Call Me Barabbas

Phil Devaney

The Sufferings of Christ through the Eyes of Matthew • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

Matthew 27:15–26

Substitution

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Transcript

Please take your Bible and turn to Matthew 27:15-26. Our text begins with Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, seeking to have Jesus released. And it ends with Pilate releasing a notorious criminal name Barabbas, and handing Jesus over to be crucified. Let’s read our passage together.

C. J. Darlington is a Christian novelist. I just finished reading her book titled Thicker Than Blood last weekend. This story chronicles the lives of two sisters who were separated after the death of their parents in a tragic car accident. The older sister, who was eighteen at the times of their parent’s death, was a prodigal in every sense of the word, and she pretty much abandoned her younger sister, who was fifteen, right after their parent’s funeral. The younger sister lived with her Aunt Edna who led her to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. After a fifteen-year lapse in time, in which the younger sister has not heard from her older sister since the day she left, they meet up at Aunt Edna’s funeral. Without going into too many details of this story, I will say the circumstances forced the older sister to seek out her younger sibling. And while attending a church service with her she heard this from the Pastor of this store-front church:

Excerpt taken from THICKER THAN BLOOD by C. J. Darlington

“I want ya’ll to do something for me. Close your eyes, everyone. Now imagine you’re on death row.”

“You’re about to be executed [by lethal injection].” … “They’ve got you tied to the bed. You’re terrified, shaking. It’s over. You’re done. You don’t look, but there’s a poke in your arm, and you know it’s truly the end.”

“Suddenly, the door bursts open, and a stranger rushes inside. He stops the guard ready to release the lethal fluid meant for you. You watch as the guard reluctantly steps away from his post, and the stranger unties your arms and legs.”

“You’re shocked when the guard leads you away from the death room and outside the prison gates where he releases you. ‘You’re free,’ he says, and you can only stare at him in astonishment. ‘But what about my crimes? I was sentenced to die,’ you say. The guard smirks like he can’t believe it either, then says with a point in the direction of the execution chamber. ‘That man in there. He just died in your place.’”

As I read this section of the story, last weekend, it made me think about Barabbas, who is a key figure in our text for this morning. It appears from the biblical witness that this man was already under the sentence of death for leading an insurrection against Rome. But then a stranger came in and took his place on the cross which was made for him. And that stranger was Jesus the Nazarene. But it wasn’t just Barabbas’s place which Jesus took on the cross on that day, it was my place as well. Therefore, you can call me Barabbas.

Let’s look first at:

The Festival Tradition

Notice verses 15 - 17 again.

· The governor’s custom

o Paschal amnesty

§ Perhaps this is derived from the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement?

· The name “Barabbas”

o Son of the father (or teacher or rabbi)

o Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ

The Reasoning of Pilate

Notice verse 18:

· Pilate understood that the religious establishment was envious of Jesus

· Pilate understood that Jesus of Nazareth was a popular figure among the peoples

· Pilate reasoned that he could avoid sentencing and innocent man to death by having the people chose between Jesus and a violent leader of a revolt

· Pilate probably misunderstood the distinction between the crowds on Palm Sunday, and the crowd on this day

· Pilate did not seem to take into account the fact that since he, who represented the Roman oppressors, was favoring Jesus, the crowd would naturally favor the other prisoner

The Interruption to the Proceedings

Look at verse 19 – an event that is only recorded in Matthew’s account.

· Only Pilate’s wife could interrupt him at this stage of the game

· Pilate’s wife became Jesus’ only advocate (unless Pilate was as well)

The Jury Tampering

Look at verse 20-21

· The persuasiveness of the Sanhedrin

· The decision of the people

o Release Jesus Barabbas

o Execute Jesus the Christ

The Dilemma

Pilate asked of the crowd what to me is the question of the ages: Look at verse 22.

· Pilates’ options were to:

o Overrule the mob and use his authority to free Jesus and execute Barabbas

o Go along with the mob and free Barabbas and execute Jesus

o He did not have the option to ignore the situation

· Three possible responses for everyone to the question “What should I do then with Jesus?”

1. We can ignore Jesus

2. We can reject Jesus

3. We can embrace Jesus

The Power of the Mob

Look at verses 23-24.

· Mob mentality is still a very powerful thing

· Because Pilate allowed things to get out of hand, he had little choice but to go along with the mob and have Jesus crucified

· We can’t forget God the Father’s role in all of this – it was His predetermined plan that Jesus Christ must die for the sins of God’s people

o Everything in redemptive history was leading up to Jesus death on the cross

The Responsibility for Jesus’ Death

Look at verse 25.

· The people took responsibility for the death of Jesus

The Substitute

Look at verse 26.

The fact that three crosses were prepared strongly suggests that Pilate had already ordered that preparations be made for the execution of the three rebels. If so, Jesus the Messiah actually took the place of the rebel [Jesus] Barabbas because the people preferred the political rebel and nationalist hero to the Son of God.[1]

In a very real way that third cross was meant for me. And as I have implied by the title of this message, you can call me Barabbas because Jesus took my place on the cross.

Everyone who has ever lived on planet earth, with the exception of Jesus Christ, is guilty of insurrection against God. We are therefore under the sentence of death. Will this sentence of death be carried out, or will there be pardon and forgiveness?

I can say with absolute certainty that I have been pardoned for my insurrection against God. That is because a time came when I realized that I was guilty before God, and that I was worthy of nothing less than death. But then I learned that Jesus died in my place, as my substitute, and I placed my faith in His person and work on my behalf. Then Christ became sin, who knew no sin, so that I could become righteous in Him. Therefore, I have been forgiven. I have been justified. And I will one day be glorified.

How about you? Are you a Barabbas?

Let’s pray.

Dear Father,

I thank you for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross in my place. I should have been crucified – I should have suffered and died – I should have hung on the cross in disgrace, but Jesus, Your Son, took my place.

[1] Carson, D. A. (1984). Matthew. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke (Vol. 8, p. 569). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

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