Probably the imagery of Jesus as scapegoat is one of the more undeveloped themes in New Testament studies. Recent investigations of the Mishnah and other extra-biblical sources have helped us make a series of connections that were probably natural for first-century Judaism: The striking with the reed, the spitting on the scapegoat, the crowning, the entanglement with thorns, the scarlet cloak were all ways that the scapegoat was sent out into the desert.
