Jesus Or Barabbas? Series

Good Friday is coming up this week; so, this morning we’re going to focus on an event surrounding Jesus’ trial and crucifixion. We will be examining the account of Jesus and Barabbas, and this is apparently a significant event because it is shared in all four of the gospels. The other locations are Matthew 27:15-26, Luke 23:13-25, and John 18:39-40.

The account of Jesus and Barabbas speaks of substitution. If you’ve ever had a substitute teacher in school then you have a basic understanding of what “substitution” is about. A substitute teacher is one who takes the place of the regular teacher when he or she is absent. “Substituting” is switching places. When Jesus was crucified, He died for you and me. He switched places with us in death; and thereby, became our substitute.

“It was on the cross that Jesus made His substitutionary atonement for us. But it is difficult for each of us to know what substitutionary atonement means for us personally, as a man or woman before God. The only way we can know this is from the vantage point of the guilty criminal sentenced to death . . . Fortunately, our Lord knew how He could engage us in learning about our atonement – He gave us the gift of Barabbas.”(1)

The account we are going to view this morning will help us to gain a greater appreciation of the great sacrifice that Jesus made for you and me. Let us stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word, as we look at Mark 15:6-15.

Mark 15:6-15

6 Now at the feast he [Pilate] was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. 7 And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion. 8 Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them. 9 But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. 12 Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” 13 So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!” 14 Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!” 15 So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.

This passage presents a contrast between two men: Jesus the Christ and Barabbas. It has been suggested that both Jesus and Barabbas lived somewhat parallel lives; however, it is evident from what we read in the Scripture that they were on different ends of the spectrum.

Think about Jesus for a moment. Who was He? The Scripture is replete with descriptions of Jesus’ purpose. Just look at the book of John, for example. In John 1:1 and 1:14 we discover that Jesus is God; that He came to walk the earth in human flesh. In John 1:29, as Jesus was approaching John the Baptist to be baptized, John said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” In John 3:16, Jesus is said to be God’s only begotten Son who gives eternal life to all who believe in Him. In John 11:25, Jesus stated of Himself, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” And in John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

According to the Scripture, Jesus came to this earth to take away the sins of the world and grant eternal life to all people who believe in Him. He did this when He, in human form, died on the cross and bore the penalty for our sins. And according to Romans 6:23, the penalty for our sins is death. This is a spiritual death, which is eternal separation from God. Jesus was able or worthy to pay the price for our sins because He was God; because He was perfect and without sin.

Many of the people in Jesus’ day and time who were familiar with His ministry viewed His purpose quite differently, based on their preconceptions. Those who identified Him as the long-awaited Messiah thought that He would take the world by force and wreak havoc on all Israel’s enemies. When Jesus was arrested and then questioned by Pilate, we get the sense that the Romans feared that Jesus was leading a rebellion. He was questioned as to whether or not He was a Galilean (Luke 23:6), probably because there was a rebel rouser from Galilee at the time called by the name of Judas the Galilean, who had led in a revolt against the Roman Empire (Acts 5:37).