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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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