I owe a lot to my secondary school principal, Mrs. A. O. L. Adeniyi of Obafemi Awolowo University International School, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria.
The most unforgettable of all is the role she played in helping to secure my admission into Medicine & Surgery in OAU in the year 2006. She went up to the Vice Chancellor’s office several times to make sure the promise of automatic admission would be fulfilled. I am not ashamed to say I received help from God through her & the VC (Professor Faborode).
Of course, from JSS1 to SSS3, there were many things I learnt from her, especially in Biology. But today, I realized I also learnt something very spiritual & vital from her: ALL I NEED IS A SCAPEGOAT. When my classmates would get to making noise (you know I was gentle as a dove); she would step in and say to us & to the class captain, “all I need is a scapegoat”. You can be sure we (sorry, they) got quiet in a hurry! Nobody wanted to be the scapegoat.
ALL I NEED IS A SCAPEGOAT!
In Leviticus 16, God gave Moses certain instructions about two young goats to be used as Israel’s sin offering (vv. 8-10). The high priest was to offer one as a sin offering (slaughter it). He was to make atonement with the other. He would lay both hands on its head and confess the sins of Israel over it, thus effectively transferring the sins of the people to the goat (vv. 20-22). It would then be led out into the wilderness by the hand of a fit man and let go as a scapegoat (Hebrew: AZAZEL), carrying the sins of the people away (most likely to be torn by wild beasts). Jesus became all for us: the high priest, the sacrificial goat and the scapegoat (Hebrews 9:25-26 & John 1:29).
Jesus was my AZAZEL. He was my SCAPEGOAT!!!
A scapegoat is one who is blamed & punished for the sins of others. Jesus was the perfect scapegoat. He knew no sin, but God laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). As the levitical scapegoat was led out of the camp, He was led out of the city; not to be torn by wild beasts, but to be sacrificed on the cross as on an altar (1Peter 2:24 AMP). All that was needed was a scapegoat, a representative, someone to satisfy the requirements of divine justice. All I need is that scapegoat. Because He has become the scapegoat for my offences, I have escaped punishment & judgment. He has carried away my sin and everything tied to it (my sicknesses, my curse).
In the African traditional religion as practiced by the Yorubas of Southwestern Nigeria, there is a strongly held belief that the sickness & death meant for a person/locality can be transferred to another person or an animal; who then carries the sickness & death away from their geographical location. They have a vague idea, a shadow. I show you the substance from the Scriptures. Jesus Christ (Son of God and of man) was made a scapegoat for you and I. He bore our sins in His own body to the cross & on the cross (1Peter 2:24 AMP). He has borne it, we no longer have to bear it. Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses, carried our diseases (Isaiah 53:4-5 & Matthew 8:16-17). He has borne them, we no longer have them.
ALL YOU NEED IS A SCAPEGOAT.
JESUS HAS BEEN MADE YOUR SCAPEGOAT!
REJOICE EVERMORE!
