Leviticus 7:1-6: a reflection

1“‘This is the law of the trespass offering: It is most holy. 2In the place where they kill the burnt offering, he shall kill the trespass offering; and its blood he shall sprinkle around on the altar. 3He shall offer all of its fat: the fat tail, and the fat that covers the innards, 4and he shall take away the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys; 5and the priest shall burn them on the altar for an offering made by fire to the LORD: it is a trespass offering. 6Every male among the priests may eat of it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy.

The law of the guilt offering, or trespass offering, provided a specific way to deal with the wrongs a person had committed, especially wrongs that involved harm or debt to another. It was, the text says, most holy, and through it the guilt of the wrongdoer was atoned for. God did not leave his people carrying their guilt with no way to be free of it; he provided an offering by which trespasses could be dealt with and set right.

Notice the mercy embedded in the provision. Guilt is a heavy thing to carry, the weight of wrongs done, debts incurred, harm caused. God, knowing his people would sin and incur such guilt, made a way for it to be addressed, a specific offering for specific trespasses, so that the burden of guilt need not be carried forever. The very existence of the guilt offering says that God wanted his people free of their guilt, not crushed under it.

And like all the offerings, it pointed forward. These repeated sacrifices for guilt were a shadow of the one offering that would deal with guilt finally and completely: Christ, who bore our trespasses and made the guilt offering we could never make. If you are carrying the weight of guilt for wrongs you have done, the guilt offering's message, fulfilled in Christ, is that God has made a way for that guilt to be dealt with. You do not have to carry it forever. Bring it to Christ, who bore your trespasses, and be free of the weight.

Lord, you did not leave your people to carry their guilt with no way to be free; you provided the guilt offering, and finally Christ, who bore our trespasses. When I carry the heavy weight of guilt for wrongs I have done, remind me that you have made a way for it to be dealt with. Help me bring my guilt to Christ, who made the offering I never could, and to be free of the weight. Thank you for not leaving me crushed under it.