The Sin Eater was a poor member of the community who was chosen to bear the sins of those deceased. When a man or woman died, the corpse would be brought out of the house and laid on a bier. A cake or bread would be laid upon the chest of the deceased, along with a glass of either wine or ale. Along with this would be left a portion of money in consideration of the Sin Eater's taking on himself the sins of the departed, thus freeing them from walking after they were dead. The Sin Eater would eat the bread and drink up the ale. He took the money, and departed the scene quickly, as he was a pariah deemed irredeemable.
It is said that in 19th Century East Anglia, passing tramps would be given bread or salt which had been placed upon the chest of a corpse. Tramps came to avoid houses where there had been a recent death for fear of being tricked into taking on themselves the sins of the deceased.
What are we to make of this bizarre custom? How would such a practice begin?
I think that the answer to these questions lies inside of each one of us. The human conscience carries within it the awareness of a guilt which must be dealt with. Deep down inside, we all recognize the truth of Paul's assertion in Romans chapter 3 that 'all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God'. The custom of sin eating was a recognition of this fact, and an attempt to deal with it.
Every man and woman who lives must inevitably face up to the fact that there is guilt which must be removed. Different individuals deal with it in different ways. Many simply bury their heads in the sand and hope it will go away. This leads to a dead conscience; murdered by the individual who would not heed it's warnings. Others throw themselves into a type of 'do-goodism'. They recognize that the guilt is there, and they believe that they can atone for it by engaging in commendable deeds. They forget that the criminal does not escape accountability just because he may have done some good deeds. We would never turn a murderer loose because he took pity on a beggar.
Those who practiced the 'sin eating' custom realized at least one important fact. Guilt cannot be ignored, neither can we make up for the evil things that we have done. They erred in chiefly one area. They failed to realize that no living mortal can take on himself the sins of another. The 'Sin Eater' had his own guilt to deal with, and could not take on himself the guilt of another.
Fortunately for us, God has not left us without a remedy. There is a sinless 'Sin Eater' who can (and did) take our sins upon himself. Jesus Christ is the one 'Who did no sin' and 'Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.' (I Peter 2:22,24) He is your scapegoat who takes your guilt upon himself and frees you from the penalty. He alone could pay the debt that you nor anyone else could ever pay. Those who look to him find eternal life. Those who do not look to him find no other 'sin eater' to take away their guilt. John 3:
18 'He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.' Are you looking to Jesus alone to take away your sin?
