The Day of Atonement raises an important question: Why does God specifically command fasting on this day and not on other holy days? During the Days of Unleavened Bread, for example, God actually commands eating, making fasting prohibited. Understanding why fasting is unique to Atonement requires a deeper look at what this day truly represents. A key realization centers on the identity of the goat of departure in the Atonement ceremony. Contrary to older teachings from the Worldwide Church of God, scripture plainly identifies Jesus, not Satan, as the goat upon whose head all the sins of mankind are laid. Isaiah 53:6 states that God the Father laid the iniquity of all humanity on His Son. II Corinthians 5:21 confirms that God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to become sin on our behalf. When darkness covered the land during the crucifixion and Jesus cried out asking why the Father had forsaken Him, it was because the weight of all human sin had been placed on Him, breaking the oneness He had always shared with the Father. This role of Jesus as sin-bearer does not end at the crucifixion. Following the Feast of Trumpets, which pictures Christ's return to establish His kingdom, the Day of Atonement points forward to a time when millions of surviving humans will need their sins forgiven. Jesus will continue carrying those sins away into an eternal distance, as described in Psalm 103:12. Because believers are members of Christ's body and He is their Head, fasting on this day goes beyond sympathy for His suffering. It is empathy, genuinely sharing in the weight of what He endures as Savior of mankind. This understanding gives fasting on the Day of Atonement profound and deeply personal significance.