“I remember my parents would tell me the reason I got punished or blamed for the wrongdoing of my younger ones was because I was the eldest, and I am meant to set the right standard for my younger ones to follow. “
Looking back to my younger days, I remembered always being a scapegoat for most of the time, probably because I am the oldest child in the family. I usually got blamed for most of the things my younger ones did wrongly. I remember my parents would tell me the reason I got punished or blamed for the wrongdoing of my younger ones was because I was the eldest, and I am meant to set the right standard for my younger ones to follow. Then, they always said if I did the right thing, my younger siblings would do likewise and if they didn’t, that means that I had not done the right thing or showed them the right thing to do. The reason is that my position as the eldest portrayed leadership, and they were looking up to me and modelling their lives around mine.
However, being the eldest child wasn’t easy, as I had to live a modest life. I also had the responsibility of setting the pace for my younger siblings to follow, and if they also got in trouble, that was because I had not shown them the right way to do things, so they ended up being the scapegoat. Being a scapegoat was very painful and not very pleasant, but it did help put my younger ones at their best behaviour. This is because I did not want to get in trouble or be the scapegoat for every mistake they made. What does it mean to be a scapegoat then? According the Oxford Dictionary, a Scapegoat is “a person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others, especially for reasons of expediency.”
“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”
(Isaiah 53:5 )
Jesus Christ – Scapegoat for Mankind
This reflection into my past in this resurrection season made me realise that Jesus had also at one time been a scapegoat not only for me but for mankind, so I wasn’t the only scapegoat here. Jesus died for mankind on the cross of Calvary as a scapegoat. He suffered for the sins he did not commit and died in our place so we can die no more, Isaiah 53:5, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”
Jesus Christ, the SCAPEGOAT, has paid it all so we don’t have to be the scapegoat ever again.
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
(2 Corinthians 5:21)
So let us remember in this season of Easter that Jesus was our scapegoat who paid a ransom with his life, for us to be saved and have a new life in him.
