Day Of Atonement

Last Wednesday, in bible study, we were discussing the Day of Atonement. This is one of the Jewish ‘High Holidays’. Once a year, the high priest offers a sacrifice to atone for the sins of the children of Israel. A ram would be killed and his blood would be sprinkled on the Ark of the Covenant. The priest would lay hands on another ram, which would then bear the sins of Israel. He would be taken to the wilderness and set loose, where he would carry the sins of
Israel for the rest of his life.

When I began to relate that ram to Jesus, I was a little uncomfortable. In my mind, I could picture Jesus taking on my sin and going to the “wilderness”, but it was hard to thing that He carries them until eternity. It was easier to think of the ram that died, once for all. Thinking about the ram that lived to carry my sins, somehow made my sins bigger. I have gotten used to Jesus dying for my sins. I am not so comfortable with Jesus living with my sins. Somehow, that is a larger cost to me.

Consider the cost of your sins. It is true that His death bought your redemption, but so does His living sacrifice. How long did that ram bear the sins of Israel? The rest of his life? It shames me to think of the suffering that I have unwittingly brought to God.
Love, Pastor Don