Saturday, April 30, 2016

HOPE! - Jesus gets Hangry?


In the Synoptic Gospels, the story of Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple is surrounded by stories of Jesus cursing the fig tree. John doesn’t include this story in his Gospel, but the Synoptics help to provide some added context to this bizarre act of Christ.

Did Jesus just lose his temper? Or is there something bigger going on here?

Matthew’s Gospel tells us that Jesus spends the night in the nearby village of Bethany, and early the next morning he heads back to the big city. 

He gets hungry along the way, and stops by a fig tree along the path, but it was covered in nothing but leaves. 

He then curses it, saying, “May you never bear fruit again!” and immediately the tree withers. 

The disciples are amazed, and say, “How did you do that?” 

Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” 

But wait a minute… why did Jesus curse the fig tree again? The other Gospel writers let us know that it wasn’t even the season for figs. So what was Jesus point? Was he just having a bad day? 

Many scholars see the fig tree as representative of Jerusalem, and Jesus is using the fig tree as a visual aid for a parable. 

Just as the fig tree did not produce the kind of fruit that Jesus demanded, continuous and not seasonal, so too the people of Jerusalem had not produced the kind of “fruit” that God demanded. 

Just as the fig tree did not recognize its creator and submit to his will when he approached, the same was true with Jerusalem, the city of God… and both would be destroyed. 

And this is why he’s so angry when he goes into the Jerusalem Temple. Not because he didn’t have breakfast. But because the people who were supposed to be leaders of faith, showing people the way to God, were blocking the way – they were cheating people out of God’s goodness.

So when God in the flesh shows up – Jesus – of course he’s mad that they’re cheating his own people in his own house! He comes in to purge and purify the place. But of course, the religious leaders have no desire for true cleansing. 

Their hearts are the exact opposite of their father and founder King David, who humbled himself before God, and they have become more like Pharaoh, who hardened his heart against God.

When David cries out to God in repentance after his sin with Bathsheba, he says, "Cleanse me with hyssop."

This is not an insignificant request. Hyssop was used as a healing ointment for wounds. It cleansed the wound so that healing could begin, but this wasn't a comfortable process by any means. It hurt! It burned! David isn't saying "take my sin away from me," he is saying "burn this sin right out of me!" It'd be like saying, "God, pour battery acid on me until all the evil in me has been burned up!"

Also, healing doesn't always come quickly. David never fully recovered from the consequences of his sin, however, his "wound" would never have been healed at all had it not first been "cleansed."




Friday, April 29, 2016

Living on Mission, Cleansed

Living on Mission, Cleansed

John 2:13-22

It started out as a good thing, a helpful thing. It turned into a bad, distracting, unholy thing.

People came from all over the place. The last thing they needed to do was to try to keep track of a bird or a sheep while they walked for miles to the Jewish temple. Enter the helpful people. They were there to conveniently supply travelers with acceptable sacrifices and acceptable currency for the temple – for a price. At first they were outside of the Temple area but somehow eventually wound up inside the temple courts.

Where there was once only the sound of prayer, adoration, and repentance, there was now the cacophony of commerce.

Ouch.

So, one day Jesus said “enough!” and made a scene. He drove the animals out with a whip. He turned over currency exchange tables. He said, in a nutshell, “this should not be, this cannot be.” He cleaned house.

If the temple is the dwelling place of God and we (the church) are now the temple, how are we doing? How many “helpful” things have we allowed into our lives that distract us from the way we were meant to be? Have our voices of praise and repentance and adoration been drowned out by conveniences?

Jesus, please cleanse me. Cleanse us as your Body here on earth. Let us come undistracted to you.

Pastor Angela

P.S.
Our very own Julie Shreves is serving in Ecuador with Extreme Nazarene Missions in just a few weeks. Could we chip in to help fund her time there so that she can go and bring the love of God to these hurting people? The deadline is May 1st, so please call this number today to donate. Any amount would be really helpful. Thank you!

(800) 326-9235

Thursday, April 28, 2016

PRAY IT! John 2:13-22

"And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables." John 2:15

I read an interesting commentary on this passage (it's free... Matthew Henry's Commentary) that made a really interesting point that stuck out to me.  Jesus never drove anyone in to the temple.  He drove them out.  

Jesus doesn't force anyone to pick him.  To choose him.  To accept him.  To love him.  To be blessed by his grace and mercy.  But oh, how he wishes we all would.  

However, Jesus does clean house.  The temple was meant for a place of worship and sacrifice, yet was being used for trade/business.  

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 clarifies for us:  "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."

As we pray today, let us pray and ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and to show us what it is that needs to be swept out of us as we clean house.  Let us pray this both individually, as well as the church, collectively.  With God's help, we can drive out obsessions and distractions as we bravely, humbly, and wisely arm ourselves with God's forgiveness and holiness.

I've heard it said that God accepts us as we are and loves us too much to leave us that way.  As you prepare to sweep, remember that this is not something we do alone... in preparation for a relationship with God.  This is something that we do with the guidance and strength of, and partnership with the Holy Spirit.  

Don't wait to get things in order before coming to God.  Come to him now and let him help clean up the messes.

Pastor Celia

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

FAMILY IT! — Wednesday Family Devotional — “Street Hero”

A few years ago, my husband bought me a diffuser for my birthday.  I was so excited!  You add water and a few drops of yummy scented oils, and the gizmo shoots out an ultra fine mist of wonderfully-smelling vapor that fills the whole room.  I put it on my nightstand that first night and drifted off to the scent of lavender.  I loved it!  I was so excited to try something else the next day, so I rinsed it out and put in clean water and new oil.  But when I turned it on, nothing happened.  I could hear it running, but there was no mist and no yummy smells coming from the opening.  I was distraught!  I checked the power cord, the water levels, I even emptied it and tried filling it again.  Nothing.  So I looked in the little handbook.  Apparently once all of the water is vaporized, the little bit of residual oil covers the sensor inside and keeps it from working properly.  You need to wipe off the sensor between each use to get rid of the thin, invisible layer of oil.  Once I did that, it worked like a charm.

I am always amazed at how much different a little dirt can make when it comes to operations.  A little grit between the points of a battery will shut down your favorite toy.  Some hairspray residue can clog up the whole spray can.  And if you don’t clean off your phone regularly, eventually the grease from your face turns your touch screen into a “won’t do anything” screen.  To keep functioning, it looks like we need to keep cleaning.

Jesus saw a place that needed some cleaning, too.  Read John 2:13-22 together.  Now let me give you a little background here. Passover was a time when Jewish people from all over would come to Jerusalem to offer up sacrifices of praise and worship to God. It was a special time to remember God's grace in delivering them from the bondage of slavery in Egypt, and it was custom for the Jewish people to attend this great festival. So Jesus, being Jewish, went up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.

In the temple courts, merchants would sell animals for people to use for their sacrifice.  Many people traveled long distances and couldn’t bring sacrificial animals with them.  So these merchants took advantage of the need and sold these animals at an incredibly high price.  Money corrupted these merchants, and the temple courts became a place where money was worshipped more then God. The people were not only forced to buy sacrificial animals at ridiculous prices; they were also forced to pay certain, very high, temple dues or taxes. The merchants were taking advantage of all the people who truly wanted to worship God. In addition, the temple also had its own special money or currency, and in order for the people to purchase the animal sacrifices, they had to “exchange” their money for temple money. The moneychangers were not fair when they exchanged money for the people. They kept back some of the money for themselves. These merchants and moneychangers had turned God's house into a common marketplace where God-loving worshipers were taken advantage of so someone else could make more money.  Can you imagine showing up at a church and being told you had to buy a special Bible before you could go in, plus you had to pay a really high entrance fee, but before you could do any of that, you had to trade your money for special church money that wasn’t worth as much?  I’m guessing you wouldn’t be going back to that church!

It shouldn’t surprise us how much that bothered Jesus!  So He made a whip with some rope and drove out the people, the sheep, the oxen, and the moneychangers. Jesus demonstrated “righteous anger” in the way he dealt with them. They were misrepresenting God by using His house to cheat and steal from people.  Money had become more important than helping others worship God.  Take a look at what Paul had to say on the topic:  “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”  (1 Timothy 6:10)

Jesus does not want us to be so concerned about money that it takes our minds off Him. In fact, He doesn’t want anything to stand in the way of our relationship with Him. It could be money, friends, TV, music, sports, video games, or something else that we prioritize more than Jesus.  These things aren’t bad in themselves, but anything that interferes with our relationship with God or takes our minds off him is an idol.  The Holy Spirit wants to come in and clean our hearts, wiping away the residue from these other things and giving us a clear connection with Jesus.

Is there something in your life or in your family’s life that’s getting more attention than Jesus right now?  Is there anything that’s interfering with your relationship with Him?  Maybe it’s taking so much time, you don’t have any left for God.  Maybe your whole family calendar starts to revolve around this other thing, and Jesus gets set to the side for the season.  We don’t want Jesus to make a whip, but we do want to invite Him in to clean out anything that’s clogging up our relationship.  We can have such wonderful peace when Jesus is sitting the throne of our heart, leading, guiding, and strengthening us for His good purpose.

As you seek God in prayer, ask him to open your eyes to anything in your family that’s getting in the way of your relationship with him.  Confess any idols you may have and seek his help in cleaning out those other priorities.  


Parts of this blog post come from Valley Christian Church at http://storage.cloversites.com/valleychristianchurch1/documents/CURNT217.pdf.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

EXPLORE IT! - John 2:13-25


Jesus goes to Jerusalem for the Passover, the first of three Passovers mentioned in John. The second being around the time that he feeds the 5,000 people with the loaves and fishes, and the third being the final Passover during which he is crucified. 

The text says that during the Passover, Jesus entered the Temple courts and saw people selling livestock and exchanging money. 

So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market! 

John says his disciples remembered Psalm 69:9, "zeal for your house will consume me," perhaps a bit of wordplay interposing the ideas of "demanding all my attention” and “leading to my destruction." Whether the disciples remembered this during the incident or afterward is not clear. They were, after all, a bit slow at times.

Jesus is also asked to perform a "miraculous sign" to prove he has authority to expel the money changers. The religious leaders want to distract him from his message by getting him to perform magic tricks for them.

But he replies, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." 

The people believe he is talking about the official Temple building, but John states that Jesus meant his body, and that this is also what his disciples came to believe after his resurrection. 

John then says that during the Passover Feast Jesus did perform miraculous signs, but does not list them, and that they caused people to believe in him, but yet he would "not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men." 

Perhaps John included this statement to show that Jesus possesses a knowledge of people's hearts and minds, an attribute of God. 

Now, John mentions the incident with the money changers as occurring at the start of Jesus' ministry, while the synoptic gospels have it occurring shortly before his crucifixion. 

Some scholars insist that this instead shows that Jesus fought with the money changers twice, once at the beginning and once at the end of his ministry. 

The incident in the synoptics occurs in Mark 11:12-19, Matthew 21:12-17, and Luke 19:45-48. 

Perhaps John has relocated the story to the beginning to show that Jesus' arrest was for the raising of Lazarus in John 11, not the incident in the Temple.







Monday, April 25, 2016

READ IT! - Street Hero (week 6)


In John 2, Jesus cleans out the Temple. And when he’s questioned, he says, “Destroy this Temple and I will raise it up in three days.” And the disciples later realize that he’s talking about his body. But if we are the Body of Christ, if we are the Temple, how might Jesus want to clean us out? Are we a “house of prayer” or are we something else? Think about that as you read these passages.

From the Torah: Leviticus 16:1-34
From the Former Prophets: 2 Kings 5:1-19
From the Latter Prophets: Isaiah 4:2-6
From the Books of Wisdom and Poetry: Psalm 51:1-19
From the Late Books: 2 Chronicles 7:1-10
From the Gospels: John 2:13-25
From the Epistles: Hebrews 10:1-18


From the Torah

The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the Lord. The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die. For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.

“This is how Aaron is to enter the Most Holy Place: He must first bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He is to put on the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments next to his body; he is to tie the linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are sacred garments; so he must bathe himself with water before he puts them on. From the Israelite community he is to take two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

“Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.

“Aaron shall bring the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household, and he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering. He is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and take them behind the curtain. He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the smoke of the incense will conceal the atonement cover above the tablets of the covenant law, so that he will not die. He is to take some of the bull’s blood and with his finger sprinkle it on the front of the atonement cover; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the atonement cover.

“He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull’s blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. He is to do the same for the tent of meeting, which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness. No one is to be in the tent of meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he comes out, having made atonement for himself, his household and the whole community of Israel.

“Then he shall come out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He shall take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar. He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and to consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.

“When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat.He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.

“Then Aaron is to go into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments he put on before he entered the Most Holy Place, and he is to leave them there. He shall bathe himself with water in the sanctuary area and put on his regular garments. Then he shall come out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself and the burnt offering for the people, to make atonement for himself and for the people. He shall also burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

“The man who releases the goat as a scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp.The bull and the goat for the sin offerings, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; their hides, flesh and intestines are to be burned up. The man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp.

“This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work—whether native-born or a foreigner residing among you— because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins. It is a day of sabbath rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the tent of meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the members of the community.

“This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.”

And it was done, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Leviticus 16:1-34


From the Former Prophets

Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.

Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”

When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, washyourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”

But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.

Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”

The prophet answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.” And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.

“If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord.But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I have to bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.”

“Go in peace,” Elisha said.

2 Kings 5:1-19


From the Latter Prophets

In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel. Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. Then the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy. It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.

Isaiah 4:2-6


From the Books of Wisdom and Poetry

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.
Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    so that sinners will turn back to you.
Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
    you who are God my Savior,
    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
Open my lips, Lord,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart
    you, God, will not despise.
May it please you to prosper Zion,
    to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
    in burnt offerings offered whole;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Psalm 51:1-19


From the Late Books

When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,

“He is good;
    his love endures forever.”

Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the people dedicated the temple of God. The priests took their positions, as did the Levites with the Lord’s musical instruments, which King David had made for praising the Lord and which were used when he gave thanks, saying, “His love endures forever.” Opposite the Levites, the priests blew their trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.

Solomon consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat portions.

So Solomon observed the festival at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the festival for seven days more. On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their homes, joyful and glad in heart for the good things the Lord had done for David and Solomon and for his people Israel.

2 Chronicles 7:1-10


From the Gospels

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

John 2:13-25


From the Epistles

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
    but a body you prepared for me;
with burnt offerings and sin offerings
    you were not pleased.
Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
    I have come to do your will, my God.’”

First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second.And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

“This is the covenant I will make with them
    after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
    and I will write them on their minds.”

Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts
    I will remember no more.”

And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

Hebrews 10:1-18