Give Us Barabbas

“Give Us Barabbas”

Intro: 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!

Text: Mark 15:6-15

What a horrible picture we have that the gospel has painted of innocence being punished and the guilty being released. What a controversial happening that we see occurring here. This is what happens when sin is the main object of man’s life and all that we focus upon is the thing which pleases us.

Mat 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings out good things; and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings out evil things.

Pilate here seems to many to be innocent but really he is a typical worldliness who was usually willing to do what he thought was right if it did not cost him anything. I know in reading that Pilate knew that Jesus was not guilty, but he was persuaded by the crowd of people to respond as he did.

Mar 15:15 And deciding to do the easiest to the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them, and having scourged Him, delivered up Jesus to be crucified.

When the Jews begin to demand for the release of Barabbas what was the really asking for? They were demanding a murderer to be released instead of the innocent man named Jesus. Here we find the man Barabbas, a thief, and a murderer. When we consider this man the application is clear, he is a type of sinful man.

I. THE KILLER WALKS THE STREETS

A. What ever could make men think in the way of corruption, the way men do today. But as it was here in the Bible days the corruption of men’s thinking was perverse and unthinkable. Here was a murderer, a rebel rouser and evil corrupt man, but they wanted him released instead of Jesus, innocence & no guilt.

I Corinthians 15:33 “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.”

B. What they were saying, is let the killer walk the streets but we are going to kill the innocent man. How could they let this happen? We do the same today. The killer is walking the streets, that killer is not a man using a gun but a man using a knife, putting to death over 1 million babies a year by abortion.

I John 1:11 “Beloved, follow not that which is evil but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.”

C. We have taken prayer and Word of God off the streets, now drugs, alcohol and guns in the schools. The killer is walking our streets. Tobacco kills over ¼ of million people a year, Alcohol kills over 200,000 a year. Sexual diseases killing many. Killer walks streets.

II. SIN BRINGS A DEADLY REPROACH

A. When sin is replaced for innocence and no guilt, you will find that sin will destroy a people. As long as our nation put honor to God, God blessed our nation. But when we forsook God, sin has now become a reproach to our nation. In other words, we are suffering from own feat.

Proverbs 14:34 “Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is reproach to any people

B. It is easy to point a finger at the Jewish people that stood that day and cried for a murderer instead of the Savior. By nature we are wicked and sinful, unable to make judgments that are exempt of our fallen nature.

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

C. Barabbas was facing the penalty of death because of his insurrection against the Roman government and the murders he had committed. The unbeliever faces eternal damnation and death because of his own sin.

III. BARABBAS SET FREE AND JESUS DIED IN HIS PLACE

A. The name "Barabbas" means "son of a father", that is to say The "a natural man". We are offspring of our father Adam by the flesh and therefore partakers of Adam’s sinful nature. Because of this there has to be price paid for the sin.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

B. Jesus became the substitute for Barabbas and for all man-kind. He took our place upon the cross and died in our place so that our sins could be redeemed from corruption.