Atonement

Well, good morning, everyone. It is so lovely to have you with us.

Let me encourage you to grab a Bible and come with me to the book of Leviticus and turn to chapter 16.

And know that as you're turning there, you are turning to one of the most significant chapters in all of the Bible.

Maybe you've picked this Sunday, you're joining us today, you're thinking, what is the good news right at the heart of Christianity?

Maybe you're watching this today, you're feeling a million miles from wanting to worship the Lord.

You've gone cold in your love for Jesus, you're laden with your guilt, and you're thinking, I'd rather not.

Let me encourage you to tune in. What a Sunday you've picked. Leviticus chapter 16.

Leviticus 16 · chapter mention

Wonderful chapter of the Bible. And here's what I want to do as we get into this today.

Here's what I want you to picture. I want to picture that you're sitting there on the 1st of January, right, any year.

1st of January, you're sitting there. You're staring at that Cliff Richard calendar that your gran has got you for Christmas, right?

We always end up with a Cliff Richard calendar somehow.

And you're thinking, gran, you shouldn't have, you really shouldn't have.

But there you are. You're looking at this calendar and you're circling your big dates.

I don't know if you're the only, maybe we're the only family that does this.

I don't know. Beginning of the year, there's the calendar.

We're circling the dates that we're looking forward to.

Here's my question for you as you're looking at that calendar.

What dates are you circling?

Okay.

What for you are the biggest days of the year?

So here's what I want you to do.

Go on to the Zoom chat or the YouTube chat.

Or 10 seconds.

Turn to the person next to you on the sofa who you're watching this with.

What for you are some of the biggest days of the year?

10 seconds.

So personally, we've got our big days, don't we?

Got our birthdays.

Love our birthdays.

Maybe for you, it's your wedding anniversary.

Maybe for you, it's cup final day.

Maybe for you, maybe yesterday you were Welsh.

You thought that was the Grand Slam day.

Didn't quite happen.

I don't know.

Maybe you're at school.

The last day of term is the biggest day for you.

Maybe you're a parent.

You're thinking the first day of term is the biggest day for you.

Personally, we've got our big days.

Nationally, we have our big days.

If you're Scottish, St Andrew's Day is a big day.

Saw during the week, didn't we?

Dublin, what did they do?

They had a drone light show there for St Patrick's Day.

Americans, they go crazy for Thanksgiving.

And don't we all love Christmas Day?

These big days that we're looking forward to.

Here's the thing we need to understand as we come to Leviticus 16.

That if you are an Old Testament Israelite, you're sitting there with your BC calendar open in front of you.

This day is one of the first days that you're circling.

Big day.

This day that's called Yom Kippur.

The Day of Atonement.

Huge day if you're an Old Testament Israelite.

Huge day.

And if you come with me, get into the text.

If you look at chapter 16 from verse 29, you'll see that this day happens once a year on the seventh day of the tenth month.

This is an actual day.

One day a year.

And if you scan your eyes over verses 29 to 34, the rest of that little section, you'll see that this is a day of complete rest.

So nobody's working on this day.

Everybody's off.

I guess it's the equivalent of what we would call a bank holiday.

And it's interesting because on this one day, this is the one day of the year when God calls his people to fast.

Presumably to prepare their hearts, focus their minds to celebrate and receive everything that this day is all about.

This is a day of rejoicing.

This is a day of reverence.

And let me just say structurally, it's been placed right at the heart of the book of Leviticus so that future generations can see just how big a day this is.

Why?

Well, because this is the day when you can know that all of your sins are atoned for and they are gone forever.

And because of that, you can know personally and as a nation, you can know that your God lives with you.

Now, atonement is the key word that runs through this section.

Atonement, sins paid for, sins dealt with, sins cleansed.

Atonement, atonement, atonement, atonement.

It keeps coming up in this chapter.

It's a day of atonement.

Huge day in the life of Israel.

And maybe you're watching this.

I don't know.

You hear all that.

You're kind of thinking to yourself, do you know what?

I'll just stick with Black Friday.

Thank you very much.

That's my big day of the year.

Well, let me just say to keep you involved.

If we can understand what this day is all about and we can see and savour everything that it's pointing to,

not only will we understand a bit more about why Easter is such a significant time of the year for Christians,

but we'll understand why this is the best news that any of us can ever hope to hear.

Here is the day of atonement.

And with that goal in mind, let me give you the simplest sermon outline ever.

Ready for it?

One, two, three.

One day, two goats, three words.

One, two, three.

So let's get into this, shall we?

Here's what happens on this one day.

The drama, as we jump into it at verse one, the drama centres on one man, right?

The ones keep rolling, actually.

The drama centres on one man.

It's not just any man.

It's a priest.

Not just any priest.

The high priest, who in this case is Aaron.

He's the one man who's at the heart of this drama.

And verse two, the ones keep on going.

God invites Aaron in his role as representing the entire nation to come into one place.

See it?

One day, one man, one place.

Now, where is this place?

You'll see it in the text.

Inside the curtain or behind the curtain.

So Aaron's to come into this one place within the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies.

Special because it is the place where the Ark of the Covenant is.

It is sacred because it is the place where God has promised to meet with the high priest.

This is where he lives.

It's a glorious thing that God would choose to live in the midst of his people.

It's a glorious thing.

But remember the context.

It's a frightening thing.

See the context.

Verse one and two.

This has come straight after the time when Nadab and Abihu have just casually, complacently,

just ran into this place and lost their lives.

The nation, Aaron in particular, so aware that this is a glorious thing.

And this is a holy thing.

You can't just run into the presence of a holy God unless he invites you.

Right?

And to shelter the people from the fire of God's holiness, there is a massive curtain which is put up,

which is effectively a no entry sign.

It is not safe for you to come in here.

And yet on this one day, God invites the high priest to come into his presence.

Now all of these details are hugely significant, which we'll see at the end.

But in this one day, God invites Aaron to come into his presence.

You ever had that feeling?

You ever had that experience when you've found yourself in the presence of greatness?

I remember as a junior lawyer, within the first few weeks of me starting at my first firm,

having to go into the senior partner's office to get something signed off.

And so there I am, a fresh-faced 23-year-old, walking up to his door.

His name is in a huge plaque on the door, senior partner.

And all the letters after his name.

I swear there was more letters after his name than there was in my name.

And so there I am, knees trembling, palms sweating, and he asked me to come in.

Have I had an experience like that?

How much more would Aaron have felt that as he approaches the place where the holy God lives?

The only way you would ever dream about going in there is if God ushers you to come in.

What's interesting, again, a lovely detail here if you look at verse 4,

is that God tells Aaron that he needs to get changed before he comes in.

Now, we would expect, wouldn't we, just looking at that, this would be a dressing-up kind of affair.

You ever got one of those invitations to a party and it just says black tie?

Black tie means dress up, doesn't it?

Everyone's looking out, their best dress and their dickie bow tie.

But the invitation here, interestingly, is not to dress up, it's to dress down.

Isn't that fascinating?

It's to dress down.

God says to Aaron, to come in here, you need to take off your kingly gear, take it off,

and you have to put on this linen tunic, this linen outfit.

In other words, if you're going to come in here, you need to dress like a servant.

Because that's what you're doing in here.

You're serving.

In your capacity, it's the high priest.

It's what you're doing.

Because look what's happened.

If you look at verse 16,

the place where God dwells,

because of all the people's sin,

because of their uncleanness,

is in need of a deep clean.

Think about it like this.

This is how I was trying to picture it this week.

You ever had that experience where you've

found yourself in the middle of a really busy city,

and you happen to go out that morning,

and you're wearing a brand spanking new white t-shirt?

You ever had that experience?

And you're going through the day,

I don't know where you are,

London, Beijing, whatever you are,

and you get to the end of the day,

and you look at your t-shirt,

and you smell yourself,

and you think to yourself,

this thing is filthy.

Take that concept and

crank it up a few gears.

Imagine it's not just a white t-shirt that you're wearing.

Imagine you're wearing a white t-shirt,

and you're living in an entirely white house.

White carpets,

white wallpaper,

white sofas,

white shaggy dog,

and you happen to be living in your white house

in the middle of a coal mining town.

Okay, what's going to happen

every time you open a window?

What's going to happen every time

you go out your front door?

Dirt's going to come in,

isn't it?

Now,

the cumulative effect of that,

what's going to happen to your house

over the space of a year?

It's going to be filthy,

isn't it?

It's kind of like,

kind of like,

what's happening here.

God lives in the midst of his people.

He's right in the middle of his people.

And their sin,

their uncleanness,

has polluted the place where he lives.

So what needs to happen,

verse 17,

is that atonement needs to be made.

Atonement needs to be made.

So what the priest is about to do

is going to atone for everything.

Right?

The sanctuary,

the altar,

the tent of meeting,

the priests,

and all the people.

In other words,

individual sacrifices

covered individual sins.

The atoning sacrifice here

covers every one of God's people

and everything that's going on

and everything that they've ever done.

So that this God

can continue to live with his people.

Because that's his heart.

He loves.

He's a God of love.

He wants to dwell with his people.

And this is the day

when you can know

that that has happened.

Big day.

Huge day.

So we move from one day

to consider two goals.

Verse 6.

And this is incredible.

He comes to the tent of meeting.

What is he bringing?

He's bringing a bull

to sacrifice for his own sin.

And as well as that,

verse 7,

he's bringing two goats.

Two goats.

Cast lots, right?

What goat's going to play what part?

It falls.

Verse 9.

Goat number 1 is up.

Goat number 1 is going to be

killed to atone for,

shed its blood for,

die instead of,

the people because of their sin.

So verse 15.

The high priest kills it

then brings its blood

inside the curtain

and sprinkles it

on the mercy seat.

This is the place

where God has explicitly said

he will meet with his people.

So think about

what's going on there.

This little goat,

this little goat

bearing the sins,

dying instead of

all of the people.

Little goat,

all of the people.

That's what's happened.

The fate of goat number 1.

Died.

Blood spilt.

Atones for all the people.

And the priest then

turns his focus,

Aaron turns his focus

to think about goat number 2.

Verse 10.

There's a difference

between the fates of the goats.

Goat number 1 is dying.

Goat number 2 is going to live.

Have a look at the end of verse 10.

Where is this goat going?

What's going to happen to this goat?

This goat is for Azazel.

Now some take that Azazel

as a place name.

It's way out there

in the wilderness.

Somewhere that they've called

the wilderness space.

Way outside the camp.

That's Azazel.

It might be that.

But it is probably more likely

it's just the Hebrew word

from which our translations

get scapegoat.

Scapegoat.

Now that's the term we get.

That's the term we use

all the time.

Have a think in your mind.

Famous scapegoats

from history.

Some of you might be

old enough to remember

Yoko Ono

who was John Lennon's wife.

Rumors were going around

at the time

that apparently

it was her influence

that led to the breakup

of the Beatles.

And because of these rumors

she was enemy number 1

in the eyes of all the fans

and reporters.

Right?

She was a scapegoat.

I'm old enough to remember

David Beckham

getting sent off

in the 1998

France World Cup.

He gets sent off.

England go out.

Back home

people are burning strips.

Beckham seven.

Straw men

chopping their heads off.

He's the scapegoat.

Some of you might just

have seen in the news

this week

about a man called

Tom Hayes

just out of prison.

He was the first banker

back in 2008

to be jailed

for allegedly rigging

the stock markets

that resulted

in the financial crash.

He was in jail

served his time

he's just out

and he's trying to

prove his innocence

before the court

taking his case

to appeal.

What's he saying?

He's saying in 2008

people were just desperate

for somebody to blame

and I was that guy.

He was a scapegoat.

Somebody who

takes the rap

somebody onto whom

all the blame goes

well here's the

original scapegoat.

That's this goat.

And try and get

into this

right?

Verse 20

Aaron is to get

the goat.

Now if you know

anything about sheep

or goats

have you ever tried

to catch one

you know that they

don't just kind of

flop over and roll

over and give

themselves to you.

No Aaron's got to

catch this thing.

Maybe he's running

around I don't know

he's got to wrestle

it to the ground

and then he's got to

highly symbolically

place both of his

hands on its head.

Do you see that?

Both of his hands

on its head

and he has to

confess over it

all the sins

of the people.

Wonder how long

he was there for?

Confessing over it

all the sins

of the people

and all the sins

that phrase

comes up again

and again

and again

all the sins

and there's

thousands of them

thousands of Israelites

and each of them

have got thousands

of sins

and all of their

sin

all their gossiping

all their envy

all their backstabbing

all their lustful

thoughts

all their fights

all their anger

every single sin

loaded onto the head

of this little goat

and after doing that

Aaron brings the goat

out

so the people

can see

someone else

has got the job

of leading this goat

out of the camp

right

imagine that job

your job is to

take the goat

who's representing

all your sins

all the sins

of your sins

of your people

including your own

on its head

get it out of here

get it out

you can imagine

can't you

the scene

as the people

line up

making a way

right

make a way

for this to happen

get this goat

out of here

everyone's watching

this moment

some will be

celebrating this

moment

some will be

hugging

embracing one

another

some will be

weeping

some will just be

still in reverence

as they respond

to the goat

who goes

because they

understand what

is going on

in this moment

all of my sin

atoned for

and gone

this is the goat

that goes

and as it goes

you can know

that you are

never seeing

your sin again

never seeing

it again

and so having

done all that

the high priest

verse 23

having served

goes back in

takes off

his linen

garments

and leaves

them there

he bathes

makes himself

clean

puts back

on his usual

attire

and a few

more jobs

and his

work

is

finished

until next

year

and then

the year

after that

and the year

after that

every year

this happens

every year

this big day

every year

you can know

as you think

about what's

going on

in this moment

that your sins

have been

atoned for

your sins

have been

dealt with

the price

has been

paid

and the goat

has taken

them away

it's a big

day

as God

engraves

this way

of thinking

into the

minds of his

people

why

well because

this man

would pitch

up many

many years

later

and be the

very fulfillment

of everything

that this day

stood for

so friends

here's what

we're going to

do is we

almost bring

this to a

close

one day

two goats

three words

and the

three words

are the last

that Jesus

uttered on the

cross

cried out

what did he

cry

John chapter

John 19 · chapter mention

19

we read it

earlier

he cried

out

it is

finished

three words

one word

in the Greek

but you'll let

me away

with it

three words

it is

finished

and we have

to ask

what is

finished

it's not

him that's

finished

something else

is finished

what's

finished

well

the themes

that we

thought about

today

goat one

goat two

high priest

all of them

come gloriously

together

in the person

and the work

of Jesus

let me just

really quickly

trace this

theme through

John's gospel

love John's

gospel

been reading it

for years

still amazed

at the things

that you find

out as you

read it

here's what's

going on

what happens

in John

chapter one

what does

John the

Baptist

declare

as Jesus

pitches up

near the

Jordan

river

what does

he declare

of him

he says

here is

the Lamb

of God

who does

what

who takes

away the

sin of the

world

in other

words

here is

the true

scapegoat

you know

our oldest

daughter is

trying to

learn compass

directions

just now

right

never eat

shredded wheat

go around the house

saying it

never eat

shredded wheat

never eat

shredded wheat

it was never

eat soggy

wheat

to bixen

my day

but we'll

get on our

way with it

never eat

shredded wheat

you remember

learning directions

when you were

young

remember learning

that which way

is west

and you would

look and

this way is

west and you

would say to

yourself where

does west end

and well it

kind of doesn't

end it's just

kind of that

way and you

would turn

where is east

east is this

way and you

look over and

say where does

east end

well it doesn't

really it just

kind of keeps

on going

I love that

that's how

God describes

what's happened

to our sins

psalm 103

we read it

at the start

as far as

the east

is from

the west

how far

is that

I can't get

my head

around that

that's exactly

the point

as far as

the east

is from

the west

that's how

far he

has removed

our transgressions

from us

never seeing

it again

the day

the east

meets the west

is the day

that you will

see your sins

again

you will

never see

it again

and Jesus

is the reason

that you can

know that

not just as

a nice

sentiment

you can

know that

I can

know that

we can

know that

as a concrete

truth in which

we can build

our lives

as far as

the east

is from

the west

that's how

far

that's how

far

Christ has

removed our

sins from

us

he's removed

all of our

sin

on him

laid

your past

sin

your present

sin

your future

sin

all of it

on him

because of his

work

on the cross

think about

what happens

where is

Jesus led

as he carries

the cross

where is he led

outside the city

there goes

on this man

carrying the cross

there he goes

bearing my sin

remember there's a

hymn that we used to sing

at primary school

there is a green hill

far away

without a city wall

where the dear

Lord was

crucified

who died

who died

to save

us all

there goes

the Lamb

of God

bearing my

sin on the cross

Jesus is everything

that goat number

two is pointing

to and he's

everything that goat

number one is

pointing to as

well

John chapter 10

John 10 · chapter mention

as we move through

John's gospel

what does he declare

of himself

who is he

he is the good

shepherd

who has come

to do what

lay down his

life for the

sheep

tell you what

the goat here

is making a

struggle

probably having a

fight

but the shepherd

of God

lays down his

life for the

sheep

willingly

that's why the

new testament

keeps talking about

Jesus' death on the

cross as an atoning

sacrifice for sin

that's what atonement

means

Jesus absorbs and

satisfies the wrath

of God

he takes the hit

that I deserve

he dies

I live

he is goat

number one

he is goat

number two

and friends

in his personal

work he is the

high priest

John chapter 20

John 20 · chapter mention

Jesus is crucified

spoiler alert

he rises

and Mary runs

to the tomb

and she's

confused

there is no

body there

what have they

done with it

so she runs

back to get

the others

and Peter

and John

come running

always love how

John tells us

that he won

the race

right

get over it

mate

it's all right

John won

the race

he was the

first there

but Peter

looks in

and Mary's

right

she's absolutely

right

there's no

body there

he doesn't

see anything

there but he

does see

something

three times

we get it

in John

John 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20

in these

verses

verses 5

and 7

what's there

eyewitness

detail

what's there

what's rolled

up and left

there as

Jesus exits

the tomb

the linen

cloths that

were on his

body

as if to

say

John's way

of telling

us

that the

work of the

great high

priest is

done

it's

finished

once and

for all

it is

finished

on this

day the

high priest

who only

once a

year

could come

into God's

very presence

and only upon

God's invitation

what happens

as Jesus

dies

he's crucified

outside

what's going

on in the

temple

the curtain

is torn in

two

hugely

significant

because of

the work

of this

high priest

because he

is atoned

once and

all for

our sin

if you're

a Christian

you can

know

that you

have

right now

what only

one man

and one

day a year

could do

you have

access to

a holy

God

as God

invites the

world to

trust in

his son

as that

curtain

is torn

in two

the way

to God

is open

through the

work of

the son

as God

invites the

world to

trust in

him and

come into

my very

presence

friends

one day

two

goals

three

words

what a

day

big day

everyone's

watching

in the

camp

everyone's

watching

some will

be

cheering

some will

be

celebrating

some will

be

hugging

some will

be crying

some will

just be

still in

reverence

as they

respond to

everything that

this day

represents

everything that's

going on

and I take

it friends

that right

now but maybe

particularly in a

couple of weeks

time as we

remember Christ

on the cross

as we remember

our great high

priest

I take it

that our

response should

be exactly

the same

let me just

close with the

words of the

Stuart Town

end song

now the

daylight

flees

now the

ground

beneath

quakes

as its

maker

bows

his head

curtain

torn in

two

dead

are raised

to life

finished

the

victory

power

victory

cry

this

the power

of the

cross

Christ

became

sin

for us

took

the

blame

bore

the

wrath

we

stand

forgiven

at the

cross

the day

of atonement

Leviticus 16

the glory

of the

gospel

let us

pray

together

father

thank you

for your

great love

for us

that love

that

that

saw your

son

come

and live

and die

and rise

thank you

that he

lives

because his

work is

done

and so

father

I pray

for any

watching this

today

who might

not know

who you

are

might not

understand

what you

have done

lord may

this be

the day

through the

power of

your spirit

that they

come to

trust in

Jesus

and have

life in

his name

father I

pray for

those who

are watching

this who

are just

burdened with

guilt

who are

feeling a

million miles

away from

you just

now lord

may they

know the

glory of

Jesus

the son

of God

who loved

us

and gave

himself for

us

lord we

just praise

you that

you are the

god of all

grace

and we

thank you

and we

pray these

things

confidently

in our

high priest's

name

Jesus

Christ

amen