Leviticus 16: How Jesus Fulfilled the Day of Atonement

"And it shall be a statute to you forever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you." Leviticus 16:29

Have you ever heard of the Day of Atonement? If you grew up in church, you probably have, but if you haven't, today is a great day to learn about it. We first hear about the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16. We won't have time to look at all of its wonders this morning, so I encourage you to go read the chapter for yourself. Nevertheless, let us take a brief look at this great biblical day this morning, as well as taking a look at how Jesus fulfilled this day.

In Leviticus 16, we find the Lord laying out for us the rules and regulations for the Day of Atonement. The chapter starts off by describing how the great Holy Place inside the veil could not merely be entered lightly, or one would perish, as we have already looked at. Thus, the beginning of the Day of Atonement would start out by the priest washing himself and putting on his holy garments that he might be clean before the Lord. Next, the priest would take two goats and cast lots upon them in order to determine which would be the sin offering and which would be the scapegoat. The first goat would be the offering that would atone for the peoples' sins; the second goat would have the people's sins symbolically laid on him, and that goat would be guided outside the camp, symbolizing how the people's sins had been taken away. Although other sacrifices during the year were to cover specific sins of the people of Israel, the purpose of the Day of Atonement was to atone for all of the people's transgressions (16:21). Thus, the Day of Atonement was a great day in the land of Israel, as it was the way in which their sin and guilt was taken away from them.

Well, last time I checked, we don't take one day out of the year to all go to the temple (that doesn't exist anymore) to sacrifice animals so that our sins can be atoned for, but why not? Well, here we find the key to understanding why some of the laws in this great and wonderful book of Leviticus don't apply to us anymore. Notice how I underlined the word "some," because there certainly are some laws from the book of Leviticus that should still apply today (don't worry, we'll get there eventually). However, the key to understanding all of these wacky laws and festivals is to understand how all of them pointed to Jesus, especially the Day of Atonement.

The reason why we don't celebrate today the Day of Atonement is because we believe that Jesus was our ultimate sacrificial lamb. Time forbids me from providing all of the scripture references that I would desire to give, but let us look at this one from the book of Hebrews:

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. . . .we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Heb. 10:1, 10)

This text (and the entire tenth chapter of Hebrews, which you should go and read) shows us that we no longer need to sacrifice lambs, goats, and rams upon the altar of the Lord because Jesus has been sacrificed on the cross once for all. Notice the verbiage here: Jesus, our ultimate lamb, did not have to be presented as a sacrifice more than once, such as a lamb that was given once every year. Rather, Jesus' sacrifice was once. Furthermore, his sacrifice was for all. His blood that was shed did not atone for his people's sins for one year only to have to be sacrificed again. Rather, the blood of Jesus was sufficient to atone for all of his people for all time. We serve a God who has sent his Son to atone for our sins. Amen!

So, where have you attempted to atone for yourself where Jesus says he has atoned for you? This great chapter in Leviticus shows us that God is a God who provides atonement for his people, meaning that they don't have to do it themselves. God knows that we are powerless to cover our own sins, thus he has provided a way of escape by the blood of his Son. Therefore, why are you still striving to atone for yourself? We all do this all of this time, but we must notice this one thing: the Gospel's message is not "do," but "done." We don't serve Jesus that he might save us; we serve Jesus because he has saved us, and the one-word change in that sentence is the reason why Christianity is different than any other religion ever created. Let us praise him today for this by not seeking to atone for ourselves, but trusting in his work on our behalf. Amen!