Passover is a celebration to remember that the Israelites have been taken from slavery into liberty. The blood of the lamb put on the door posts of the Israelite houses indicated that God would pass over those houses and not strike down the firstborn. The application of the blood of the lamb did not refer to forgiveness of sins.
Forgiveness for the sins of the nation was not celebrated until the Day of Atonement.The instructions for the celebration of that day are clearly given in the book of Leviticus.
Let’s summarize them. The high priest makes atonement for his sins and the sins of his household so they are ceremonially clean.
To atone for the sins of the nation two goats have been set apart.Although there are two goats, they are one sacrifice. The high priest draws lots to determine which of the goats is “for the Lord” and which one is the “scapegoat”
The one destined for the Lord is sacrificed and its blood applied to, among other places, the cover over the Ark of the Covenant. “… the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22)
The high priest puts his hands on the head of the other goat, “the scapegoat”, indicating that the sins of the nation are placed on it; it is led into the desert by someone chosen for this task. God does not want this part of the sacrifice, He rejects it.
Shortly before his arrest Jesus asked his Father three times “to take this cup from Me”. Silence was the answer.
On Good Friday Jesus is sacrificed.
Jesus sheds his blood so there is forgiveness of sins for mankind.
One of Jesus sayings while hanging on the cross in great agony is: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” this is a consequence of the refusal of his Father to “take this cup away from Him.”
Thus Jesus experiences, like that second goat being led into the desert, the worst fate imaginable, Jesus went to hell, the place of being godforsaken. Jesus chose to be our “scapegoat”; suffering for the sins we have committed and would have been punished for.
A few days later God released Jesus from this godforsaken place as well as from physical death because Jesus Himself was not guilty but “God so loved the world that He gave us His only Son (Jesus) that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.”
This is our release from slavery of hell into the freedom of Heaven. On this day of Passover God combined it with a Day of Atonement for all mankind.
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