A Way To Process Pain

God doesn't ignore or discount blame. Pain should be processed. If we don't process pain then we just repress it. He provides a scapegoat as a healthy means to deal with blame.

"Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD and use it as a sin offering, but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel... And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.

Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and shall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there. And he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people." - Leviticus 16:7-10, 20-24 ESV

Jesus is my scapegoat and it is because of Him that I can minister.

There are two goats in this sacrifice. Which one is He? First He satisfied what justice demanded and then He took on the role of removing iniquity from our consciousness.

We might say, 'The goats didn't do anything... how can they be a substitute.' They are a perfect example really because Jesus didn't do anything either. He was spotless but we can lay our blame on Him and send that blame away into death where it belongs.

Unlike those goats... Jesus rose from the grave because of His innocence.

If we don't put the blame on Him we will blame someone else. We can process our pain with self blame and grow sick because of it. We can blame others. We all know about that. Lastly, we can blame God but where does that deception get us?

Jesus is God's scapegoat. He took on the role willingly. He wants to be that for us also. Can we take Him up on His offer? Send your iniquities (the source of bad emotions) away on Jesus so they can get lost in the wilderness. They will stay out where He went when He died. They will be as far away as the east is from the west. Then you can bath, be clean and minister.

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