2 Corinthains 5:21 is a general reference to animal sacrifice as practiced by Old Testament Jews, and a direct reference to the prophecy in Isaiah 53.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthains 5:21)
When a sin offering was made in the Old Testament, the priest and penitent would lay hands on the anmial and pray, transferring the sin of the penitent to the animal, who would then die in place of the penitent who transgressed the covenant. Remember that the Bible is a Jewish book, and we have to always read it in light of the Jewish culture and religion which produced it. The covenant was everything to the Jews, and transgression of the covenant demaned death as a punishment. Animal sacrifice was a way to satisfy the demands of the covenant and thereby save the sinner from a death sentance.
1 Corinthians 5:21 is a direct reference to the writings of the prophet Isaiah, who said that a man would come to “Become sin” for us, just like the animals who “Became sin” through the laying on of hands during a sin offering. In doing so, this man would save us from the death sentance.
*We had all gone astray like sheep,
all following our own way;
But the LORD laid upon him
the guilt of us all.
Though harshly treated, he submitted
and did not open his mouth;
Like a lamb led to slaughter
or a sheep silent before shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
Seized and condemned, he was taken away.
Who would have thought any more of his destiny?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
struck for the sins of his people.
He was given a grave among the wicked,
a burial place with evildoers,
Though he had done no wrong,
nor was deceit found in his mouth
(Isaiah 53:6-9)*
Being “Struck for the sins of the people” was a reference to the knife - a small sword really - used to slaughter the large animals such as goats, lambs and bulls. Peter the Pope references the same prophecy of Isaiah.
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps.
“He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly.
(1 Peter 2:21-23)
John makes many references to Jesus being the perfect sacrificial lamb of the sin offering.
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)
The idea that God looks at our sin and sees Jesus instead is very simplistic theology with little basis in scripture. At a minimum, it barely goes far enough.
In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10)
Jesus is expiation for our sins. Expiation is atonement, making ammends, extinguishing guilt. A Jew’s sins could be expiated through animal sacrifice, but any Jew knew that if he sinned again - transgressed the covenant - he had to make another sin offering, at great expense and effort, often traveling many miles to the temple in Jerusalem and slaughtering an expensive animal. If you didn’t repent, you had to keep coming back or be known as a sinner, eventually being put ouside of the community or sentanced to death.
The same is true for us. We have to apply the expation of our sins in the confessional and repent. We place ourselves with the reprobate, “Outside the camp”, if we don’t repent.
-Tim-
