HoHum:
Picture and commentary at: http://www.sermons4kids.com/crucifixion_gk_10x14.pdf and http://www.sermons4kids.com/crucifixion_gkennedy_comments.htm
Pass out the pictures and Start with the character on the left and move to the right......
The Pharisee- Some of those present hated Jesus. Some still do! Nicodemus- Nicodemus might have been thinking about the night he met Jesus. (John ch 3) "I must be born again!" We later see both Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea willingly becoming defiled (according to Jewish law) as they claim the body of Jesus from the cross. Barabbas- As Barabbas leaves the Crucifixion scene, he turns to take one last look at the one who died in his place. Perhaps he was thinking, "He died for me". Centurion- After watching the events at the Cross, he declared "Surely this is the Son of God!". John- John was only one of the 12 present at the scene. He was there with Jesus’ mother Mary Mary- Mary watched as her Son died for the wrong doings of which we are all guilty. The Sadducee- Didn't believe in the resurrection and so thought that this was the end of Jesus.
This morning I want to focus on the one in the middle, Barabbas
WBTU:
Barabbas was close to the trial with Pontius Pilate on that Friday morning. Barabbas was in prison about 2000 feet away from where Jesus was being tried. 2000 feet is over 3 city blocks away. Barabbas heard the noises of a crowd but not much more. The only information he received was from the official who came to release him from prison.
Thesis: Talk about Barabbas’ sin, service, savior, and silence
For instances:
Barabbas’ sin
Luke 23:19: Insurrection
This comes from a Greek word that means “to make a stand,” “one who stirs up sedition,” “a rebel.” Mark 15:7 says that “Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists.” Barabbas was a member of a gang, and a good chance that he was the leader of that gang. Participating in armed rebellion made Barabbas a criminal under Roman law. We have no information on when or where Barabbas led this uprising against Rome. Many zealot gangs through Palestine that would rise up against the Romans. Barabbas was a “freedom fighter,” an insurrectionists, the leader of a group of Jewish patriots seeking to drive out the detested Romans. Barabbas was the kind of messiah the Jews wanted.
Luke 23:19: Murder
The word is in the singular, which suggests that Barabbas was guilty, not of slaughter in the heat of battle with Roman soldiers, but of cold blooded, calculated murder. Zealots loved to find Roman Gentiles off by themselves and murder them.
Luke 23:32, 39-40: Criminal(s)
Speculation but good chance the two criminals crucified on Jesus right and left were of the same gang as Barabbas. What criminal activity did this gang commit besides insurrection? Unsure but some accuse them of robbery and thievery. They had to finance themselves in some way. This is not Robin Hood who stole from the rich and gave to the poor, they kept it for themselves.
Matthew 27:16- Notorious
Barabbas was a marked man. No doubt Rome had put a price on his head. And, no doubt, Barabbas justified his behavior. He would say that the things he did, he did for the good of his country. The same kind of arguments that terrorists use today when they hijack planes, murder civilians, and hide their bombs in stores and hotels. They have their admirers, people who support them, finance them, and justify their deeds.
Barabbas’ service
Barabbas was caught and convicted. He was condemned to death and found himself under lock and key. It was only a matter of time, and the guards would take him to Golgotha. He was to receive, as his companion put it, what his deeds deserved (Luke 23:41). He was going to die and what a terrible death, by crucifixion! The anticipation was as bad as the actual torment itself.
Barabbas’ Savior
While Barabbas awaits his fate, something is happening on that Friday morning.
Pilate is desperately looking for a way out of his dilemma. Pilate remembers a custom. “Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested.” Mark 15:6, NIV. Pilate takes a gamble and suggests that Jesus be set free and Barabbas be executed. Right after this, Pilate’s wife sends Pilate a message. “While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”” Matthew 27:19, NIV.
While Pilate is distracted by his wife, “The chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.” Mark 15:11, NIV. This is interesting. These same leaders were concerned that people would follow Jesus and the Romans would come and take away their positions. If people followed Barabbas the same thing would happen. Yet they conspired to have this man rather than Jesus released! This shows us how far their resentment against and their fear of Jesus had come! Willing to have a murderer released instead of Jesus!
When Pilate comes back, we find “With one voice they cried out, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!”” Luke 23:18, NIV. We find this in Luke 23:25.
Jesus Christ was substituted for Barabbas. Jesus does the same for all those who accept him:
1. In Ezekiel 18:4 God declares, “The soul who sins is the one who will die.” God is God. Rebellion against God’s authority, in whatever form it manifests itself, is called sin. Because He is God, and all souls are His, He is just and righteous in declaring that the soul that sins will die.
In fact, to remain just and righteous, God must demand the death of the sinner, because His justice and His Holiness call for payment for sin.
2. “Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.” Deuteronomy 27:26, NIV. The foundation of the Law is the 10 Commandments, given by God to Moses on the mountain. A preacher asked his congregation a rhetorical question. “If a man hangs over a cliff hanging on by a chain of 10 links, how many of those links must be broken to dash that man to his death?” Well, the answer of course, is only one. If a man is to be right before God by the keeping of the Law, then he must perfectly, and always, from his first breath until his last, keep that Law. But no man or woman ever born is able to say that he kept God’s law perfectly and always.
3. How can we be saved? “He saw that there was no-one, he was appalled that there was no-one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.” Isaiah 59:16, NIV. God’s justice demands full payment for sin, which is death. But in His mercy, He provided a substitute. He provided a substitute that day for Barabbas.
4. How his stomach must have churned, as he listened to the soldiers coming down the stone corridor, keys jangling, stopping at the door of his cell. How stunned he must have been, when one of them said, “Get out. The Governor has freed you. Another will die in your place” Jesus really did die in Barabbas’ place that day, because the people made a choice. It was either going to be Barabbas, or Jesus of Nazareth; so when they made their choice, Jesus literally became the substitute for the criminal.
5. Thus, Barabbas is like us, in that Jesus died in our place also. Just like Barabbas, we were set free...because Christ became our substitute. He became a curse for us, that we might be released from the curse of the Law that demanded death for sin. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”” Galatians 3:13. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
6. Barabbas drops out of history for us at this point; but I wonder...did he ever come to realize that Jesus did not only substitute him on that wooden cross on that day outside of Jerusalem’s walls; but became his Passover lamb, and died in his place, if only he would accept him as His Lord and Savior? The way to accept him is through repentance, confession, baptism
Barabbas’ silence
But that was Friday and today is Sunday. Tradition says that Barabbas followed the procession to the cross and watched as Jesus was crucified, that makes sense, curious about this man that took his place. Barabbas above all people knew that it should have been him on that cross. I wonder if Barabbas made his way to the tomb to watch as they buried Jesus? But that was Friday and today is Sunday. On Friday Barabbas was the winner and Jesus was the loser. On Friday Barabbas lived and Jesus died, on Friday love hung on a cross and hate walked free. But that was Friday and today is Sunday.
History is measured not from Friday but from Sunday. And on Sunday Jesus became the focal point of human history and Barabbas became just a footnote. We know nothing else for certainty about Barabbas, he walked away from the cross on Friday and walked into obscurity. Tradition tells us that he was later killed while involved in another rebellion attempt, how sad.
We would think that Barabbas would have been more aware of the fact that Jesus had taken his place on the cross and when the stories of the resurrection began to surface that if only out of curiosity he would have checked the stories out. And that as a result of the resurrection that Barabbas’ life would have been turned around and he would have become a Christ follower. But there is no evidence of that at all, and as rich as tradition is with stories of the disciples and other early followers of Christ there is no mention of Barabbas.
What about you? What will you do with Jesus? We need him to take our place. “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” Romans 4:25.
The idea for this series came from George Wood at: http://sermons.georgeowood.com/SiteFiles/102297/Content/Luke/67%20THE%20RE-TRIAL%20OF%20JESUS%20OF%20NAZARETH.pdf
