***WARNING: This blog may contain spoilers to The Dark Knight***
Ok, so that’s my official warning.
One of my favorite moments in The Dark Knight comes in the last 5 minutes. Batman and Lieutenant Gordon conclude that Gotham needs not only a hero but also a fall guy – a dark knight. The city needs someone to take the blame for the people so that a hero can emerge and give them hope. Batman says to Gordon, “I am whatever Gotham needs me to be.” By saying this Batman volunteers to be be the scapegoat.
The word scapegoat has an interesting origin. There was a tradition in the Old Testament where a priest would take a perfectly innocent goat and during a ritualistic ceremony place his hands on the goat’s head. Symbolicaly he passed the sins and failures of the people onto the goat. The goat was then sent out into the desert, into isolation, never to be seen again.
From that point on, anyone who assumed the blame for something of which they were not guilty was called the scapegoat.
So, you’ve heard this story before? Innocent guy meets sinful people. People need to be saved but can only be saved if someone takes the blame for what they’ve done. Innocent guy willingly takes the blame for the people’s failures.
Jesus was the scapegoat. Jesus is our Dark Knight.
