Who did it? If you have a brother or sister, did you ever go ahead and take the blame even if you didn’t do it because you knew you both were going to get in trouble if no one ‘fessed up? Not a very honest thing to do, but we’ve probably all had times we wanted someone to take our punishment for us.
Leviticus 16 describes the kind of unique (and totally honest) practice of a scapegoat, an animal that was let free instead of being sacrificed. Verses 8-10 say, “And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. 10 But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.”
One animal was killed as a sacrifice while the other got to go free. It pictured how Jesus would become our sacrifice as He took our death, our sin, our shame and guilt on the cross so that we could go free.
Have you come to Him to be your Savior? If so, what are you doing with your freedom?