Sun. Apr. 1, 2012 (John Friesen)

John Friesen focused on the scapegoat concept as described in Leviticus 16. The scapegoat was a goat that was allowed to escape into the wilderness after the priest had laid the sins of the people upon it as part of the “Day of Atonement” activities. The scapegoat is a person or group (usually innocent) made to take the blame for the fault of another, a strategy that’s endemic in society: in churches, universities, and families. It’s important to distinguish between blame and scapegoating. John described Jesus taking the role of the scapegoat, “behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” The resurrection released Jesus from the role of the scapegoat. Jesus calls us to a new relationship with God and with each other, we are to exercise mercy, not violence. (HN)

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, April 1st, 2012 using your browser's preferred media player.