Scapegoats - Jeremy Duncan

Part of what we need to explore in the Day of Atonement is how these ancient Levitical rituals informed how the early Christians thought about the death and resurrection of Jesus. We always need in the back of our minds as we read Leviticus the idea that God was seeding the story even in this ancient primitive culture but that the story would only fully blossom in Jesus. Part of the good news of the gospel is that we don’t have to participate in these scapegoat rituals anymore, because in a single, perfect act of love, God has made them obsolete. Series Outline: Be honest, when was the last time you looked forward to hearing about Leviticus? In fact, be really honest, when was the last time you cringed when someone quoted this book out of context? It’s true much of this book is anachronistic. At the same time it is part of the foundational scripture (Torah) from which all Judaism and indeed Christianity flows. And as such, we owe it to ourselves to understand what was happening then, so that we might better understand what God is doing now. Let’s make Leviticus interesting.