It Should Have Been You - [Matthew 27:11ff]

Well, there's a controversy in Evangelicalism. Did Jesus die for each and every person who was ever born?

Or did He just die for the elect? This morning we'll look at the

Bible which teaches Jesus died for only one person. That's right,

He died for only one person. You should see your faces. That's a good sign, by the way.

In the sense of physical substitution. Today we're going to look at the account of Barabbas.

Jesus dying in the place of Barabbas. Which then leads us into a great study on substitutionary atonement to see how

Jesus died for the sins of His people as we study this topic. Let's turn our Bibles to Matthew chapter 27 this morning to look at Jesus and Barabbas.

The only person that Jesus physically died for in Barabbas' place condemned

Jesus stood. Barabbas was let go and Jesus was condemned. And I think in this passage today you'll be encouraged by the work of the

Sovereign God orchestrating our salvation. I think you'll like it that you get to be reminded that Jesus died for your sins as your substitute.

And there's nothing like going to a gospel as you watch destiny unfold.

Martin Luther said, Learn to know Christ and Him crucified. Learn to sing to Him.

Here's the song Luther wants people to sing. Lord Jesus, You are my righteousness. I am

Your sin. You have taken upon Yourself what is mine and given me what is

Yours. You have become what You were not so that I might become what

I was not. First Corinthians is finished.

We're soon going to be in Romans. But for a couple weeks I just want to preach passages that I've just been dying to preach.

I can't wait to preach about Jesus and Barabbas and next Sunday is another message that we'll look at that I've just been dying to preach and then we'll be into Romans chapter 1.

Let's look at Matthew chapter 27 verses 11 through 26 today as we see

Jesus Christ and Barabbas who is a very important New Testament figure.

You can look at Matthew, you'll see Barabbas. Mark, Luke and John all contain information about Barabbas.

Not everything in every gospel is in every other gospel. Oh, you'll see the feeding of the 5 ,000.

You'll see the resurrection. But the birth of Jesus isn't found in every gospel. Yet Barabbas is.

If you only were counting up numbers of verses, there are more verses in the Bible about Barabbas than even

Judas. He's an important character. And you'll see the truth about Barabbas today contrary to the 1961 film about Barabbas.

What's happened so far in Matthew, the first 26 chapters? Well, right around chapter 26, the plot against Jesus is hatched.

Betrayal of Judas to the religious leaders has happened. Christ is celebrating the last

Passover, which is the first Lord's Supper. He goes to Gethsemane and prays. He's then arrested.

He's tried before the Jewish folks and now we come to the Roman trial. And Matthew 27, 11 says,

Now Jesus stood before the governor and the governor asked him,

Are you the king of the Jews? Jesus said, You have said so. Who is the governor?

Well, the governor is a man that you know his name. His name is Pontius Pilate. Now, Pontius Pilate, according to all sources, was not a very kind man.

He wasn't a very moral man. He wasn't a man full of integrity. But the New Testament shows him at least early on in this trial as exactly that.

A man who knows truth when he sees it and wants to exonerate the innocent. It's a lot different picture of Pilate found in Scripture than in the course of history when he comes into Jerusalem in 26

AD with all the people and his soldiers at night time holding up banners with the false image of Tiberius purposely just to rub the

Jews the wrong way with idol worship. This is a lot different picture in the Scriptures than Pilate showed himself to be in real life where he took all the special treasury money, the

Korban and built a 50 mile aqueduct. This is a lot different Pilate than Jesus talked about in Luke 13 where Pilate mixed the

Galilean blood with the sacrifices. We're going to see a Pilate who's going to see that Jesus is innocent.

Everything in this passage is going to tell us Christ is the innocent one. Even a wicked, immoral man like Pilate knows better.

Pilate is married and his wife is so immoral that a grandfather of the daughter said that I would be wifeless and childless.

Childless. He is not a very nice man. But he is the governor and look at verse 11.

He asks Jesus are you the king of the Jews? Pilate is seated at the

Bema seat in judgment. Jesus is standing there. It's going to be a lot different in the end days where Jesus seated at the right hand of God judges and comes in his glory.

Are you the king of the Jews? Now the emphasis in the original language is on you. You? One quick look at Jesus will let everyone know including

Pilate. He's not a terrorist. He's not a rebel. He's not a dagger carrying anti -government person.

You? One quick look at Jesus. You'd know right away he's not revolting against the Romans. And he says are you the king of the

Jews? Now Jews can either mean the way we would think. Jews, all Jewish people. Or it can mean people in Judea.

Are you the king of Judea? Which Pilate would be interested in because Pilate was the prefect or the procurator of Judea.

I think probably the reference is to Jews in general. You're the king of all the Jews? And how did Jesus respond?

You have said so, the ESV says. Literally, you say. When Judas was asked whether he was the betrayer,

Jesus said you say. When Caiaphas said Jesus are you the Christ? Jesus said you say.

And now Pilate says are you the king of the Jews? And Jesus says you say. Meaning you already know that or you should know that.

You say. Now, how many people have a book that would be entitled

Harmony of the Gospels? Any do? Some aren't shy. You need to get a book called the

Harmony of the Gospels. I use it all the time. Some books I never use. I use this all the time. Harmony of the

Gospels. Get the one by Robert Thomas. And Harmony of the Gospels takes Matthew, Mark, and Luke, three books that are very similar, and adds

John to it and arranges it perfectly so you can see what's going on chronologically. It harmonizes the

Gospel chronologically. Because sometimes Matthew, for instance, he'll put chapter 8, 9, and 10 out of chronological order.

Why am I hurrying? You're the second service people. You slept in, you're ready to go. There's no hurry.

Second service people aren't coming because you are the second service people. And it puts everything in order and it's helpful to see what happens because every

Gospel doesn't contain everything. You need to get the Harmony of the Gospels. Robert Thomas.

So let me read you a little bit of the fill -in that Matthew doesn't include, but I want you to know about it.

And just listen. So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him,

Are you the King of the Jews? Jesus answered, Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?

Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Your own nation and chief priests have delivered you over to me.

What have you done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be delivered over to the

Jews. But my kingdom is not from this world. Then Pilate said to him, So you are a king.

Jesus answered, You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born, and for this purpose

I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.

Pilate said, What is truth? After he had said this, he went back outside to the

Jews and told them, I find no guilt in him. John 18 Are you the king of the

Jews? If Jesus would have said, Yes, with no explanation, then maybe Pilate would have thought insurrectionist, anti -government, trying to go against the king of Rome.

If Jesus says, No, I'm not the king. He really is the king of the Jews. And so he says, in a very cryptic way,

You say. Yours, your designation. Verse 12 it says in our text,

But when he was accused by the chief priest and the elders over and over and over and over, that's the original language.

He gave no answer. Jesus really doesn't seem to care about these false teachers.

He'll answer Pilate to some degree, because Pilate has authority given to him by God as governor.

He knows these false teachers are after one thing, execution. So whatever he says, they'll twist and discombobulate into execution language.

Then Pilate said to them, verse 13 Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?

They're saying so many different things. They're making a wide net thrown out against you, hoping one of them will stick or two of them will stick.

He gave them no answer. Not even look at how the text, make sure we understand this, not even a single charge so that the governor was greatly amazed.

Now if you were in front of a judge and you were going to be executed and they gave a bunch of false accusations,

I think you'd probably be like me, talking a lot, trying to defend yourself, very loquacious, very I didn't do that,

I didn't do that, I deny that, I wasn't there. Jesus isn't so vocal.

And that impressed Pilate. It says, what does the text say? That he was greatly astonished. This is not normal.

Jesus isn't normal. This is actually a good kind of amazement. This is the kind of the amazement in Matthew 8 where Jesus saw the centurion's faith and he was greatly amazed.

Harmony of the Gospels fill in, but they were urgent, saying he stirs up the people, teaching throughout all

Galilee, from Judea even to this place. When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a

Galilean. When he had learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time.

When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had longed to see him because he had heard about him and he was hoping to see some sign done by him.

So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. The chief priest and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him.

And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate.

And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

Now comes Barabbas, verse 15. You can feel this thing going down the hill quickly with divine orchestration.

Now at the feast, the governor keeps being repeated because the people are really the ones in charge, it seems like from the human perspective, was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted.

This was not Pontius Pilate's decision, this was the crowd's decision.

By the way, pretty good political ploy. We'll give one of your prisoners back as a show of goodwill.

Here's a little amnesty. This was not unknown back in this day and age where someone would be given up to the people and no charges pressed.

Hey, it's Passover after all. Israel, weren't they redeemed out of Egypt?

Shouldn't we redeem someone here? Pilate said, you know, it's that time of the year, it's the Passover. I'll give you someone whom you select and you know he has to be thinking.

Certainly they're going to pick Jesus, the innocent one. Of course they're going to pick this teacher, this miracle worker.

This is a way to get out of my dilemma. Jesus is going to be acquitted. I've got to let somebody go.

It might as well be an innocent person. I don't want to let somebody go who's going to be attacking me and fighting against me. Verse 16, and now onto the stage of scripture, and they had then a notorious, a notorious prisoner called

Bar -Rabbi, Bar - Abba, Barabbas. Now some texts say notorious, some say notable.

It's basically a well known person. Everybody knew about this person and they knew him for being an insurrectionist, a robber, a crook.

There are bad criminals who are well known. Jimmy Hoffa was well known. He was notable, but just in a bad way.

Similarly, Barabbas is a bad man. He's in jail.

He's on his way to be executed as well. And here's the fascinating fact. Several New Testament manuscripts read this way, and they had then a notorious prisoner called

Jesus Barabbas. Jesus Barabbas.

What do you mean Jesus Barabbas? Well, let's think about Barabbas first. Bar -

Abba. Simon Bar - Jonah. Simon son of Jonah.

Jesus son of the father. Lots of times fathers were rabbis called rabbis.

This is Bar - Barabbas son of his father who could have been a rabbi.

But probably the scholars so hated the word Jesus in there, because who wants to associate

Jesus Christ with Jesus Barabbas that they took it out? If you look a little further down in verse 22, it does seem to make sense if you have

Jesus Barabbas and Jesus the Christ when Pilate asked the question what shall

I do with Jesus, which is called Christ? If it was just Jesus Christ, well what will

I do with Jesus? But here, Jesus Barabbas. Which Jesus goes free? Jesus son of the father.

And could it be that he, Jesus Barabbas, had a father who was a rabbi who taught him Jewish things, taught him to love

Israel and the glory of Israel, and so when the Roman occupation comes, he hates that with a nationalistic fervor.

And so this man Barabbas, what we do know for sure, whether his first name was Jesus or not, he was notorious. And everyone knew about him and he was notable, and maybe he had the kind of background where people would say,

Robin Hood, get rid of these Roman people, these horrible occupiers.

We're freedom fighters. He's the top dog guerrilla. He's a zealot against Rome.

He's a patriot. John says he was a robber. And I think

Matthew's painting a picture. Barabbas, super wicked. Jesus, completely innocent.

Peter preaches in Acts chapter 3, but you denied the holy and righteous one and asked for a murderer to be granted to you.

And you killed the author of life whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. He was not just,

Barabbas was not just an insurrectionist, a bad guy, a malefactor. He was a robber who was a murderer.

And now he's going to be crucified. He's going to be killed. Harmony of the

Gospel says Pilate then called together the chief priests and rulers and the people and said to them, You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people?

After examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him.

Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him.

I will therefore punish him and release him. Luke 23. Matthew 27, 17.

Notice your text. So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, Whom do you want me to release for you?

Some manuscripts. Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ.

Which Jesus do you want? You want the

Messiah? You want the Son of the Father? Son of the Rabbi? Which Jesus do you want?

Verse 18. Pilate was smart. He was politically astute.

He knew, verse 18, that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. The popularity of Jesus.

The healing of Jesus. The teaching of Jesus. People are following Jesus and not the scribes and the Pharisees and the lawyers.

They delivered him up out of envy. He could see that. Pilate could. And then the plot thickens.

Insert scary music here. Verse 19. Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him.

Must have been a big deal to interrupt him on the judgment seat. Have nothing to do with that righteous man.

For I've suffered much because of him today in a dream. That righteous man used in 1

John chapter 2, verse 1, Jesus Christ the righteous, used in Acts chapter 7, the coming of the righteous one.

A unregenerate, sinful Gentile woman knows that Jesus is innocent and she's got to give that information to Pilate.

She's thinking about this dream and of course they attributed a lot to dreams back in those days, especially the pagans.

I've got to get this information to Pilate. Tradition gives her a name

Procula or Procula. Sometimes with one L, sometimes with two. She had this dream.

It occurred today. She maybe took a nap, got up. Got to tell her husband at work.

Frank Morrison said of this lady, it was she who stiffened the Roman instinct for justice in Pilate at a moment when he was tempted for personal considerations to humor the prejudices of the

Jewish Camarilla and commit Jesus on their recommendation alone. No wonder

Pilate's dragging his feet. The guy's innocent. Herod finds him innocent. His wife got a dream.

Back off from this situation. Even Procula knew that he was innocent.

Verse 20, now the chief priest and the elders persuaded the crowd manipulates these in the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy

Jesus. Probably not the same crowd that had been impressed with Jesus' miracles and seen him in the temple.

They now are stirred up, Mark chapter 15 says, and they want to pick a hardened criminal who's convicted rightly of murder.

Verse 21 is the people's choice. Governor again said to them, the governor. The people are really governing, you can tell.

But here the governor again said to them, which of the two do you want me to release for you? And they said, Barabbas.

Barabbas. Harmony of the gospel fill in.

Therefore they cried out again saying, not this man but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him and the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe.

They came up to him saying, Hail King of the Jews. Struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them,

See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him. So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe and Pilate said,

Behold the man. Verse 22 in your text take a look at Matthew 27.

Pilate said to them, Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called the

Christ? You obviously want me to let go Jesus who is called Barabbas and you want me to do what with Jesus who is called

Christ again? And they all said, using a word that Matthew brings to light six times in this chapter,

Let him be crucified. Crucified. Crucified. Crucified. Crucified and crucified.

Jesus the Messiah crucify him. Notice the text. They all say, no dissenting voices, unanimous, all for one and one for all,

Jesus the Messiah kill him. Verse 23,

I mean Pilate is trying it seems. What evil has he done? But they shouted all the more drowning out

Pilate's feeble attempt. Let him be crucified. We are pro -Barabbas.

We are anti -Jesus. Harmony of the Gospel fill in from John 19 when the chief priests and officers saw him they cried out, crucify him.

Crucify him. Pilate said to them, take him yourselves and crucify him for I find no guilt in him.

Jews answered him saying, we have a law and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the son of God.

When Pilate heard this statement he was even more afraid. He entered the headquarters again and said to Jesus, where are you from?

Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, will you not speak to me?

Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you? Jesus answered him, you would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.

Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin. From then on Pilate sought to release him but the

Jews cried out, if you release this man you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes

Caesar. So when Pilate heard these words he brought out Jesus and sat down on the judgment seat in a place called the stone pavement in Aramaic, Gabbatha.

Now it was the day of preparation of Passover it was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, behold your king.

They cried out away with him, away with him crucify him. Pilate said to them, shall

I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, we have no king but Caesar.

Verse 24 So when Pilate saw that he was beginning, do you see in Matthew 27 .24

that he was gaining nothing but rather that a riot was beginning he took water washed his hands before the crowd saying

I am innocent of this man's blood see to it yourself. You can just see

Pilate with frustration saying this is murder you're innocent man here you're going to murder and I don't want to be associated with this

I'm washing my hands which was a biblical custom started back in Deuteronomy I don't have anything to do with this

I don't agree with this it's a gesture to show that you're innocent you're going to murder him

I'm not for that Deuteronomy 21 says and all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley and testify our hands did not shed this blood nor did our eyes see it shed sadly though for Pilate he's not completely guiltless why because he could have still said release but it was

Pilate who said crucify see to it yourselves the same words that Judas heard from the chief priest

I have sinned by betraying innocent blood and they said what is that to us see to it yourselves

Grumacher wrote to think that Pilate thought that there was any kind of water that could have possibly cleansed his hands from the guilt of the murder of the

Lord Jesus verse 25 and all the people answered his blood his murder be on us and our children when was the last time you called down a curse on your children now some people have taken this passage to justify anti -semitic behavior of course that would be wrong some people can't bear to think these verses are even in the

Bible like Pope Benedict this is not historical he says it does remind me very much of what

Jesus said in Matthew 21 with the parable of the tenants when the tenants saw the son they said to themselves this is the heir come let us kill him and have his inheritance they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him when therefore the owner of the vineyard comes what will he do to those tenants they said to Jesus he will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits of their seasons how this played out in history we can't be for certain we can't be certain but 70

AD certainly was an exclamation point on the judgment of God on Jerusalem Pilate's title doesn't seem to mean much right now governor verse 26 then he released for them

Bar Abba and having scourged Jesus delivered him over to be crucified in light of the passage let me give you a few exhortations and takeaways

I think I have six number one lessons that we can learn from this passage about Jesus and about Jesus number one don't forget that the world always chooses wrongly the world always chooses wrongly

I don't think we should be surprised as we look at politics and morality in the world and somehow want them to act

Christianly this is no Christian nation nor has it ever been so why would we expect people in our nation to act

Christianly if they aren't Christians the world always chooses wrongly

Bar Abbas instead of Jesus Bar Joseph this is exactly what a person enslaved to sin will do is they'll always pick the wrong way the world system they always pick the wrong way

Garland said our heroes today have become the Barabbas of the world who take matters into their own hands and dispatch the enemy with brute force or clever trickery if the vote came today then

Barabbas would likely win again hands down you can

Google an artist named George Tinworth and in the 1870s he made a famous terracotta and it pictured this scene in Matthew 27

Jesus going to be crucified piled in the center and Barabbas getting freed and underneath Jesus it's gotten written in the terracotta the good shepherd and underneath Barabbas it says the world's choice

White Law said it was popular but the popular choice is often wrong it was frenzied but when passion rules judgment dies it was criminal to prefer a murder over the prince of life it was foolish to choose an enemy and reject a friend like Jesus it was fatal and that it guaranteed judgment to the nation number two if you're not a

Christian you are Barabbas if you are a

Christian you used to be Barabbas you can't read this story and say to yourself yeah Barabbas is super bad rebel condemned death row but I'm good if you're not a

Christian you are on death row just like Barabbas J .C.

Ryle said let us freely confess that like Barabbas we deserve death judgment and hell every person because of Adam's sin consequently sin nature is a murderer thief criminal insurrectionist blasphemer lawbreaker and rioter and if you're not a

Christian you are on death row you have no ability to do good spiritually you're spiritually blind dead in your trespasses and sins incapable of pleasing

God S. Lewis Johnson was talking about what do people on death row do and if they knew they were going to get hung they couldn't stop playing with their neck because they were thinking

I'm going to be hung by the neck until dead and over and over you would catch them rubbing their necks with people who are going to be killed with gas in the gas chamber what do you think they do when observed hold their breath for as long as they can practicing over and over and over so when that hissing sound comes some say that in practice the eyes of the prisoners almost pop out of their head in anticipation of the fact that it's not long before they must breathe the deadly gas

Barabbas is a good reminder that this should have been you and if you're not a Christian this is you you don't have to be ignorant of the

Savior like Pilate you don't have to be ignorant of the one who can really cleanse you like Pilate was ignorant there's a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins and sinners plunge beneath that flood what lose all their guilty stains

Pilate didn't know that the one who could cleanse him from his sin was the one in front of him

Bernard of Clairvaux in his song O sacred head now wounded wrote what thou my

Lord have suffered was all for sinners gain mine mine was the transgression but thine the deadly pain lo here

I fall my Savior tis I deserve thy place look on me with thy favor and grant to me thy grace the bad news is you are on death row if you're not a

Christian the good news is you don't have to be condemned you don't have to go to hell you don't have to be executed spiritually by God you don't have to bear your own judgment you don't have to pay for your own sins

Ephesians 1 says in him Christ we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace lots of stories written about Barabbas we don't have any of these even in tradition but just storied accounts

Oxenham said I think you could have found Barabbas right around that little hill and thinking about the wonderful turn of circumstances which had led to his freedom and as he reflected upon it he looked and he saw the criminals and he thought of the bonds he thought of his curse he thought of the disgrace of dying in this way there's a

Savior who breaks the power of cancelled sin number 4 the gospel shines brightest in the midst of the worst depravity be hopeful because the gospel shines brightest in the midst of the most horrific depravity

I quoted J .C. Ryle before but I didn't give you the whole quote I said let us freely confess that like Barabbas we deserve death judgment and hell but it goes on to say but let us cling firmly to the glorious truth that a sinless

Savior has suffered in our stead and that believing in Him the guilty may go free we testify that the

Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world 1 John 4 Oxenham pictures

Barabbas in his cell looking out and seeing in the far distance a hill with three crosses erected watching with a kind of terrible interest and he sees the one and the second and the other and knowing that he has some friends who are also taken with him

Barabbas hears the sound of men coming towards the cells he hears the tramp of feet he hears the doors open and they come closer and closer and then finally he hears a key here's the key great in the lock and he hears a cell open and he hears the men say come on with us then he hears the same thing again he hears the key and looks out again afterward and he sees the second cross occupied and then he hears the steps for the third time and they come closer and closer and finally he hears the key in the lock of his own cell and the door is flung open and he hears the words

Barabbas you're free Barabbas you're free number 5 substitutionary atonement should give your heart cheer substitutionary atonement should give your heart cheer that's what this is all about it all points to Jesus dying in the place of sinners

Jesus taking our place charges against us he bore we stand in front of the judgment seat of Christ as friends now because he died for our sins

Spurgeon says if he had said in the infinite sovereignty of his absolute will

I have no substitute each man shall suffer for himself but here we have a substitute and Barabbas is perfect Jesus physically dies for Barabbas in his place but for all those in Christ even though we had natures like Barabbas and even though we deserve wrath and condemnation

Jesus took our place we go free and innocent man dies if Jesus isn't your substitute then all the other accolades and attributes and names of Jesus basically mean nothing no wonder people are attacking the doctrine of substitutionary atonement you might not know it but behind the scenes people can't stand substitutionary atonement because they think it's bloody they don't think it's loving they want a therapeutic kind nurturer some ladies are even saying in conferences like the reimagining conference by the way just note to self if you ever want to pay money to go to a conference called reimagining

God save your money on that one one lady said we don't at this conference we don't need guys hanging on crosses with blood dripping and all that weird stuff give us

Jesus the nurturer of course Jesus is an example of love of course it was condescending love at Calvary but if you take away the center the hub

Jesus dying in our place Jesus bearing our sins move to some therapeutic world you lose the gospel

Spurgeon said if ever there should come a wretched day when all our pulpit shall be full of modern thought and the old doctrine of a substitutionary sacrifice shall be exploded and there will remain no word of comfort for the guilty or hope for the despairing when revivalist

Sam Jones said God never threw a javelin into the heart of his son you think of Barabbas Jesus number six two more number six your lone responsibility is to believe if you're not a

Christian and you've heard the claims of Jesus in his word you know you're sinful and depraved and can't save yourself you realize that Jesus died on the cross

God vindicated that death by raising from the dead what's your response what was Barabbas' response the door opens he thinks he's going to go get executed and he's told you're free what was

Barabbas' responsibility to believe it now Barabbas could have said a lot of things and we could probably play this up fairly well he could have said well

I can't go until I make myself a little bit better I'm not quite worthy yet I haven't become quite religious enough

I haven't prayed enough I haven't been baptized enough Barabbas you're free believe it today in our society you tell someone about sin and the savior if they're not careful and if they think humanly they default to what would a

Jew who died 2000 years ago that I've never even met how could he affect my eternal destiny a nondescript

Jew dying on a nondescript hill in a nondescript part of Palestine and what I believe about him determines my eternal salvation 1

Corinthians chapter 1 says people think that's foolishness but the right response the spirit driven response is

I believe it look to the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved I'll believe it

I'm not worthy enough to become a Christian you don't know how many sins I committed well the answer is Christ's grace is greater than all your sin believe

Acts 16 31 believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved John 3 he who believes in him is not judged he who does not believe has been judged already he who believes in the son has eternal life but he who does not obey the son will not see life but the wrath of God abides on him and finally number 7

I want you to be thrilled with the eternal plan of God how he saves sinners this is not an accident

Jesus did not get caught up God is superintending all these things and in eternity past in the sovereign plan of God God voted for Barabbas to be released he voted that Jesus Barabbas would be released if Jesus was with the crowd voting who should be released

Jesus would vote Barabbas all these things controlled by God predicted in Isaiah 53 it pleased the

Lord to crush him who would imagine that God would ever say release

Barabbas and the same God who looks at his people in Christ and says to us you're released you're free you're free let's pray father with the hymn we sing oh father you are sovereign every decision you superintended you overruled you caused you permitted you allowed you ordained because there was a time that you had determined when your son would be sent in this world and there was a perfect time even at Passover time where your son would die on behalf of all those that you had given to him father

I pray for this church today I pray that you would give us thankful hearts joy filled hearts maybe some here have been in literal prison many haven't but if anybody has been in prison rightly convicted for crimes deserving death and then been given a free pass to walk out the door never to have those things hung over their head again it's been us spiritually thank you for seeing us not as those condemned and rebellious and blasphemous but you see us in Christ cloaked with his righteousness you see us and love us as much as you love your son you made us free free indeed because of Jesus and his great work on the cross we just thank you today that we can trust in the risen savior father

I don't know if we'll ever see Barabbas in heaven or not but it would be more amazing that we're there because of your love towards us in Jesus name we pray