Oaths, Vows and Repentance Part 2. Atonement and Forgiveness

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First of all, thank you very, very much for that. It is our blessing to serve our savior with you, and we count it a privilege. Now, by way of clarification, I prefer to think that I glow in the Bible. Jesus himself said that out of you rivers of living water will flow. I didn't think it would come from here.

And so I apologize if that's ever a distraction to you, because it drives me insane. And for those of you who are bundled up and are bringing your blankets every week, yeah, that's my fault, because they keep trying to freeze me out so that this will stop. But anyway, it is good to be with you today. This is a very special day, and I want to just jump right into the message. Jesus had just recently concluded his sermon on the mount, what I like to refer to as the sermon on the kingdom.

The scribes, the Pharisees, the masses were stunned and amazed because he taught with such authority. Jesus then begins a series of miraculous healings in and around the area of Capernaum, which is now on. It's a fishing village on the north end of the Sea of Galilee and has now become the headquarters of his ministry. It begins in chapter eight with the healing of a leper who is then sent to the priesthood so that his healing would be a testimony to them. What was that testimony?

Messiah is here. There was a tradition that only the Messiah could heal leprosy. He then healed a roman centurion servant who was paralyzed, and the Bible says, who was fearfully tormented lying in bed. And Jesus was amazed at the centurion's understanding of basic authority. And so Jesus speaks the word and heals the servant and sends the roman centurion home.

He then enters Peter's house and finds Peter's mother in law quite sick, lying on a bed, paralyzed with fever. And he touches her and heals her and sends the fever away. Now, at the end of chapter eight, Matthew records that all of this was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah 53, he himself took our infirmities, carried away our diseases. Jesus then goes to the gentile side of the sea of Galilee and sends away a legion of demons.

He sends them out of a man into a herd of pigs. Now, Luke's gospel includes the begging of the demons not to be sent away to the abyss. When I was thinking about this, I literally had to type in my notes. Pause, because I want you to think for just a moment with me about the ramifications of these fallen angels who have been persecuting and tormenting this man. And their conclusion is, it is better to be sent into a herd of pigs than the place that is prepared for their torment.

We call that chutzpah. You've been tormenting this man. Many of the diseases and things that Jesus healed and cast out. There were many, many people who were afflicted with demons. And they have the audacity to say, hey, we know who you are.

Don't send us to a place of torment yet. So we sent them into the pigs and then baptized the pigs.

Kind of. But what is striking to me is that they recognize the authority of Jesus to send them away. They recognize that as the son of God, as the messiah, he has the authority to speak, and they must obey.

And then we come to Matthew chapter nine, where Jesus has returned to Capernaum, where we are now going to see a whole new level of authority that Jesus has. Matthew nine, one eight. And getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came into his own city, which was capernaum. And they brought to him a paralytic, another paralyzed man lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, take courage, son.

Your sins are forgiven. And some of the scribes said to themselves, this fellow blasphemes. And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, why are you thinking evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say your sins are forgiven. Or to simply say, get up and walk.

But so that you may know the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins. Before I continue, does that phrase sound familiar? So that you may know. Does that ring an Old Testament bell in your mind? Those were the very words that Moses spoke to Pharaoh every time they pronounced a judgment.

So that you may know. And so now he says, so that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins. Then he said to the paralyzed man, get up. Pick up your bed and go home. And he got up and went home.

But when the crowd saw this, they were awestruck and glorified. God, who had given such authority to men. Today is Yom Kippur, the day of atonement.

And so today we're coming together to remember, to commemorate, to celebrate and to focus our thoughts and our mind on how Jesus, the Messiah, is the sent one of God. And as the sent one of God, what did he come to do? He came to send away our sin and our infirmities. And prepare us for a coming day. For the very day that this day prepares us for is coming in its fullness.

And I think it's getting very close. Amen. Everything Jesus did was to prepare us for the prophetic day that this day was given. For in the first place, the people recognized the authority of his Torah, his teaching, and knew that only a man sent from God could teach with such authority. The priest would soon encounter the testimony of his presence in the witness of the lepers that Jesus commanded and sent them as a testimony to the priesthood.

The paralyzed servant would rise to greet his master as Jesus sent him home, and Peter's paralyzed mother in law would rise to serve him when he sent away the fever. The possessed man would find freedom by Jesus authority to send away the evil spirits that possessed him. And the paralyzed man would find forgiveness of sins when Jesus raised him up and sent him home, thus proving the son of man has the authority on earth to forgive sins. It was to accomplish all that this day promised would come. And for that reason, Jesus came into this world as the sent one from heaven.

For John 317 says, for God did not send the son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Everybody say, through him. Not through me, not through your pastor, not through your teacher, not through your holidays. How through him. Even the demons recognize that Jesus had the authority to send wickedness away.

And the question I want to ask you today, on this of all days, is simply this.

Do you?

The demons recognized his authority. The roman centurion recognized his authority. Sickness recognized his authority to send away. And I'm asking you today before we pray on this day that is designated for what only God can do, on this day that is designated for what only the high priest can accomplish.

Do you believe better than the demons? Better than the roman centurion? Better than the. Do you believe that you have atonement and forgiveness of sins through him because he has the authority to send it all away? Will you pray with me, Abba?

Father, I come to you this morning in the name of Yeshua, the Messiah, Jesus, the Christ, the anointed one, our Cohen Hagadol, our great high priest.

Lord, you know my heart. You know what I've been asking prior to this moment. And my prayer is simple. That you would come and do something in this moment, in this time, on this day that only Yeshua, our great high priest, can do. I'm not asking you to make me eloquent.

I'm not asking you to make me look good in front of these people. I'm asking only for the equipping of your spirit that we might focus and glorify on the things that only he can do and put our faith in him for another year of service until his kingdom comes. Speak to us, Lord, as only you can speak on this day, in Yeshua's name I pray. Amen. My friends, it is this sending authority of Jesus that makes this day so important.

So today I want us to focus our thoughts on that sending ministry of Jesus and actually how it is related to the day of atonement. Yom Kippur. I want to begin by looking at Matthew's explanation for all these amazing, authoritative ministries and miracles. Do you remember how Matthew quoted Isaiah 53 four as the prophetic source and explanation as to why Jesus was doing these things? He said he took himself, he took upon himself our infirmities and carried away our diseases.

In doing this, Matthew connects the miracles and ministry of Jesus with this very day. He connects us to the ministry of the one who can only do those things, the one who is the great high priest, the one who served on the day of atonement. Now for that to make sense, let's go back and remember what God had commanded Israel about this day. Leviticus 23, beginning verse 26. Now, the Lord spoke to Moses again, saying, on exactly the 10th day of the 7th month is the day of atonement.

It shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls or afflict your souls and present an offering by fire to the Lord. And then the commandment goes on in terms of the sanctification of the day as a Sabbath and not doing laborious work. This is literally the day of coverings or the day of atonement. Now, if you go back to Leviticus 16, it is actually going to give much more detail about the specific ministry. And I just.

You're going to get sick of me saying this, of the ministry that only the great high priest could do. This was a day so focused on the ministry of one, one day that all of Israel had to be reminded. It didn't matter how many priests you had, only one could do these things.

The great high priest had many things to do that day, multiple immersions for his own cleansing and purification. He wore the humble dress of white garments, not the colored and ornamented garments, not the crown, but the robes of humility and purity. No one was to go into the holy place but him. This was his ministry alone, to bring atonement for the people. Now, on this day, God told them to select two goats by lot.

Who chose them? The high priest. Why? Because this is the day that focused us on realizing there are some things that only he could do.

Not even the other priests could do it. They could serve, they could facilitate. But the actual atoning service was completely in his hands. And so he was told to choose by lot two goats. And they had these things that were engraved.

One said, to Adonai or to yud hey, vav hey. And the other one said, la Azel, or for la Azel. Now, the one that was for Adonai, the one for Adonai will be offered as a sacrifice before the Lord, meaning it is actually going to be offered as a sacrifice. Its blood is going to be drained. It's going to go to the altar, and the blood will be used for sprinkling, cleansing, and covering of the mercy seat in the holy of holies.

And only one man was going in there to do it. The second goat, we refer to as La Azazel, will do something different. The high priest will lay his hands on its head, confess all the sins and the iniquities of the people and all their transgressions. You know, when I read that, I kind of chuckled. How long did that take?

I mean, I'd give him a good day and a half just to cover me. I mean, I would give him plenty of material, and he is doing it for the sins of the whole nation as well as his own. So he would lay his hands on the goat and confess and lay on the goat all of those transgressions. And then that goat, which we call the scapegoat, will then be sent away into the wilderness. That goat will bear all of their iniquities and will be sent to a solitary place.

Now, the hebrew word gezrah is. Translate that. We translate a solitary place or an uninhabited place. Let me tell you, this is a very important word, and it's gonna build a very important bridge for us today. So I'm going to share it with you now.

We're going to come back to it. But this word is very important. It literally means a place of separation. The scapegoat is going to be sent away. He is going to be separated and sent to an uninhabited place.

A place of separation. Now, there are two primary roles of the goats on the day of atonement. And by the way, I told Tanya, I want to keep this as simple as I can, all right? I don't want to overwhelm you. So all we're talking about two goats.

One that's going to be a sacrifice for cleansing and covering and atoning, one that's going to be the one that bears the sins and is sent away. Are you with me? All right, that's a little weak, but you know I'll take it.

One provides atoning by the shedding of blood. One provides a separation from our sin by being sent away to Gezrah, a solitary, isolated, desolate place. Now, why is this so important? Because it indicates that there are two things that must take place in order for there to be full atonement. There are two things going on in the day of atonement that directly affect your salvation and mine, and we need to understand what those are.

Our messiah, Jesus accomplished both of these things. One, a covering and cleansing for our life with the shedding of his blood. And two, a separation from our sin that requires a sending away of our sin. How many can say, thank you, Jesus because he did that. And you know why he did that?

Because he's the only one that could. Because he is the great high priest.

The tribe of Judah couldn't do it. The tribe of Simeon couldn't do it. Only Yeshua, the anointed high priest, could do it. The ministry of the high priest of the day, atonement pictures. Both of those essential things that you and I need to have right standing with God.

This is what the whole day of atonement ministry of the high priest was supposed to be, ultimately, a ministry that only he could perform. The sacrificial offering for the Lord and the total removal of our sin. Now, again, I want to keep this simple, so let's look for a moment at what these two sacrifices reveal about our great high priest. And why do we need to get a handle on this church? Perk up and hear me.

Why do I say that? Because there have been many who have followed the path that many of us have been on in terms of our love and our respect for the Torah and the hebraic background of scripture, who have shipwrecked their faith. They have apostasized from the one who could do only what the high priest could do, because they did not understand two things. Atonement and forgiveness. Atonement and forgiveness.

They're not mutually exclusive, but they are mutually dependent, meaning they both accomplish something that is necessary for full atonement, which includes full forgiveness. Let me illustrate how this has shipwrecked some of the people's faith in Jesus, and I don't say this to berate them. Many of you have good friends and family who have done this. I share this so that you will understand maybe how you can reach them. Many times I've gone online and I have seen a meme posted by a well intentioned hebrew roots person, or sometimes a jewish friend of mine.

And it will reference a place in the Tanakh where God forgives someone, someone like David. And God forgave David. And then they will post right after that what they believe to be a gotcha statement. Yep. No shedding of blood there.

Have you ever seen those memes? Anybody? No. Maybe I spend too much time on Facebook.

I'll add that to my list today. I've seen it so many times it breaks my heart. Now, normally what they're doing is this is a response to a misunderstanding of Hebrews, chapter nine, verse 22, that says, and according to the Torah, one could almost say that all things are cleansed with blood. And without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. And then they run around trying to say that Christianity has this mentality that God won't forgive you unless somebody bleeds out.

We don't believe that. I don't believe that you have to bleed out for me to forgive you. I don't believe God is sitting in heaven wanting some violent act. And somehow they think that they have undermined the new covenant text because they try to say that God can forgive without the shedding of blood. Yet they would never.

They would never suggest that the atoning sacrifice of the shedding of blood was unnecessary. You see the problem with that. The Bible says that Abraham. That God credited Abraham's faith as righteousness, and that was for a coming day of atonement. His faith was held on account for a day when full atonement would be made through Yeshua.

So of course, God can say to David, I forgive you, because his faith is also looking forward to a day when this day is fulfilled by the only one who can fulfill it. Again, it's such an irony, whether it's coming from a jewish source or a hebrew root source, that neither of them would say that the day of atonement, sacrificial offerings were unnecessary or irrelevant.

Except that eventually they do exactly that. But for the day of atonement to be complete, the high priest had to perform the service for both goats, the one for Adonai and the one for Azazel, in order for there to be cleansing.

And here's what they never mention those who walk away. They never mentioned the 2000 year old discussion among the sages and rabbis of Israel about what they were going to do in regard to atonement in the absence of the temple and in the absence of a high priest. One of the earliest of rabbis, Yochannon ben Zaki, living just prior to the destruction of the tabernacle or the Temple in Jerusalem, was part of a generation of rabbis that actually knew the temple was about to go away. And the irony of this is they knew that it was about to go away by something that happened as a part of the day of atonement ceremony. It was when the high priest would reach in to choose the lot, one for the Lord and one for separation.

And it was considered a good omen if the high priest, when he reached in with his right hand, would pull out the lot unto the Lord. But according to their tradition, according to their history, for 40 years, meaning starting right about the time of Jesus to the destruction of the temple, the high priest never selected to the Lord with his right hand, not once. Now, their interpretation, and I'm not putting words in their mouth, I'm just telling you what the ancient rabbis, what their interpretation was. And that interpretation was that that was a sign, it was a portent that the temples was, the service in the temple was not pleasing to the Lord, and its days were numbered. As that time got closer and closer, discussions began to ensue.

Well, what are we going to do after the destruction of the temple? How are we going to have atonement if we no longer? And what's the point of having a priesthood if we don't have a place where the priests can offer the sacrifice after the destruction of the temple? Yochenan ben Zaki and another rabbi were talking. And one of the first rabbinic explanations for what Israel would do without the temple for atonement was that they would simply do good deeds.

That the doing of mitzvot, the doing of the commandments, the keeping of the law, that somehow that would serve as their atonement. Now, church work with me here. Who could perform the day of atonement? Service for atonement? Only the high priest.

And now, in the absence of the temple, and I listen, I don't, I'm not beating them up. Because they had not recognized who YEshua was, they found themselves in a precarious position, and they were looking for a solution. It's normal for people to do that.

But their answer was not satisfactory, and they even knew that. And as time went on and subsequent generations of rabbis came along, it got more and more detailed about what had to be done, not only about the keeping of the mitzvot, but what you have to do to keep this day. And eventually it evolved to the place where. And you can find this in the Talmud. I won't cite all the references.

There's one in yoma, there's one by rambam that basically says, the essence of the day. Atones. Do you understand what that means, that the day of atonement. Atones all God's people said, uh uh.

Now let me be real. I want to be real kind.

Is there something about the structure of the day? And there was evening and morning, Yomichad. There was evening and morning one day. Is there something about the way God created the normality of a day in our life that teaches us about atonement? You better believe it.

Why? Because there's night and there's day. What do you do at night?

Hopefully sleep. I mean, there's a designated time for sleep until you get to be my age. And then morning, afternoon, whatever, for dinner, after dinner, during the show. Well, it doesn't make any difference, but there is a designated time for sleep. We call it night.

And what happens now? Think about what Paul says in one Thessalonians chapter four, verse 13, when he says, I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, about those who have what fallen asleep. And Paul uses this euphemism, this imagery, to connect, are sleeping at night as a type of death now. So I'm not going to argue the point that there are things created in the day that point to atonement, but it is not the agency of atonement. What I mean by that is this.

Just coming to this day and recognizing this day as the day of atonement, it does not send away your sin. It does not provide a cleansing. It does not provide a covering. It does not provide a substitute for life. It does not atone for your sin.

There is only one person that can do that, Jesus.

And again, I'm thankful for the imagery, for the prophetic teaching in the structure of the day that points us to a day, but the day does not atone. And I've got good friends, jewish friends that I love with all my heart that believe that. And I'm not beating them up. I just don't believe that's what the scripture teaches.

Now, I need to caution you, because most of us would not accept the day as a substitute for the atoning, redeeming work of the messiah and the high priest.

But I want to caution you and encourage you. Give this day its due, but dont give it more than its due. Do you remember in Matthew 23 we talked about this last week? Part of Jesus criticism of the scribes and pharisees was that they always flipped the script, they always got the cart in front of the horse. And one of the examples that he gave in oaths and vows was that when they would swear an oath by the temple, they would come along and say, oh, that doesn't mean anything.

But if you swear by the gold of the temple, then it means something. You see how twisted that is? They didn't understand what made something holy and church. I'm just saying this to you for your instruction, for your edification, understanding. If you think this day, apart from the ministry of the high priest, that the things that you and I do on this day, day wearing white, doing a fast, you know, whatever it is we do on this day to sanctify this day, will bring us an atonement.

We are no different than those who have created out of necessity, a substitute, a separate way of being atoned. You see the problem with that.

I'm wearing white because it's the day of atonement. I like doing that, by the way, I'm going to wear it to church tomorrow when I preach on Sunday. And tomorrow's not the day of atonement, but I'm still atoned, so I'm wearing white.

I'm not saying don't fasten. A fast can be a great way to focus our. To separate us from the fallenness of our flesh so that we can hunger and thirst for righteousness. But make sure you understand your fast is not your righteousness. Your fast is to point you to his.

And if we ever get those mixed up, go read Matthew 23, because we're doing exactly what the scribes and pharisees did where we're. Well, I'm going to make this day holy. No, the only thing that makes this day holy was what Jesus did to fulfill this day. That's what makes it holy.

On the day of atonement, the high priest offered two goats that only he could offer. And I've got nothing to offer that will ever replace that. So what did those two offerings accomplish? Well, we've already said atonement and forgiveness. The day of atonement is so helpful because these offerings actually demonstrate and illustrate the differences between the two.

The difference between atonement and forgiveness, and both are essential. Let me give you a simple answer for what each of these and why they are different but dependent. Atonement, as many of you well know, means covering. The day of covering takes us back to the day of our uncovering, the day when the sin of Adam and Eve was discovered. Now, five days ago we celebrated.

Or ten days ago was it? I don't remember ten, we celebrated Rosh Hashanah. And the jewish tradition is that's the birthday of the world creation of Adam. And then ten days later, Israel is being told to celebrate Yom Kippur, the day of covering. Well, I wonder what happened ten days after Adam and Eve sinned that needed a day of covering.

Come on. Now, I'm not trying to say definitively these are the exact dates of this, but the day of covering is also a day of uncovering, because it's a day of revelation. It's a day of exposing the truth about our spiritual condition. We know that the writer of Hebrews, or that the hebrew word for atonement is kippur. And covering, the same three letters that spell covering also spell another word, kofr, which means the price of life or a ransom.

When we're talking about the day of atonement, we're talking about the day that the price of life is being paid. The New Testament Greek word adds even more insight. We hear this big word that all of us kind of choke on. Propitiation. Helasmos in Greek.

And Helesterion is from that same word, the covering of the ark of the covenant, upon which the blood was sprinkled. But what is a propitiation? Come on. Have you ever asked that question? You've been too embarrassed to ask that question.

That's the great thing about Google, right? You can just find out what the preacher just say, and everybody just thinks you're reading along. So a propitiation is something that brings forgiveness because it brings appeasement. Now, that's not a great word for us in English. Appeasement, because of greek mythology, when we think of appeasement, we think of just, you know, giving something to shut somebody up.

You know, the Greek. The greek gods. Well, you had to do these things just to shut them up and stop them from their evil. But that's not what this word is. This word means satisfaction, something that satisfies a debt.

And all of us have a life debt because of sin. I. This is the day this terminology is used, even to this day. Have you ever been out with somebody who played that little game? Oh, I forgot my wallet.

And when we want to assure them it's not a problem, we say, hey, it's no problem. I've got you. Come on. Covered. That's a propitiation.

I've got your back. I've got you covered. You have a debt you can't pay. I'm going to pay it. That's a propitiation.

And the propitiation for our sins was paid by the blood of Jesus sprinkled on the mercy seat. The goat for Adonai satisfied a debt that life debt. Because God had said for the soul that sins must die. Our sin created a debt we couldn't pay. Only one person could pay it.

And I'm going to explain that at the very end this day in the ministry of the high priest was a prophecy that God would send a sacrifice to pay our debt. And by his blood cover us and appease the righteousness which is also the justice of God. You see, God didn't change the rule. A soul that sins must die. He just decided to pay the price for us.

Are you looking for a better deal than that?

There are so many who have walked away from their faith in Yeshua, and it boggles my mind. Are you looking for a better deal than God loving you so much that he would come down and pay a debt you couldn't pay, which would redeem you and also keep his justice in perfection? Only God could do that. I like the old illustration of the judge who slams down the gavel and says, guilty. But his heart is broken because the person standing before him is his own son.

And he knows his son cannot pay the fine the court must impose. But he imposes the fine anyway. And then gets up and he takes off his garments of honor, he takes off his robes of splendor and he comes down from that judgment seat and he stands before the court and he pays the debt his child could not pay. I heard that when I was a kid, and I've never forgotten it.

The second goat, the one mark for separation, was to carry away our sin by carrying it to a lifeless, solitary place, place of death. When Jesus healed the lepers and the paralyzed, Matthew reminds us of the prophetic promise in Isaiah 53 four, that he would carry our infirmities and our transgressions. Isaiah says this, by oppression and judgment he was taken away. And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people. By the way, who could do atonement for the transgression of his people?

Only the high priest. Do you understand what Isaiah 53 is about? It's about the ministry, not just of the suffering servant. It's about the ministry of the one, the only one who could take the transgression, who could bear the sins of people. Only one person could do that ministry.

Isaiah goes on to who the stroke was due. Isaiah 53 eight says he was taken away just as the goat, for separation, was taken away and sent into a barren wilderness. But it also says he was cut off for the sake of sin, the sin of God's people. Do you remember that word that I told you earlier, that hebrew word gezrah, that Leviticus 16 tells us where the escaping goat, where the goat of separation was being sent to a place called gezera, which means separation in Isaiah 53 eight. Isaiah uses the exact same word, spelled the exact same way, and that's what it means to be cut off.

Isaiah literally uses the terminology that the suffering servant, the lamb of God, is the one who would be cut off, who would be separated, who would be sent to that desolate place, that lifeless, solitary place of death.

This is why Yom Kippur is so important for us to study. Because in the study of these two offerings, we understand that the cut off one would be sent away, carrying all the infirmities and transgressions of the people, to a solitary, desolate, lifeless place. One goat was for the Lord shed its blood to cleanse and cover, providing an appeasement, a payment for the price of life and cover the sin of debt. One goat would carry all of our iniquities, infirmities and sins. By being cut off from the land of the living church.

Please hear me.

Atonement satisfies the righteousness of God because it pays a price we couldn't pay. It covers us. Forgiveness sends away our sin from the presence of God forever. Do you remember when Jesus told the scribes that questioned his terminology to the paralytic, he said, take courage, my friend. Your sins are forgiven.

Jesus says, which is easier to say, which requires more of heaven's authority to say, your sins are forgiven, or to say, pick up your mat and go home. My friends, here is where we just simply cannot miss the connection.

Jesus says to this man, your sins are forgiven. The New Testament gospels are recorded in Greek. And add a secondary level of inspiration to our understanding. And there is no more beautiful word in the greek language than the one for forgive. Because it literally means, are you with me?

We're almost done. Because it means, I send away.

When you forgive somebody or when Jesus forgives you, that's the scapegoat. That's exactly what this day was teaching us. Our great high priest would do. He would come, and he would forgive us because he would be taken in judgment. The sins of the world would be thrust upon him, and he would take them away forever.

That's what forgiveness is. And that's why this day, like earlier isn't just about how we are forgiven. It's about how we forgive. Because Jesus said, with the measure you use to forgive or to judge, that's the measure I'll use with you. And if you will not forgive, you will not be forgiven.

Why would he say that? Because only a person who does not understand the ministry of the high priest could receive such a blessing and then turn around and not pass that blessing on to someone else. Worship team, you can return.

My friends, this day promised a day that God would send not only the atoning sacrifice for humanity, but the only one who could send away our sins. That ministry can only be accomplished by our high priest. It doesn't happen today by wearing white, by fasting, by waving a chicken over your head, which some orthodox do. It's not even entrusting the holiness of this day. It's only entrusting the ancient of days, our great high priest, who paid the price to send our sin away.

As I close, I want you to consider one more detail, and I hope and pray for those who have struggled and are wandering away, that you would consider this one question. Most of the people who have wandered away would never call into question this truth found in the early pages of the Torah. One man sinned, and we all died. One man and his wife sinned, and every person in every generation born after them has struggled, has felt the torment of a flesh that wants to do the opposite of holiness, a flesh that has an appetite for death. And none of the people that I have ever talked to who have walked away from Jesus have ever called that into question.

But I'd like to ask a question. Is that fair? One man sins, and we all pay the price for it. One man sins, and we all bear the torment, the frustration, the bondage for the rest of our. Is that fair?

No.

Unless the opposite is true as well. You see, you cannot accept that sin can come into the world through one man and death through sin. You don't tell me you believe the law of Moses. Don't tell me you believe in the Torah and say that you believe that, but you do not believe that God can send one man who will give his life as a ransom, one man through whom all people can have life and freedom. Because if the first is true, are you with me?

If the first is true, then its opposite must also be true. And the only reason God allowed the first to be true was because he already planned to send his son to pay the price to ransom us in life by his death.

So today, on this holiest of days.

As the city shofar sounds outside, I return to my opening question.

What are you trusting in for your atonement today?

What is this day? Affliction. Joy. Frustration is. Oh, man, I.

You know, really? I mean, I hope this is the right boy. If the day atones all by itself, I sure hope I got the right one.

There's a whole lot of people who don't think this is the right one.

Is my atonement today gonna be? Hey, I kept the day of atonement. Good for you.

But if you think that is why you're forgiven, then you don't believe that the ministry of the day of atonement could only be accomplished by one, and that one is not you or me. Amen.

Keep the traditions in Jesus. Keep your focus on him. Because only through him is this day sanctified as holy. When we remember, he did what only he could do. He paid a debt I could not pay.

And he sent my sin.

He sent my sin far, far away from me. And that's reason to celebrate. Amen.