all the guilt of all the sins of all the people who have ever lived onto the head of Jesus when He was in the garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. Gethsemane means the “olive press.” Jesus was pressed, His blood oozed out, just like the oil of the olive would ooze out under the weight of the huge olive press stone.
Jesus received our guilt and was taken away to be alone just like the scape goat. He carried our guilt away, as the scape goat had symbolized for 1400 years.
The Blood of Jesus Was Sprinkled on the Altar
The sacrifice of Jesus was accepted by God. The constant mention of Jesus’ blood is similar to the constant sprinkling of blood on the sides of the altar; it was a reminder that the sacrifice had been made. The shedding of Jesus’ blood makes us acceptable to God if, through faith, we appropriate His sacrifice on our behalf.
Jesus Fulfilled the Role of the Red Heifer
In an act that was unique in the Old Testament sacrifices, the red heifer’s blood was not drained from its body before it was burned (only a tiny bit was taken out first). The animal was burned with its blood in it. That is why the ashes were considered the ashes of blood, for that was the most important part of the animal. Later those ashes were mixed with water. Thus, in the eyes of an ancient Jew, the ash and water mixture that was used for cleansing was a mixture of blood and water.
After Jesus died, a soldier pierced His side with his spear and out came a mixture of blood and water! Any Jew would hear or read those words and say, “Hey, I recognize that combination! That means Jesus purifies me from uncleanness.”
Let’s look at it from another angle. The red heifer was burned and the product of that burning was ashes which were used for cleansing ceremonies. The product of Christ’s death was resurrection—new life. The Former Covenant did not have the full picture. It is through His death and resurrection that we are saved.
Romans 5:10
Translation
If we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son while we were enemies, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved in His life!
Paraphrase
If we were reconciled to God through the death of His son while we were enemies of God, how much more, now that we have been reconciled, shall we be saved by His life!
Jesus Took on the Role of the Discarded Refuse
Jesus was taken outside the camp and destroyed, like the discarded refuse of the tabernacle.
Hebrews 13:11
Translation
The bodies of those animals, whose blood the High Priest brings into the holy places for sin, are burned outside the camp.
Paraphrase
In that old system the blood was drained from the sacrifice and taken by the High Priest into the places set apart for priests and offered to God as a sacrifice for sin, then the remaining body was burned outside the camp because it was considered unusable and of no spiritual benefit.
Hebrews 13:12
Translation
Therefore also Jesus, so that He would be able to sanctify the people by His own blood, suffered outside the gate.
Paraphrase
For that reason Jesus, in a way that resembled the sacrifices of old, suffered outside the city gate in order to make the people holy through the shedding of His own blood.
Hebrews 13:13
Translation
Therefore let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.
Paraphrase
Since Jesus did that for us, we should be willing to go to Him in that shameful place so we can join in wearing some of His shame so He won’t have to suffer disgrace alone.
The point of this passage is that Jesus fulfilled the sacrificial system in every way. It was not the rejection He suffered that sanctifies us, but the shedding of His blood. That points back to the blood being drained from the sacrificial animal. That is the part that we usually think about – the blood of Jesus being shed. But then it says that He also fulfilled the role of the unused body, the refuse, the garbage. The fact that Jesus fulfilled all the aspects of the sacrificial system shows that He has taken the place of that entire system, replacing it with one sacrifice.
The pictures that God painted in the Former Covenant were the perfect preparation so when Jesus came, the people could easily recognize that He fulfilled every part of that system; nothing was left unfinished. There were no loose ends. Everything He did in His last few hours of life was recognizable to those who knew the sacrificial system.
Jesus suffered rejection and shame for us in order to teach us that we might have to suffer shame and disgrace for Him. We should be willing to join Him in that place of shame called “outside the camp.”
Jesus Was the Passover Lamb
Jesus died around 3 in the afternoon, at the same time and on the same day that most Jewish families were killing their chosen lamb for Passover. The blood of Jesus fulfilled the role of the Passover lamb, it protects us from eternal destruction.
Jesus was given many titles in the Bible. All of them are honorable, desirable titles. But one of them is a bit surprising because it doesn’t sound as elevated, as lofty or as strong as the other titles. I’m referring to the title THE LAMB OF GOD. Have you ever heard of a sports team called the “lambs?” Lambs are weak and helpless. But this lamb performed what no other living being in history could accomplish. This title was hinted at in Genesis chapter 22, is used of Jesus twice in the Gospel of John, and used of Jesus many times in Revelation. Revelation is the book that shows Jesus for who He really is, nothing being held back, no limitations whatsoever. In Revelation we see His unequalled power, his awe-inspiring glory. Yet in Revelation, the favorite title for Jesus is not King of Kings, or Lord of Lord, the most used title is THE LAMB.
Do you want proof of the power that is in His blood? Audibly appealing to the blood of Jesus has the power to make demons flee. They know they have met their match in the blood of Jesus.
The next lesson in the Full Series on Covenants is: Jesus Is Our Sacrifice for Defiant Sins