Monday | 16 November 2026
The trespass offering, which includes the elements of atonement and restitution, was joined to the sin offering when Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross on Mount Calvary. The law of the trespass offering states, ‘If a person commits a trespass, and sins unintentionally in regard to the holy things of the Lord, then he shall bring to the Lord as his trespass offering a ram without blemish from the flocks, with your valuation in shekels of silver according to the shekel of the sanctuary, as a trespass offering’. Lev 5:15.
The element of the trespass offering was specifically added to Christ’s offering for sin on the cross because He was the substance of the ram that God, in type, provided to Abraham to offer on Mount Moriah instead of Isaac. Gen 22:13‑14. The place where Abraham made this sacrifice was later named Mount Calvary. We further note that Jesus was set forth as an offering for the people, as declared by Caiaphas, having been betrayed into the hands of the chief priests for the sum of thirty pieces of silver. Mat 26:14‑15. Zec 11:12‑13. This was the value that the chief priests placed on Christ’s life as the One whose death was expedient for the people as a trespass offering.
Perhaps the most compelling indication that Christ was specifically made to be a trespass offering, when He was crucified, was His prayer to the Father as the Roman soldiers nailed His hands and feet to the wood of the cross and lifted Him up from the earth. He said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do [that is, they do it in ignorance and therefore unintentionally; they do not understand what they are doing].’ Luk 23:34. In this regard, Jesus prayed for the sin‑sickness of mankind. This was the fruit of the other law that was established in the heart of every person through Adam’s disobedience.
Further Study:
Luke 23
References:
Lev 5:15
If a person commits a trespass, and sins unintentionally in regard to the holy things of the LORD, then he shall bring to the LORD as his trespass offering a ram without blemish from the flocks, with your valuation in shekels of silver according to the shekel of the sanctuary, as a trespass offering.
Gen 22:13-14
Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So, Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, ‘In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.’
Mat 26:14-15
Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?’ And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.
Zec 11:12-13
Then I said to them, ‘If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.’ So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’— that princely price they set on Me. So, I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD for the potter.
Luk 23:34
Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.’ And they divided His garments and cast lots.