The Sinless Nature of Christ

.... The Old Testament foreshadowed the sacrifice of Christ for our sins, which allows an interesting correlation may be drawn. Under the Levitical system, the elders or priests laid their hands on an animal to place the sins of the people upon it (Leviticus 4:14-15; Numbers 8:12). The animal would then be taken and sacrificed, or a companion animal sacrificed, as part of the same process. This produced a brief interval in which the animal bore their sins though the sacrifice had not yet taken place.

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.... In a similar manner it is evident, from the tone of the prophecy, that our sins were placed upon Jesus prior to the actual crucifixion, and that He went on to bear them through that act. While He was being scourged, for example, it is quite evident that He was bearing our sins already (Isaiah 53:4-5).

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.... So to follow the correlation: Caiaphas, being high priest that year, determined that Jesus would die for the sins of the people (John 11:49-53). He was brought to the high priest’s palace where the chief priests and elders had gathered. Death was decreed for Him. The officers of the temple then slapped Jesus and beat Him – violently laying hands upon Him, in response to the chief priest’s and elder’s decree.

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.... Following this action, but never preceding it, Jesus is shown in the prophecy to bear our sins. And this leads to an important, associated point:

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.... In the special chapter that follows, a Scriptural mystery will unfold pertaining to the sinless nature of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus was called ‘a Lamb without blemish,’ an acceptable sacrifice for our sins: "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him . . . when you make His soul an offering for sin." (Isaiah 53:7,10; *Exodus 12:5, John 1:29).

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.... Through this process Jesus would bear our sins, yet an associated point is seldom known or appreciated. He would accept complete personal responsibility for our sins as well, as though He Himself had actually committed them:

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.... "O God, You know My foolishness; and My sins are not hidden from You . . . the reproaches of those who reproached You have fallen on Me."

(Psalm 69:5,9)

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.... . . . so for ourselves, we should keep in mind that these were our sins, and that He did not personally commit them. This will become evident in the special chapter that follows.