We deserve death like Barabbas, but because of Jesus we can be set free

The criminal’s name who stood next to Jesus as Pilate addressed the crowd was Barabbas. But perhaps when we hear the name Barabbas, we shouldn’t think of a rap sheet, a list of crimes reserved for guilty riff raff who’ve been condemned to die. Perhaps we should hear his name and think of ourselves. Truth is, Barabbas pictures us.

Jesus was standing before the Roman governor, Pilate, who had already declared Him innocent of any punishment that would warrant death. Pilate knew that Jesus was being targeted “out of envy” – that the high priest had turned Jesus over to him for a guilty verdict and death. The release of a prisoner was customary before the Feast of Passover – the Roman governor granted clemency to one criminal as an act of goodwill toward the people whom he governed; he gave the crowd an “easy” choice: release the non-threatening teacher/miracle worker (Jesus) or the high-profile killer (Barabbas), certainly, they’d choose Jesus. But the crowd chose Barabbas.

(v.12) “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” What shall we do? Every person must answer the question. As we focus on Barabbas, there are at least 3 ways in which Barabbas pictures sinners in relation to God. Like Barabbas…

WE ARE GUILTY (v.7)
Mark 15:7  And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas.

We are ALL guilty of sinning against God and the penalty is death. Romans 3:23 …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There are no exceptions. Every one of us has sinned. We are all guilty of sinning against God in some way; we have repeatedly rebelled against God’s standard in our lives. We may not have committed the same crimes as Barabbas, but we are still guilty of our own sins.

Consider this – Jesus will be crucified later this day. Who killed Jesus? Who is responsible for His death? Barabbas, Pilate, religious leaders, the crowd chanting “crucify Him!?” No! WE crucified Jesus – because it was our sin that put Him on the cross. Like Barabbas, we are guilty of our sins, and without Jesus, and His work on the cross and subsequent resurrection to conquer death, we are guilty. Without Jesus, we are not forgiven.

WE STAND CONDEMNED
Without Jesus, we are condemned to die. Barabbas was facing the penalty of death because of his insurrection against the Roman government and the murders he had committed and was condemned to die; He was going to be executed. We are all condemned to death because our sin does that, that’s the penalty. Without Christ, we are condemned because of our sins, without Jesus we are in our own prison of sin and our sentence is death. Isaiah 59:2  “…but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”

Spiritually speaking, our death penalty means we are cut off from God. We don’t have fellowship with God because our sin separates us from Him, we don’t have peace with God. Without Jesus, we are condemned, we deserve the death penalty; we are like Barabbas.

THE GUILTY HAVE BEEN SET FREE (v.11-15)
Barabbas was set free because Jesus would die in his place, and the punishment Barabbas should have received was given to Jesus and the freedom Jesus should have received was given to Barabbas. Barabbas could not free himself, someone else would need to do it. Barabbas deserved the death penalty, but he would be set free because of someone else. We are like Barabbas, we could not free ourselves from our sin, someone else would need to do that. We deserved the death penalty, but we would be set free because of someone else. Jesus died for us when we did not love Him, like Him, or want Him.

Jesus died for us while we were sinners – murderers, slanderers, rebels, adulterers, and selfish. Romans 5:8  but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This is God’s “great love.” It is no small thing that God has done for us.

1 Pet. 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God….” Barabbas was the unrighteous and Jesus is the righteous, WE are the unrighteous and Jesus is the righteous.  Jesus suffered for our sins so that we might be brought to God and have fellowship with Him, and He took our unrighteousness to the cross and gave us His righteousness so that we could have eternal life and truly know God!

In the end, it wasn’t the crowd’s cries of “Crucify Him!” that put Jesus on the cross, our sin put the Lord Jesus on the tree. From the very beginning, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, the Lord had promised to send a Savior who would crush the reign of sin and death. God wove His plan to send a Savior, and that plan culminated in the Person of Jesus Christ: God’s own Son who became the perfect God-man so He could take upon Himself the punishment for sin.

Although wicked men were involved in Jesus’ death on the cross, His sacrifice was ultimately the will of God, and the shedding of Jesus’ blood fulfilled God’s promise to mankind to provide a Savior and sealed the New Covenant. Jesus would then defeat the power of death and the grave by rising again three days later and ascending to His Father’s right hand in heaven.

So, when we think of Barabbas, we should think of how he pictures the most egregious miscarriage of justice, the most unfair transaction in all of history – where those deserving of death receive life and the One deserving of honor gets the most heinous death imaginable – so that we might be free.

Mark 15:12  And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?”