After Jesus died, his followers were baffled.

What did it all mean?

The messiah was not supposed to be squashed like a bug by the Romans. Was Jesus not the messiah?

Early followers decided to redefine “messiah.”

That word means “the anointed one,” but it would no longer mean a political leader who would help Jews triumph over enemies.

An unknown early Christian recalled the scapegoat in Leviticus and spread the good news that Jesus is the scapegoat for all humans. Jesus took upon himself the sins of the world and died, all sins dying with him.

Mark 10:45 says Jesus died to atone for others’ sins: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

This is not Luke’s understanding of Jesus. Luke shows Jesus wrongly put to death, but Luke expresses no interest in atonement.

Today, we say a “scapegoat” is anyone wrongly blamed for another person’s problems.

Leviticus 16:21 talks of an actual goat. Villagers put the sins of the village dwellers on the goat’s head and sent that goat into the wilderness. One goat suffers and dies for many.



Jesus and the scapegoat in Leviticus 16:21 -- one goat dies for many