Wednesday, April 20, 2022
Imitator
Sunday, October 17, 2021
Abram
Wednesday, June 2, 2021
Truth
Truth: that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality
Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
John 18:37-38 ESV
When I hear the term truth, the famous dialogue from the movie A Few Good Men comes to mind. It is where the Tom Cruise character demands the Jack Nicholson character for the truth and the response from Jack is the famous line of “you can’t handle the truth.” Truth tends to be a popular topic, ranging from promoting ones truth, to calling out a political party and how they don’t know what truth is, even if it came and slapped them along side of the head. I just finished up the HBO historical drama Chernobyl which is about the 1986 nuclear plant explosion and aftermath in Russia. At the end of the last episode, one of the main characters gives the speech that when truth is forgotten or altered, it gives us a distorted sense of reality and eventually we no longer know what to believe or who we are. The final punch line in the movie is that when truth is forgotten or manipulated, it creates a debt, and that debt will need to be settled. It often is not pretty and has dire consequences for forsaking it and not living by the universal truths that God has laid out before us. Here are some observation I have made about truth that I think will be helpful.
The first observation is that truth is that there is no such thing as my truth and your truth, because not only does it lead to a moral relativism with no concrete standards of right or wrong, but it also leads to divisiveness. One just has to take a look at our political climate since last November with the Presidential Election. Both sides are digging in to their foxholes with their agendas and launching ammunition of distrust, name calling and finger pointing to the other side. This divisiveness often grows larger as time goes on and we eventually will cut off all relationships with people who disagree with us, or we participate in the civil war that is going on in social media along with where we work, worship and at the dinner table. I will leave you with this thought on my truth. It could make us think that it is our Constitutional Right that we are not wrong and that we can never be wrong, no matter how faulty our reasoning or information is/ My truth often sees things one way and only gains information from sources they agree with, supports their cause and comforts them.
The second observation about truth, especially Gods Truth, doesn’t care about feelings. If you know anything of or follow the conservative author and media personality Ben Shapiro, you know one of his famous lines is that “facts don’t care about feelings,” and the same can be said for truth. Or if you think in song titles, the group Boston, song More Than a Feeling because Gods truth is objective and not subjective. Generally speaking, people turn to things that make them happy or somehow lets them escape reality. This why I think so many of us struggle with some sort of addiction issues, is because we want to be happy, or not face the reality that the truth is pointing out. Truth is that big spotlight that shines on areas in our life that need to change, or improvement, or an action that we either need to stop doing or start doing. Truth helps things us see things as they really are and what they could be, and not what we want them to be. So here is my question, if truth was about comfort, would we ever change?
My third observation about Gods truth is that it is absolute. It doesn’t care about culture, time period, or your gender. It applies to everyone. As much as we try to get out of it, it is impossible to run from, because it will eventually come and catch up with us and the longer we avoid it, the worse the consequences are. Absolute truth is like gravity, cause no matter what we do, it still brings us back to earth. Eventually that airplane is going to come out of the sky and land, due to a lack of fuel or some sort of mechanical issue. When God created the earth, He set up some universal guidelines for it to operate and from collapsing into utter chaos. Absolute truths is the blue print that God has given us on how the world should work and how we should live and interact with each other. When we don’t read or fail to abide by this blueprint, things are sent into chaos, and we become so calloused that we start doing things that are right in our own eyes and not God’s design.
My fourth observation is that cultures change and people don’t. Ever since Adam and Eve ate from that apple and were banished from Eden, the struggle has been real. We are constantly wanting to do things as we see fit, because we think we know as much as God and we can do as good of a job if not better than what He is doing right now. No matter how often rules are changed, or added, or social programs are out there to combat the ills of society, we still make stupid decisions. The ways may have changed, but how often do we try and diminish or take down others, so that we can elevate ourselves, or find ways to escape reality. I could be wrong, but when we lose Absolute Truth, not only do we break off our relationship with the Creator, but we damage our relationship with other people. When there are no absolutes, people lose value and often become a pawn in a game. How often do these pawns become forgotten or disposed of to either meet some sort of need or to cover up some sort of pain or inconvenience.
My fifth observation is that when we deny absolute truth, or push it down the line, when it comes back, the consequences are messy, ugly, and often deadly. According to the movie Chernobyl the reason why the reactor exploded was because of a neglect of rules and because of a known design flaw that people new about but did nothing about. It could be something as simple as unpaid child support leads to jail time or the loss of certain privileges. When we start denying or avoiding God’s absolutes, there will be consequences. They could range from relational issues, jail time, to financial to health issues. Eventually our poor choices will have eternal consequences. The one thing that I am starting to realize is that God’s absolutes have more than just eternal consequences, but they have eternal hope. God’s absolutes bring peace, understanding and it builds solid relationships. God’s truths are designed to bring things together. God is about order, peace, trust, and being in communion with others and Him. Our truth promotes chaos, war, bitterness, and a lack of trust and understanding.
I know it’s a long time coming, but lets finally hit that Bible passage that I started with. The story comes from the Gospel of Johns account of the Passion. I encourage all of you to read Johns version of the Passion of the Christ starting in chapter 14. Quick history on this passage, which is that the Passion of the Christ takes place over the Jewish holiday called the Passover, where they remember their Exodus from Egypt. The Jewish leaders got tired of Jesus healing and challenging their authority. Jesus also claimed to be one with God and King. Within Jewish ,tradition, that is blasphemy punishable by death. Since they were under Roman rule, they could not execute anyone, so they had to spend some political coin to the Romans to show that Jesus was a heretic and deserved to die. This is what lead to the famous meeting between Jesus and Pilate. With Pilates famous phrase of “what is truth” he was washing his hands of the situation, and condemned Jesus to death so the Jewish people could live their truth and have a criminal released from death row. When truth becomes subjective, chaos becomes the law of the land, responsibility is optional and there is no such thing as maturity, value and dignity of the creation goes out the window and it becomes a free for all.
Thursday, April 15, 2021
Anger
Anger-a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable )to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother[c] will be liable )to judgment; whoever insults] his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Matthew 5:21-24 ESV
This section of Scripture comes from Jesus teaching from the section of Scripture known as The Sermon on the Mount. This section is found in Matthew 5-7 and has two distinct things that I find cool. The first one is that this sermon is very applicable. Jesus is explaining how one lives out their faith on a day-to-day basis and covers all the essential topics, such as anger, divorce, lust and many other things. Jesus uses the phrase “you have heard it was said,” to refute the understanding of the day of the common practices. Instead, Jesus explains how where are treasure is buried is important, or the meaning of taking oaths and how our word is important. The second cool thing I found is that this sermon was not for the masses, but it was a teaching moment for His disciples. Jesus had become a big deal and people were following Him around to see what He was going to do and say next. In essence, Jesus was giving an in-person TED Talk to His disciples and the crowd was just eves dropping and finding out what His message is?
Anger can be a ticking time bomb, especially for those of us who like to cram it down and not admit to it, and then it comes out and bad times or takes forms in unhealthy addictions. I will be up front, I think there is Godly anger and things should make us mad like human sex slaves, domestic violence, child abuse and a host of other things, but this is not where I am going. I am going down the trail that anger can be self-destructive and ruin our relationships with God and others. I think there is a reason why Jesus made the connection between anger and murder and here is some observations on this.
My first observation is that we think our anger some how will change other people’s actions, intentions or speech. If we get angry enough and we throw things and shout really loud, people will change. In the last year, in Minnesota, we have had two police officers charged in the deaths of unarmed Black men. Following these deaths, there have been protest, marches along with looting and destruction. Both sides have drawn a line in the sand and are yelling at the other side to change their ways and there is a lot of words of anger and pain thrown at both sides by both sides. I think the crux of this anger comes down to two major points. One, is that both sides feel that they are not being heard, which only intensifies the yelling and hatred. This anger tries and change intentions of ones actions, speech and how one sees the world. We are trying to murder their intentions so they can be change to think and look like us. How often are we angry with other people’s intentions and biases and we forget to check our own?
My second observation is that we often fail to see that other people have value and are created in the image of God. How often does our anger belittle people or treat them as second class citizens? Our anger often gives us a sense of arrogance and that we are better than another person or group of people. We think our way is better and we try and beat other people into seeing things are way or that people somehow are to serve us. This anger often leads to us belittle them, taking every chance to destroy or kill their self-worth, honor and character. We tend to manipulate the message to make them look like the bad person and that we are always right and our intentions are always pure, or at least purer than other peoples.
My third observation is that anger tends to leads to alienation. How often does our anger cause us to either shut down and be non-responsive. Instead of attacking, we pull back and we break off all relationship with that person. We don’t discuss what is the matter. We would rather kill the relationship take care of the problem. Is there that one family member that when the two of you are together it gets rather quiet and the temperature in the room drops about twenty degrees. Someone has let the hate and anger build up so much, that whatever was the issue is, has gotten bigger and often out of out of control to the point that the original story is no where to be found and we have manipulated our hate and anger based on lies, and half truths that we told ourselves or have listened to. If we let it fester, it will only get worse, and the truth gets more watered down until it vanishes.
How often in our anger do we have conversations and we forget to invite the other person we are angry with into the conversation. It could be a running conversation in our head or we are venting to someone else about our said anger towards a particular person or group of people. Here is something that I have noticed in my own life when I do this in my head, my victory is always great and that the other person does not stand a chance and my justifications are always right and theirs are always wrong. When we vent to another person, we tend to do it to people who see things are way, or we try and manipulate them into seeing things our way. So when we do this, it often leads to two results. The first one is that our anger is some surface level feeling that is covering up something deeper, such as guilt, shame or even remorse. The second one is that we are killing any chance of fixing what the issues that are leading to anger because we will not confront the issues or anger in a healthy way
My fourth observation is that how often to we try and pay God off. We can not be in right relationship with God and hate our brothers and sisters. God commands that if we are going to be in right relationship with Him, we have to take care of our anger and hate issues with the people we interact with on a daily basis. When we have offended someone, or mistreated them, it is our responsibility to go and seek forgiveness and start the reconciliation process. I think we need to seek peace, peace and understanding in our relationship with others. In essence we need to listen to understand and not listening to respond. When we listen to respond, we are about portraying a certain message or look and it is often not the message that is needed or wanted. Seeking reconciliation takes courage, guts and it wont happen overnight.
I don’t know if any of this makes sense, but I hope so. I will leave you all with some closing thoughts. The first one, there is a difference between Godly anger and human anger and we need to know the difference. The second one is that God is the only one that can change hearts and attitudes no matter how much of a keyboard warrior we are. We have our responsibility in the process, but God is the lead person that can make it happen. My final thought is this and it is a paraphrase of a quote from the movie by Denzel Washington’s character in Remembering the Titans which is
We might not all like each other, but we will respect each other
If I could change this quote up a bit, I would change out the word respect with love. Like and love are two different things, and God calls us to love each other with His love and the only way that is possible is through His grace and a changed heart. If we were left to love on our own, our love becomes conditional or contractual and that is not love, it is obligation. The difference is that love is doing something because we want to and obligation is a sense of have to or being forced to.
Questions to Ponder
How much of our anger issues come from a lack of trust?
Is there a particular person you need to have a personal conversation with instead of carrying
One on in your head with them?
Why do we make hate more tolerable than murder?
Friday, April 2, 2021
Fickle
Fickle- changing frequently, especially as regards one's loyalties, interests, or affection.
12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
15 “Fear
not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey's colt!”
John 12:12-15 ESV
I remember being in a New Testament class in college and we were going over this passage and it struck me that the nation of Israel was singing Jesus praise on Sunday and by Thursday night, they were chanting crucify Him. I remember asking the professor why the such quick turnaround by the people, and his response was because people are fickle. That comment has always stuck with me and the years since, I have noticed how people can be fickle, myself included. So here are my few observations on what it means to be fickle.
My first observation is that fickleness is often a result of not having a backbone. People who tend not to have a backbone tend to change their opinion like the weather. Some people are so bad, that if you don’t like what they are spouting or standing for, talk to them after they are online for twenty minutes researching any hot button topic. Not having a back bone could mean one of two things. The first one is ones reasoning and logic skills are so underdeveloped that they jump from one reason to another. This source of reasoning comes down more to flash and what is appealing or popular rather than truth or fact. The second reason is, is that people care more about what other people think. In essence they want to be liked by a particular group of people, so they adhere to the ideas of the group. In essence it is group think and we do it so we have some form of validation and respect even though it is fake.
My second observation about fickleness is that how the minority can change the whole dynamic of the group. With the Triumphal Entry and Jesus, the religious leaders wanted Jesus gone, preferably dead, but at least not causing waves. They were doing it because they enjoyed the status with the Roman Empire. They were free do as they please as long as they minded their own business and didn’t cause any trouble. They saw Jesus as a threat to their peace, comfort and status with the Roman Empire. The religious leaders started a smear campaign against Jesus, causing people to question His authority and their way of living. When seeds of doubt and lies start getting planted, how often do we seek the truth, and how often do we become the conspiracy theorist. We tend to take those seeds of doubt and lies and with it until we find something else comes along that sounds better. Fox News, CNN and just about every other news and satire outlet make millions doing this. This is how they are able to stay on the air, because they know the news they promote may have a kernel of truth to it to make it believable but twist it in such a way that the facts are long gone and it leaves people divided and in shouting matches online or in person.
My third observation about fickleness is who do you trust. Our beliefs and actions show ourselves and a world that is watching who or what we trust. Do we only trust ourselves, the mob mentality of culture or the wisdom of the Creator. If I am going to watch a Jerry Bruckheimer movie (director of Top Gun, Armageddon and others), I know there are going to be big explosions, questionable acting and a few naughty words. When you trust someone or something, you are letting them or that thing speak into your life and impact it in ways that could bear eternal consequences. If we trust ourselves and pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, it leads to an unhealthy self reliance that is not good or Biblical. Relying on others to what we think can lead to group think which can be dangerous. Also, others are humans too, just as sinful and fallen as we are. The only way to go is trusting Jesus. Not only is He the author and perfector of the faith, but He is the Creator which means He has authority over all. When we are fickle, we tend to lead ourselves and others astray, no matter how good our intentions are. Jesus is the only one that can give us a firm foundation to stand on and we don’t have to go jumping from idea to idea because He doesn’t change. Cultural truths changes with the generations but the Truth of Jesus never changes. How it is presented may change, but the core message stays the same, which is that there is a Creator that loves us, and creation, no matter how fallen or self destructive we are or can be, we are worth redeeming because we are created in the image of God and that is worth redeeming.
I will finish off with this quote that is attributed to such people as Alexander Hamilton, Peter Marshall and others. That is “if we don’t stand for something, we will fall for anything.” Not being fickle means that we stop being so gullible and we grow up and mature. We use the brain that God gave us to reason things out, while listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit and following that lead. That backbone is not bowing down to the ever changing culture and sticking to the time tested truths that God has set up before the earth was created.
Thursday, April 1, 2021
Commitment
Commitment: the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity;
Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 So Thomas, called the Twin,[b] said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
John 11”14-16 ESV
Let me ask an important question and that is, what is your commitment level? No matter what we are involved in, work at, or participate in, we have a commitment level. The levels vary anywhere to totally committed or all in to you not wanting to touch it with a twenty foot pole. Our commitment level often determines our effort level and our attitude effort are high and we go at it with full gusto. There are times when we may not want to do it, but we still give it all and get it done. One of the people I follow on Insta Gram is Farm Fit Mamma (I think her real name is Amanda) combines fitness and the farm life. She is so dedicated that she puts out motivational and informational videos to show how she goes about how to eat and exercise. She even created online groups to provide encouragement and accountability to other woman to want to make lifestyle changes. The opposite side of this laziness. The only way something gets done is because one has to do it, and is just avoiding the consequences. It tends to get done half assed and these type of commitment are the people are usually the last ones in and first ones out. If they can get someone else to do it, they can find some great excuse why it didn’t get done. Lets explore several different kinds of commitment that are found through out the New Testament that I think are worth looking at. Now this is not an exhaustive list and there probably more, but these are the ones that are jumping out at me right now.
The first one an apathetic commitment. We can see this in our Scripture passage above and the Thomas is the perfect example of it. Lazarus, who happens to be a follower of Jesus and also a dear friend has died, and for whatever reason Jesus waited a few extra days to go to Lazarus house. Thomas statement is telling, because he probably heard the rumors and the gossip that the religious leaders wanted Jesus to at least disappear or even die. Thomas statement is telling because he was telling the world that yes, he was committed to the cause of Jesus, and will do what is required of Him, but don’t ask him to go above and beyond. I think the apathetic commitment is all about the have to and not want to or there is some sort of expectation by themselves or others that they do this. There is no joy, happiness, and they are there either because they invested to much, or they can’t find anything better because they don’t try. The phrase “I’m here” applies to this form of commitment.
The second form of commitment is the flash. These people get excited about a cause and show their loyalty to it, either until there is some sort of adversity or the fuel runs out. They either do not count the cost of the said commitment, or they are not wise with their time and energy and they burn out. The perfect example of this is the Apostle Peter. He told Jesus that he would follow Him anywhere even to death. When it was time for the rubber to hit the road and Peter was following behind Jesus during His trial and beatings, Peter flat out denied knowing Jesus three times. In essence they are there until it cost them something great and then they are out. To paraphrase the famous line from the Bad Boys movie trilogy there is no riding together and dying together because someone ends up jumping out of the car.
The third form of commitment is a silent committed. They are committed, but they don’t want anyone to know, because they are afraid of the backlash and consequences. These type of commitments usually lurk in the background doing things and often are never seen or heard from, but you see there work. The perfect example of this Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, they were apart of the religious leadership and if they privately went to Pilate to get the body of Jesus so they could bury Him in a new tomb before the Sabbath. were caught burring Jesus in a new tomb, there would have been at least a bad social stigma attached to them. This kind of commitment, people are often more worried about reputation than character.
The fourth form of commitment is all in. I wish I had a better name for it, but this type of person is committed to the cause, does not matter the cost and they perform their duties to the best of their abilities. It often goes from being forced to do it, wanting to do it, to needing to do it. The all in commitment is not about me and look what I am doing, but it is about the cause. Most of these people go unnoticed and never get fully recognize for the work they do. One Biblical example of this is Simon of Cyrene. I know this might be a stretch, but here me out. Jesus was so weak where He could not carry His own cross, so Simon did to the place where Jesus was crucified. There has to be some sort of commitment level to publicly carry the cross of an alleged anarchist and who everybody wanted dead. Being committed sometimes mean doing something that isn’t popular and you will get scorned for. I think of Rosa Parks who was suppose to sit at the back of the bus, but chose to sit up front and chose to show the value that all people have, and not just a particular groups of people.
To finish up this blog, being fully committed means that we bear our cross. This means that at times we do things, that aren’t easy, fun, and counter cultural and we will be mocked for. We are all fully committed to something, is it being lazy, apathetic, or all in. In essence we are all obedient to something or someone, and is that to ourselves, others, or God. There is only one that provides the endurance, strength and adds value not only to our life but also the lives of others, and that is fulling bearing our cross and being obedient to what God has called us to do.
Thursday, February 18, 2021
Scapegoat
capegoat: a person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others, especially for reasons of expediency.
“Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. 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.
Leviticus 16:6-10 ESV
The first Monday after the NFL Season ends is known as Black Monday, because this is when a number of head coaches and general managers are fired for their team’s performance. One of the reasons they are fired or let go is because the owner can’t get rid of the whole team, so the coach and or general manager becomes the scapegoat for the team’s bad record and or performance. This just isn’t the case for football, but this will happen to just about every coach in every team sport at every level. In essence coaches, especially head coaches are hired to be fired. Coach Dean Smith is a rarity to coach the University of North Carolina Men’s Basketball Team for decades and retire on his own terms. Scapegoats just don’t happen in sports, but they also happen at jobs, within churches, and even within friends and families. So lets explore how a Scapegoat ties into the Lenten Season and Easter.
The first concept is that when there is a Scapegoat, there is a guilty conscience. Guilt means that we realize that responsible for the mess we are due to our actions, words, attitudes and even our lack of action. This means that we realize that there are consequences for our actions and that relationships are, at best damaged, to broken beyond repair. I think guilt can cause that famous fight or flight response. Whether we stick our head in the sand and pretend nothing is wrong, or we it forces us into action. In essence we play the blame game or scapegoat someone into the responsibilities and consequences of our poor decisions. I think there is a third option for guilt, but more on that later.
To expound on the blame game, why should we take responsibilities for our actions when we can make someone else responsible for them and we can make them face the music. How often do we blame a sitting president for an economy or blaming the pastor of a church for the church not growing and for younger families moving to the bigger church down the road? It is never our fault because it is always someone else’s actions, attitudes or words that causes the problems or not finding the right solutions to fix all of our problems. Blame always tries to minimize our guilt if not get rid of it completely.
The second concept of a scapegoat is this idea of alienation. When we blame or scapegoat someone, we are termination the relationship somehow. I think one of the reasons we do this is that we feel guilt in what we have done or said to that person so we alienate them so that we don’t have so see them and either face the music and or be awkward in their presence. I think the biggest reason why we alienate people and send them of off to the relational desert is that they are paying the price for our guilt and for our actions. Guilt needs to be atoned for, and scapegoating someone means the debt, guilt and consequences are being placed on that person or group of people. How many of our relationships have died because we blamed people for our bad decisions or for our lot in life. Killing a relationship is sometimes easier or more convenient than actually doing the hard work and taking the responsibilities for our actions.
The third concept of scapegoating is this idea of peace. In his book, The Mosiac Atonement Josh McNall makes two great statements and the first one is.
The scapegoat succeeds in delivering a measure of peace.
In essence this statement is right, the reason we scapegoat is to appease our guilty conscience. We often will try to do anything and everything, except the right thing. We will even throw people under the bus if it makes us feel better. As I wrestled with this section of Josh’s book, I came to realize that this peace is only temporary. When it starts to fade, we try to find other ways to sooth our soul and to clear our conscience. I think this view of peace is not only means a lack of strife and conflict, but it also means that we are happy. True peace means doesn’t always mean we are happy and that conflict is always absent or minimal. True peace is our response to when things are not going well. Josh’s second observation is this
First we lynch our scapegoats, then we worship them
We are all created to worship something and we tend to worship what makes us feel better. We worship scapegoats we are placing the guilt and consequences that belong to us on them and we think we have skirted around the consequences, guilt and responsibilities of our action or inactions. This is me thinking out loud, I think we scapegoat and worship anything that absolves us of any responsibility to grow up and that masks our guilt and shame. This form of worship often leads to unhealthy relationships and even addictions to various things, such as food, alcohol, technology. When we mask our guilt an shame, it takes us down some really dark roads and have some ugly consequences until it we grow up and deal with them.
The fourth concept of being scapegoat is the idea that the scapegoat is innocent of what the are being blamed for. The only way they could bear the transgression and the blame is if they were innocent of said action or words. Biblically speaking, the only way for guilt to be taken care of and dealt with is by the sacrifice of an animal with no blemishes. Within the Old Testament, t here was a \yearly feast where the High Priest would sacrifice a perfect lamb for the sins for the nation of Israel and the blood is what allowed the people to go before God. All the sins of the nation were placed on the other lamb and sent off into the wilderness. In essence the only way for our guilt to be properly taken care of is for it to be placed on someone or something that has not sinned
\To finish up this blog, the passage that we started off with foreshadows Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate scapegoat, to where He bore our sins and guilt so that we may be forgiven. Jesus was alienated to a hill outside of the city limits of Jerusalem and died a brutal death on the cross. His death took care of our guilt and shame issue once and for all. As the author of Hebrews puts it, Jesus sacrifice is the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. In essence, Christ death, paid the price for our guilt and His resurrection made sure that we can over come our sin and guilt and that we don’t have to continuously live in it.