Give Us Barabbas

KJV: Mk 15:6

6Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired.

Give Us Barabbas

As we study God’s Word we find particular people who are mentioned briefly and we soon pass over their record without fully gleaning the full significance of their rolls nor their application for us today. We should be very careful to remember that God has chosen to record the deeds and actions of these people and they appear for our reproof and for our benefit. God’s Word is carefully structured and nothing appears by chance!

Here we find the man Barabbas, a thief, an insurrectionist, and a murderer. When we consider this man the application is clear, he is a type of sinful man, under penalty of death for their crimes against God, who Jesus, the Son of God, gave his life in place of. This is application is sure, is wondrous, and is true this day. Through His substitutionary death on the cross of Calvary, now all that will confess his name shall be saved Romans 10:13 though we are guilty and should face a righteous judgment and the penalty of death, Jesus has died in our places.

The story of Barabbas can also call us to look at ourselves in another way. The decision to release Barabbas and to crucify Christ required a choice that had to made by the people that day before Pilate. The same decision is made over and over again each day and has been made for nearly two thousand years now. The question that Pilate asked of the people that day at the judgment seat has required an answer for thousands of years now and this very moment someone is making the same choice as we speak. Today, this hour, someone will have to answer Pilate’s burning question, "what shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?" Matt 27:22

22 Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.

For thousands of years now the Jews have been persecuted by the Christian world and have been blamed for "Killing Christ." Those who will read the Word find the truth that if any thing Killed Christ it was the sins of each individual that has ever and will ever be born. Jesus was not killed at all but he gave His life so that we might be redeemed. The people that cried out that morning for his life were guilty of only a few things, being ignorant of the Son of God, being guilty of rejecting the Son of God, and being mislead by organized religion. This morning I would like to call your attention to the events that led to the reply of the crowd that day, "Give Us Barabbas."

They Were Misguided: (Luke 23:1 23:18)

And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate. 2And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King

It is easy to point a finger at the Jewish people that stood that day and cried for a murderer instead of the Savior. As a matter of fact this event has been twisted and used politically as a means to carry out terrible persecution against the Jewish people throughout history. Unlike us they had no written Word, they had no hope outside of their relation to Abraham, and they had not the assurance of redemption through grace! They made their choice being misled by many different factions.

By Religion: Luke 11:39

39 And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.

It was the Temple guards that arrested Jesus that morning (night) in the garden. It was the leaders of the Sanhedrin that sought to destroy the man Jesus. It was the keepers of the Law that broke the very Law they worshipped by holding court in the darkness of the night. It was the chief priest that led the parade to Pilate and made the accusations against our Lord. It was the church leaders who ran among the crowd and worked them up so as to cry out the name Barabbas. What a terrible testimony of the church of that day, yet today many leaders of the church are just as wicked in that they pervert the Word of God and lead His children astray from the narrow path of the truth. They place restrictions on the people and make them to conform to the rules of the church rather than the ordinances of the Lord. They place conditions on the salvation process by adding the requirement of baptism, membership, or works. The use the tigth to promote the works of man and personal ministries rather than for the good of the church. They go in the name of the Lord to heal at the large gatherings down town and completely by-pass the hospitals and nursing homes. Let it not be the record of your church that we have mis-led the people rather than leading them to the Lord Jesus Christ.