"Jesus Our Sin Bearer"

Jesus is our sin bearer. "And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross..." (I Pet. 2:24) What does it mean that He "bore" our sins? The Greek word for "bore" (phero) means to "carry" or "offer." In this case with the prefix "up". It is used in I Pet. 2:5 that we are to "offer up" spiritual sacrifices. In Lev. 17, it is the technical term used for "offering"a sacrifice (used in the LXX, Greek OT).

It is interesting to note that this idea of "bearing" that is used in Num. 11:10-15 is where we find Moses complaining that he isn't able to "bear" or "carry" the burden of the people. The responsibility for the welfare of the people had been placed on his shoulders and he felt it too heavy for him to "bear." He is offered help in the form of wise and devoted leaders.

When the word is used with God as the subject it takes the idea that God "removes" or "takes away" or "bears away" sin. (Psa. 32:5/Micah 7:18 illustrate) When a transgressor doesn't have his sins "borne" for him by the priestly work in the OT, the one in guilt still "bears his own sin." That person is still held accountable before God and will "bear" whatever judgment is connected with it. (Lev. 5:1) That person will "bear" his own guilt! For one to hide their sins, not willing to confess and offer the required sacrifice before the priest so forgiveness could be brought to the guilty, there is no means of atonement and so they must "bear" the consequences of their guilt.

In the OT arrangement of the sacrifices before God, the sinful person cannot deal with the sin problem themselves. Someone else appointed by God must take care of it for him. Lev. 10:17 says the priests did it for Israel by offering sacrifices as appointed by God. I Pet. 2:24 says Jesus "bore" our sins by offering Himself.

In bearing our sins Jesus is our priest, our High Priest and takes personal responsibility to deal with our sins. There is no offering we can identify with other than Jesus Himself. God appointed Jesus who lovingly takes us and our welfare as His burden and deals with our sins for us. What Jesus is and does becomes completely ours when we by faith and from our heart identify with the sinless and righteous Jesus Christ. His holy and willing giving of Himself on our behalf provides us someone we can bring before God and says: "Here I am for them, their sin bearer in my body." We don't carry our sins anywhere but to Him and He "bears" them away from us, removing them completely.