scapegoating

When John said, Behold the Lamb of God he was referring to Jesus as the lamb. But what kind of lamb? First, Jesus is the lamb of the pasch, the Passover lamb. Just as the blood of the Passover lamb saved the Israelites from the angel of death in Egypt, so also the blood of the Lamb of God shed on the cross will save us from everlasting death. But this lamb is not just the paschal lamb. Jesus is also the lamb who takes away the sins of the world. As such he is also what we call the scapegoat. Scapegoat - what is a scapegoat?

We ordinarily use the word scapegoat as the person or thing which is blamed for the transgression of others. Ginpabangud, ginbangdan, ginbasol. The scapegoat may not have committed any sin but it is made to carry all the sins of the people and their consequences. This is what the Jews do during the day of atonement. Their sins and transgressions are literally put upon a goat which is then driven away to the dessert to wander and to die, carrying with it, taking with it, the sins of the people. So when John the Baptist says that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, he is referring to the lamb who was slain to preserve the Israelites from death, and he is also referring to the scapegoat who took upon himself the sins of the world.


Whether we are conscious of it or not scapegoating is rampant. Ginpabangud, ginbangdan, ginbasol. That tendency comes from our first parents - “Adan, nagkaon ka bala sang bunga sang kahay nga gindumilian ko?” And how did Adam reply, “ang babayi to ay.” And then God asked Eve, and Eve replied, “ang man-og to ay.” Ang kaluluoy nga man-og wala na may gintudlo kay wala man sia tudlo. This is called the tendency in us to escape responsibility, the tendency to scapegoat - ginpabangud, ginbangdan, ginbasol.
Scapegoating is not just blaming or heaping my sin to the other; it is also attributing my situation to the other or to the things aqround me. Let me pose a question to you - what did you do during the new year? Did you wear a red dress, a polka dotted dress, did you buy 12 round fruits? Did you buy a dragon; did you rely on the dictates of feng shui - de malas ukon de buenas? This is also another form of scapegoating, the tendency to escape responsibility. Ano ang labot sang polka dot nga bayu kon sa tuod-tuod lang matamad ka gid man? Ngaa ipabangud mo ang imo kabuhi subong nga tuig sa dragon nga ginbakal mo - ano ang labot sang dragon? Ngaa isandig mo ang imo suerte subong nga tuig sa mga bilog frutas nga sa pagkamahal-mahal - sa una pa lang nga adlaw sang tuig dimalas ka na kay naintu-an ka.
Scapegoating - not just blaming others for our sins but attributing to things and actions our destiny this year and the years to come.
Jesus was a scapegoat. A scapegoat is one who took away our sins with him. But this scapegoat is different from other scapegoats. Jesus the scapegoat rose from the dead - he rose from the dead to show us that he was innocent. Jesus came back from the dead to show us that this cycle of scapegoating, this cycle of ginpabangud, ginbangdan, ginbasol, has been and must be broken. Sakto na na nga basulay, sakto na na nga pabangud.
In effect we are reminded of a poem we were made to memorize when we were in our elementary years, a poem by William Ernest Henley entitled Invictus. Remember the last stanza which says: It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.
My point is: it is time to take accountability, to become accountable for our life and our destiny. The cycle of scapegoating has been broken by the resurrection of the scapegoat who took away the sins of the world.