Take a minute to think about this scene. Imagine that you are living in Old Testament times and have sinned. Jesus has not died yet, so what do you do? You have to bring your sin offering to the priest. Under the old covenant, a man must bring a sin offering to the priest whenever he sins. Typically, a lamb was the more common sin offering. When the priest receives it, the very first thing they will do is examine the lamb to ensure that it doesn’t have blemishes. The priest’s job is to examine the lamb to ensure it has no imperfections. The lamb must be perfect, without blemish because it speaks of Jesus’ perfection. Jesus knew no sin and committed no sin.
He is the true sacrificial Lamb without blemish. Now, the priest does not examine you. He knows why you are there. Instead he examines the sin offering. Christ took our sin at the cross and now we take His righteousness. When we sin, it is not about looking at our sin, and examining ourselves. No, it is about us seeing Jesus. It is about looking to Christ.
The next step in this process is you placing your hands on the lamb’s head. Why must you lay your hands on the lamb’s head? Laying hands on the animal was an act of identification. When you lay your hands on your sin offering, your sins are transferred to the innocent lamb. After you lay your hands on the lamb, the lamb is now carrying your sin. The lamb must die because all your sins have been transferred to its body. And because it dies bearing your sins, you can go free.
In the same manner, Christ was our sin offering. Now we can walk free. He is the, “…Lamb of God who takes away the sin of he world.” (John 1:29).
Because we believe in Jesus, God does not judge us based upon our blemishes or our imperfections, He judges us based upon Christ’s perfections! It is not a question of, am I good enough? It is a question of, is Jesus good enough? That is the truth. That is the Gospel.