Leviticus 16:20-22 (NIV)
20 "When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. 21 He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites--all their sins--and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. 22 The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert.

The Miriam Webster online dictionary defines scapegoat as:

1 : a goat upon whose head are symbolically placed the sins of the people after which he is sent into the wilderness in the biblical ceremony for Yom Kippur

2 a : one that bears the blame for others b : one that is the object of irrational hostility

The High Priest of Israel was required to have two goats or sheep to atone for Israel’s sins. One was slaughtered and its’ blood was sprinkled on the atonement cover of the Ark of the Covenant. The priest was to lay hands on the second goat, to transfer the sins of Israel open it. That goat was left alive and sent into the wilderness to be alone and carry away Israel’s sin.

Jesus filled the purpose of both goats when he was crucified and buried.
He shed his blood and was sent away. Of course he was dead when he was buried, but once he was resurrected, he became like the second goat to carry our sins. Jesus became our scapegoat.

This fulfillment has brought us everlasting life, because as the scapegoat, he lives forever.

Galatians 2:19-20 (NIV)
19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Love, Pastor Don