All night he had been in agony. The early morning hours he spent in Caiaphas's hall. They dragged him from Caiaphas to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod, and from Herod back to Pilate again. He had almost no strength left. But they gave him no food, no water, no rest. They were thirsty for his blood, and so they led him out to die, staggering under the weight of the cross.

O what a procession of sorrow! No wonder the daughters of Jerusalem wept. Weep with them, my soul.

What do we learn as we watch our blessed Lord led away like this? Don't you see it? The ancient shadow becoming substance? Remember how the high priest would bring the scapegoat and lay both hands on its head, confessing all the sins of the people over it. Those sins were transferred to the goat, lifted off the people. Then someone would lead that goat away into the wilderness, carrying away the people's sins so completely that if you went looking for them, you would never find them.

Now look. Here is Jesus, brought before the priests and rulers. They pronounce him guilty. God himself transfers our sins to him. "The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." He was made to be sin for us. As our substitute, bearing our guilt on his shoulders—represented by that cross—we see the true Scapegoat led away by the officers of justice.

Beloved, can you know for certain that he carried your sin? When you look at the cross on his shoulders, do you see your sin there? Here is how you can tell: Have you laid your hand on his head? Have you confessed your sin and trusted in him? Then your sin is not on you anymore. Every bit of it has been transferred to Christ by that blessed exchange, and he bears it on his shoulder as a load far heavier than any wooden cross.

Don't let this picture fade until you have rejoiced in your own deliverance and worshiped the loving Redeemer who took your iniquities upon himself.