The remission of sin was externalized in the Old Testament. The High Priest conducted ceremonies to cleanse the people of their sin. However, this only lasted up to one year and the process was repeated. This process was a well documented type and shadow of what Jesus would have to do as the perfect sacrifice.
Not only was Jesus sacrificed as a lamb at the end of His earthly ministry, He was the scapegoat at the beginning. Jesus fulfilled the required sacrifices of the Law that Our Heavenly Father had established to deal with the sins and transgressions of the people. The Book of Leviticus provides us with detail:
Leviticus 16:21 "Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man.
Leviticus 16:22 "The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. NKJV
There were three types of conditions that had to be addressed: iniquities (guilt), transgressions (rebellion against), and sins (to miss or err from the mark). Rebellious behavior is the deliberate disobeying of someone in authority. Aaron had to lay both of his hands on the head of the goat denoting where these conditions existed- in the mind of man. Annually, man’s mind was to be renewed by this ceremony. On the other hand, Jesus being the perfect sacrifice provided us the means to deal with these conditions on a permanent basis. The Apostle Paul exhorts us to walk accordingly:
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. KJV
Once these conditions of man were transferred to the goat, the goat was then led into the wilderness by a “fit” man. Later, Jesus would be led into the wilderness by the Most Holy Spirit thus fulfilling the “scapegoat” requirement as well. This was to occur before His ministry began. In Matthew 4 , the devil tempted Jesus to succumb to the ego enticing Him with acts of rebellion and sin resulting in guilt, the very things transferred to the goat by Aaron. Toward the end of His ministry, Jesus would refer to the goat:
Matthew 25:32-46
"All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
"And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
"Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
‘for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
‘I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
"Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
‘When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
‘Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
"And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
"Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
‘for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;
‘I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
"Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
"Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
"And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Our Heavenly Father’s right hand always represents mercy whereas His left hand always denotes judgment. This Scripture has been interpreted in the past to indicate that some men would be sent to hell forever. This is not the case. Our Heavenly Father ultimately reconciles all men unto Him, not just a few. “Creation’s Jubilee” by Stephen Jones at http://www.gods-kingdom-ministries.org/book_list.cfm provides all the detail of reconciliation of ALL mankind.
Since this parable of sheep and goats is not about men, what is it about? It is about the two conditions of a man. The sheep hear their Father’s voice and the goats listen to their own ego. Love feeds the hungry, gives drink to the thirsty, shelter to the stranger, clothing to the naked, healing to the sick, and comfort to the imprisoned. The ego would say that these men in need should “get it together” and not bother me with your need of my resources. Until you can be led into the wilderness and pass the “ego” test, your anointing will not reach its potential.