I think that the act of sacrificing is somehow filtered through Deuteronomy 21:22-23 because of the frequent and earlier references:
“And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree; His body shall not remain all night up on the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed by God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.”
The idea is clearly then that the one who was sacrificed was rightly judged to be sinful. In our gospels the Jews - recognizing the curse - hurry to bury Jesus. But I wonder if something has been changed in the narrative. It would be a much better functioning narrative if the failure to bury the sinful one leads to the land being cursed (= thus the destruction was attributed to the non-burial of the hanged man). Of course one could argue that Jesus was NOT a sinful victim but that's whole purpose of the Yom Kippur sacrifice (Numbers 29:7 - 11).
Another confirmation of your analysis Peter is that Paul specifically identifies Jesus (or the one sacrificed) as a sin offering (Romans 8:3). But I think the original sin offering was Judas (= as the substitution myth still preserved in the Islamic pseudepigrapha). Some basics to the Yom Kippur sacrifice - repentance is done through Teshuva, which in its most basic form consists of regretting having committed the sin, resolving not to commit that sin in the future and to confess that sin before God. Confession in Judaism is called vidui (Hebrew וידוי). That Judas is so called from his public confession is confirmed Genesis 38. 26 - "Judah recognized them and said, "She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn't give her to my son Shelah." And he did not sleep with her again."
This 'confession' is understood by the rabbinic tradition to have been the reason he was so called (i.e. the one who confesses). This etymology was known to early Christians including Didymus the student of Origen -
https://books.google.com/books?id=5n9z5 ... ah&f=false. On the traditional Jewish interpretation of Judah the confessor:
Judah confesses and declares: “She is more in the right than I” (v. 26). The Rabbis praise his courage for admitting to his acts and not fearing for his honor. The midrash says that by this act Judah publicly sanctified the Name of God and therefore merited having the Tetragrammaton included within his name (BT Sotah 10b). Another tradition relates that Judah was awarded the throne for having made this admission. He was not given the scepter because he was more heroic than his brothers, for others were just as valorous, but because he rendered true judgment and stated the truth; in consequence, God elevated him over his brothers (Ex. Rabbah 30:19; Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Masekhta Va-Yehi Be-Shalah 5). In yet another tradition a heavenly voice goes forth and proclaims: “You saved Tamar and her two children from the fire—by your life, by your merit I will save three of your children from the fire,” namely, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah (BT Sotah 10b). An additional midrashic exposition states that because Judah was not too ashamed to confess, he merited the life of the World to Come (BT Sotah 7b).
Judah’s behavior, exemplary already in his own time, served as a sterling example for future generations. The midrash tells that when Reuben saw Judah confess his sin, he immediately admitted that he had desecrated his father’s couch (Tanhuma [ed. Buber], Vayeshev 17; see Gen. 49:4). The Rabbis learned from Judah’s actions that if a person is shamed in this world, he will not be shamed before God in the World to Come (Ex. Rabbah 30:19).
In his blessings to his sons, Jacob blesses Judah (Gen. 49:8): “You, O Judah, your brothers shall praise,” which the rabbis view as an allusion to the episode with Tamar. Jacob is saying: Since you confessed, your brothers shall praise you in this and the next worlds. Jacob’s blessing was fulfilled, and thirty kings came forth from him: from David and Solomon to Jehoiachin and Zedekiah (the entire line of Judean kings). And so it will be in the World to Come, of which it is said (Ezek. 37:25): “with my servant David as their prince for all time” (Gen. Rabbah 97:8).
According to some exegeses, the statement “She is more in the right than I” was not uttered by Judah. In one tradition, God appears before the court of Shem. Judah said, “She is more in the right,” and God said: “than [or: from] I [or: Me]”—this is from Me (Gen. Rabbah 85:12). A similar tradition has a heavenly voice go forth and say: “These hidden secrets went forth from Me”: this entire episode was from God, because kings were destined to issue from Judah.
The midrash tells that Judah inherited the ability to recognize the other (le-hodot) from his mother Leah, who had said at his birth: “This time I will praise [odeh] the Lord” (Gen. 29:35). The Rabbis characterize Leah by saying that she “possessed the art” of such recognition, which she passed on to her children. Judah acknowledges: “She is more in the right than I"; David is similarly recognizant of God (Ps. 107:1): “Praise [hodu] the Lord, for He is good"; as is Daniel (a descendant of the Davidic line) in Dan. 2:23: “I acknowledge [mehode] and praise You” (Gen. Rabbah 71:5). This exegesis emphasizes the significant role of the mother in setting a positive example for her children, and her enduring influence on them.
If one takes matters to the next level one might argue that Judas's crucifixion 'foretold' the mass crucifixions of Jews by Titus during the War and moreover the future defilement of the land.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote