These next two months (March and April) in the life of the Christian Church are what we call, “The Season of Lent.” It begins with Ash Wednesday (this year on March 5) and ends with Easter Sunday (April 20). The Worship Committee in conjunction with the Social Committee will be hosting a Lenten Luncheon on March 5th at the Historical Society’s Assembly Building starting at noon. Look for the sign-up sheet in the south wing of the chapel. Following the luncheon, we will hear from one of our own, Greg Griffin, on “What the Cross of Christ means to me.” After he speaks, we will observe the “Imposition of the Ashes” for those who want to participate. So, mark this date on your calendar.
Lent is a forty-day period of spiritual contemplation of our sinfulness before God and His willingness to forgive us through the Cross of Christ and His offer to us of the newness of life through the Resurrection of Christ.
In the Jewish faith Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) is a ten-day period of reflection and repentance which begins with Yom Kippur, a day of confession known as the Day of Atonement. This Jewish tradition dates back to the days of Moses and the Israelites when God gave them instructions on how to conduct their worship in the desert (see Leviticus 16). In this chapter, God tells Aaron, the chief priest, that he is to select a live goat known as the “scapegoat” (v. 10). He is then told to lay his hands on this goat’s head “and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites- all their sins. …He shall send the goat away into the desert. …The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place…” (vv. 21-22). This is all done on this day known as the “Day of Atonement.” What does this mean? If we break the word down, we see that it has to do with living in a state of at-one-ment with God.
This word atonement is mentioned twice in the New Testament. The first is in Romans 3:25, “God presented him (Jesus) as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice…at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies the man who has faith in Jesus.”
The other passage which mentions the word atonement, is Hebrews 2:17. Beginning in verse 14, it says: “Since the children have flesh and blood, he (Jesus) too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death -that is, the devil- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason, he had to be made like his brothers (you and me) in every way in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make an atonement for the sins of the people.”
Even John the Baptist recognized this when he told his disciples, “Look, the Lamb of God (the scapegoat) who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
So, I invite you to use this season of Lent to reflect on your own sinfulness and need for a Savior. Those before Christ were constantly reminded through their annual sacrifices on the Day of Atonement of their sinfulness and their need for a Savior. Those of us on this side of the Cross are keenly aware of being saved through Christ and yet we still struggle with our sinfulness. The difference is that for the Jews their sacrifices before God only brought them temporary reconciliation whereas Jesus’ sacrifice brings those who believe permanent reconciliation. “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10).
Here are some other passages of Scripture to give you a fuller understanding of the sacrifice that Jesus made on your behalf: Isaiah 53:5, Romans 5:10, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 10:1-14, 1 Peter 2:24 and 3:18. Hopefully, during this season of Lent (this time of reflection), you will come to agree with me that Good Friday is indeed the ultimate Day of Atonement!