The Barabbas Exchange

Now today, I wanna take us to the famous or the infamous Barabbas, or I'll just say Barabbas. And I might, I don't know, at various points refer to him in different ways. But Barabbas, and we'll see in a moment the trial of Jesus and his journey to ultimately the cross. So let's have a look at part of this trial, part of the infamous event, and let's turn to Luke 23 from verse 15. Actually, let's go from verse 14.

And he said to them, you brought me this man, this is Jesus, as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. I will therefore punish and release him.

But they all cried out together, away with this man and release to us Barabbas, a man who has been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, but they kept shouting, crucify, crucify him. A third time he said to them, why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death.

I will therefore punish and release him. But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified and their voices prevailed. So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will. So far our reading.

Year after year, as Christians walk through the passion week of Jesus, our hearts are knit to Him again. He is our great saviour. And although we often at this church at least hear the victory of the cross, hear the conquering of the resurrection event, it is at Easter that we dwell just that little bit longer on the climax of this incredible saviour, Jesus Christ. When we come to Easter and relive the stories, we go through and taste some of the emotions of those hours, don't we? We feel the varying levels of despair at the betrayal of Judas, at the denial of Peter, at the anger of the crowds who despise Him.

We shake our head at Herod who mocks Him. The people who call for His crucifixion. We can't understand Pilate who appeases the mob and washes his hands. But how often do we come to Barabbas, the murderer exchanged for Jesus? There's nothing in the story of Jesus' crucifixion that is mentioned in idleness.

I hope you understand that. There's nothing in the passion story that is a coincidence or that is just a for your information nice to know thing. The betrayal, the denial, the sceptical onlookers, the unbelieving leaders, it is all part of the prophetic story. It is all part of the mission of mankind's salvation. It is all part of a God who has written in celestial cement the story of mankind's salvation before the foundations of the earth.

This was always going to happen this way. All of these different episodes had a significant purpose in the mission of Jesus. And the story of Barabbas is no different. God wants to show us these things this morning of a heartbreaking event, and He wants to show us firstly, Jesus the innocent. As we read in the story in Luke 23, we see that three times Pilate declares that Jesus is innocent.

Luke wants us to know that Jesus is innocent. First in verse 15, he says, this is Pilate, look, nothing deserving death has been done by Him. Secondly, in verse 20, Luke tells us Pilate addressed them once more, what? Desiring to release Jesus. And then in verse 22, Luke says a third time, Pilate said to them, why?

What evil has He done? I have found in Him no guilt deserving death. Three times in the span of eight verses, Luke through Pilate points out that Jesus was innocent three times. Jesus has done nothing to deserve what this crowd is asking for.

Pilate cannot find in Jesus any guilt deserving death. And it's not only in these condensed eight verses. Throughout chapter 23, in fact, Luke is at pains to draw attention to the innocence of Jesus. At the beginning of the chapter in verse four, Pilate has already said, I find no guilt in this man. Not only has Pilate previously declared Jesus innocent, but also he has sent to King Herod, the puppet king who says the same thing. He says that this man might be a little bit crazy, but he's not guilty.

Right? Then later in the chapter, the theme of Jesus' innocence will be echoed again by both the thief on the cross who says, we are receiving to the other thief, we are receiving the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. And remember the centurion at that event as well.

The centurion in verse 47 who says, certainly, this man was innocent. Time and time again in this entire chapter, Jesus is pointed out. The Holy Spirit is wanting us to understand that there was no reason. There was no guilt. There was no validation in this charge.

So why do we need this emphasis on the innocence of Jesus? Why do we need to know this? For the sceptic that might be here this morning who hasn't put their trust perhaps in Jesus Christ. You might say His innocence is stated to highlight the injustice that was done on that day, the injustice of a coloniser oppressing a people. Or we might say it is to emphasise the vindication.

The disciples want to vindicate the name of an innocent leader, clear His name, that His followers wanted to honour the memory of Jesus. Perhaps that is why the innocence of Jesus is mentioned so many times. But to you, Christian, to you believer, I wanna ask, why? Why so carefully tell us all the people, all the people of influence, all the people with positions of judgement who had judged crimes and criminals before? Pilate and Herod and the centurion.

Why will the Bible use them to go to such lengths to prove the innocence of Jesus? Well, this leads us to the second character in this story, the flip side, in fact, of the story. God shows us Barabbas the guilty. Just after Pilate has said, look, nothing deserving death has been done by this man. Luke tells us in verses eighteen and nineteen, but the crowd cried together, away with this man and release to us Barabbas.

And editorially, Luke adds a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. It is Barabbas who is the guilty one here. A man who had been thrown into prison for a revolution, a rebellion started, and in that rebellion, committed murder. In Matthew 27:16, the apostle Matthew adds a bit of detail that Barabbas is a notorious prisoner, I quote. Matthew 27:16 says that Barabbas was a notorious prisoner.

People knew who this man was. He was well known for what he had done. In other words, his case wasn't fifty-fifty. It wasn't a toss of the coin. Maybe he did it or maybe he didn't do it.

He was guilty as charged. He was infamous. Mark 15:7, and this is why I love the fact that we have four gospels that overlap. Mark 15:7 says, among the rebels in the prison, so there were several of them who had participated in this particular rebellion. Among the rebels in prison who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas.

This is his story. Now Barabbas was involved in an attempt, we know, to overthrow the Roman law of the time, and this was not an uncommon occurrence in that time. The Jews had been conquered by the Romans. The Jews lived under Roman rule, and there were constant battles between the Jews and the Roman leaders. And it just so happened that in one of these rebellions, Barabbas had murdered one or more persons.

His charges are clear. Murder and insurrection. Murder and rebellion. Luke reiterates for us his guilt in verse 25 as well. Notice the restatement of Barabbas' guilt when he says, Pilate released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder.

Pilate released the man, but he delivered Jesus over to their will. But here we start seeing the silent providence of God starting to break into the situation. Here we see the marvellous wisdom and the humbling power of God come to the fore as the cosmic plan of salvation starts falling into place. It makes your hair stand up. Why?

Do you see Jesus and Barabbas held out in comparison to one another? Can you imagine them also almost standing next to each other? Barabbas, the notorious prisoner and rebel, and Jesus, the innocent man. And here is the irony in this story. Rebellion is the precise accusation that the leaders are putting on Jesus.

They say in verse 14, he is misleading the people. Here is a convicted rebel standing beside a man falsely accused and innocent, accused of rebellion. Additionally, Barabbas isn't a drug offender in jail for rehab. He is a man on death row. He is a murderer that is awaiting capital punishment.

The Jewish legal system needed him to die. Genesis 9:6 says, whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood shall be shed. Barabbas is a murderer deserving death. And here is Jesus next to him, innocent, in the process himself of being murdered. One way we could summarise Barabbas' plight would be to say that he is guilty of rebellion deserving death.

And in contrast, Pilate's own words ring out. This man has no guilt deserving death. And so what we see is a horrific and holy substitution. We are being led by God to see this point. Not only is Jesus the innocent, but Barabbas is the guilty.

And it goes further because something utterly flabbergasting is about to happen. Every now and then, in order to keep the oppressed people of the Jews appeased, often at feasts like the Passover, which the Jews were about to celebrate at that time, Roman officials would, in a sign of goodwill, release a prisoner back to them. Often political prisoners. But strangely, this is not a release. This is an exchange.

Pilate feels compelled to make the people choose the one or the other instead of just setting him free. And it could have been any prisoner. It could have been a bread thief. Barabbas is especially chosen. Barabbas the nasty.

Barabbas the notorious. And the people choose Barabbas. Once again, the tension and the theological significance cannot be missed. This episode is all about guilt and freedom. It is all about punishment and release.

Luke's emphasis on the word release appears five times in these eight verses as well. Five times. In verse 16, Pilate first declares that he intends to release Jesus. But in verse 17, the people respond away with Jesus and release to us Barabbas. In verse 20, Pilate again expresses his intention and is pleading to release Jesus.

Then a third time in verse 22, Pilate says that he plans to release Jesus. But at the conclusion of the story in verse 25, Luke tells us that Pilate released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, and he delivered Jesus over. The people must choose a substitute for the life of a convicted sinner. That is the situation. In this exchange played out before the crowd physically seen and written down for us, we see the linking of the message of the cross.

In this play, in this story, couched in a bigger story leading up to this death of Jesus, we see Jesus, the innocent, delivered for the punishment of death of the one who was guilty, and the one who is guilty receiving freedom and a second life. And we've seen through the stressing of Jesus' innocence and Barabbas' guilt, the word of God is beginning to lead us to start identifying with the story of exchange that happened with Barabbas. As the death sentence of Jesus led to the physical release of Barabbas, this is our reality. So the condemnation and punishment of Jesus on the cross would lead to millions of spiritual captives being set free. The exchange of Barabbas is a foretaste, even just a few hours, of the grace that will be unleashed at the Easter event.

You may still be sceptical about the meaning behind Jesus' death. You may still think that it is just a tragic miscarriage of justice. You may have friends and family who believe that. But this is what the Bible says. All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Not some of us, not even many of us, all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And Romans 6:23 says, the payment for this sin is death. The wages of sin is death. Guilty as charged. And we await eternal death, the reality of hell. And here is Jesus delivered to death and Barabbas released to life.

And you could say that we see in this event the first substitution of the cross. The story of Barabbas, the first substitution of the cross. The very first person rescued by the work of Jesus is Barabbas. I don't know if he became a believer, but physically he was saved. The innocent Jesus condemned as a sinner and as a guilty sinner is released as if innocent.

Friend, you know that there are many people, and I struggle to understand, there are many people that cannot accept this message. There are many people that cannot accept this saviour, will not accept this saviour, cannot stand this saviour. Many people cannot accept this salvation. Why? Because it is too extreme.

It is too ugly. It is too vicious. It is too confronting. We want a God who simply forgives and forgets. We want a Jesus who is kind.

A Jesus who carries little lambs under His arms and speaks about world peace and being kind to strangers. We want to cling to the nice sounding cliché that God is love. He cannot and He will not send people to hell. God is love. And we feel very proud of ourselves for quoting at least a small part of scripture when we say this.

First John 4, we quote it, but we forget what is written just after this passage. Yes, God is love, it says, but this is added. And this is love. Not that we love God, but that God loved us and sent His son as a propitiation for our sins.

What does that word mean? Propitiation. It means an atoning sacrifice. It means a forgiving death. The death of a spotless innocent life for the forgiveness of the guilty. God is love, friends, because His son died for us.

That is why God is love. And so we have to tell our friends and we have to know this about ourselves that your forgiveness isn't pretty because your sin is very ugly. And so the reality of this story is that I, you, we are Barabbas. As we more greatly understand the depths of our sin, we see with Luke that I am Barabbas.

I'm the one so clearly guilty and deserving of condemnation forever from my holy God. And yet I have been set free because of the willing substitution, the willing exchange of the son of God in my place. And Jesus Himself said this, didn't He? He said, only those who are sick do. He said, I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners instead.

As we head to the cross again this Easter, I hope we understand that this is our story. It's not the story of Jesus. It's not the tragedy that we mourn. It is not the anger or the frustration or the incredulousness that we feel about the people that would have crucified this Jesus. It was all going to happen.

The story of Easter is about me. And I am Barabbas. And about Jesus and His exchange for my life. I hope for us. I hope as a family.

I hope as a community of friends that this can be something we can share about this Easter. We can talk about personally that this is our message to our friends. Let me pray. Father, we love the gospel. We love this truth.

We know it. We are moved by it. Father, I pray that it does not end here for us on a Sunday though. I pray, Lord, that we see ourselves radically set free, experiencing the radical gratitude that this should evoke in us. If we were really and if we saw ourselves as a prisoner on death row, set free for a second chance, oh Lord, what does that not mean for our lives and how we live?

What does that not mean for the hundreds of people around us that don't have that freedom yet. Father, I pray that as we move to the cross and our hearts are again tied and bound with Yours. I pray that You may give us strength and encouragement, that You will give us sharp focus, that we do not have to be ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation. We do not have to be ashamed of this message because it has power in and of itself. Oh God, and we feel that power this morning.

We feel it moving in our hearts. It is setting us free even as we pray. It is releasing us and healing us and converting us from our flawed ideologies, our flawed perceptions of ourselves, of others, of our relationships. Lord, it is setting us free from the tyranny of Satan himself. And it is giving us the power to live holy, upright, God honouring lives.

This is the power of the gospel. Lord, may our church be marked by it. May our lives be energised through it to the glory of Your name. Amen.