Jesus' Kingdom

4) Jesus’ kingdom is one of freedom (39-40). Barabbas was a bad dude. Mark 15:7 says that he was a rebel who committed murder in a riot. Matt. 27:16 calls him a ‘notorious prisoner’ which means this wasn’t his first trip to prison. He was a repeat offender. Acts 3:13-14, “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.” It was sad that the Jews would rather free the evil one instead of the holy one. What about us? How often do we release the evil and restrain the holy? Barabbas= ‘son of the father’; Jesus= ‘Son of the Father’. Some Greek manuscripts list Barabbas’ first name as Jesus, which would not have been unrealistic since Jesus, the Greek form of Joshua, was a common name. Ironic. The bible doesn’t speak about what happened after Barabbas’ release. One thing we do know-he was given undeserved freedom. He was given another chance. However, Barabbas’ freedom came at a price but not one he was required to pay. In order for him to have this chance, in order for him to be set free and have a new lease on life Jesus had to die. This was the mission of the cross. If you are part of the kingdom then you have been set free. We have been set free from the power and penalty of sin. We have been given a new lease on life; we have been given another chance. Col. 1:13-14, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” We have been set free and have received the privilege of being part of the kingdom of Christ. Now we have a responsibility to act like the royalty we are. To bring glory to the king by living lives of service and integrity. To have godly confidence in the power of the king as we fight the good fight of faith. Doing the work of the king in spreading the gospel that we might bring more into this glorious kingdom of Jesus Christ. This is what it’s all about.