Post History

Was Day of Atonement Practiced During Time of Jesus?

In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes "There is no one righteous, not even one." (Romans 3:10), paraphrasings Psalms 14 and 53.

Paul goes on in his letter to build an idea that a perfect life, and a perfect life alone is the way to God. That any infraction (even an inherited infraction - Romans 5:17) leads to death, and only in Christ can there be forgiveness (Romans 6:10)

Which is a very odd thing for a highly educated Pharisee (Phillipians 3:4-7) to say: God forgives his people every year on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur - Leviticus 16). 

All of the nation's sins, even intentional acts of rebellion (Leviticus 16:21) are forgiven. Every year.

I went looking to see if a sermon of Jesus might shed some light. We see Jesus go to two or three Passovers (1st: John 2:13, 2nd - John 13 through 20), the Feast of Weeks (John 4:5), the Festival of Shelters/Booths (John 7), the newly invented (since the Book of Macabees) celebration - Hanukkah (John 10:22). But the only mention of the Day of Atonement in all of the New Testament is a mention as a calender reference in Acts 27:7-10 to note that the winter bad weather season had set in.

Which is very weird. In John 9:2 "Teacher, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" there is no indication at all that sin was forgiven annually; or, if the Day of Atonement was observed, somehow it had no impact on people's thinking.

So, I went digging a little deeper, and found that there is no clearly recorded observation of the Day of Atonement, either in the Old Testament or New. Josephus doesn't mention any observances of the Day of Atonement (so I read; haven't confirmed) in his exhaustive histories of the Jewish people.

It wouldn't be unusual for God to give a command that was neglected. There's no evidence of the Jubilee (freeing slaves, clearing debts, returning property to original owners) ever being conducted.

So, I want to ask better informed people: is there any evidence of the Day of Atonement being practiced during Jesus' lifetime?