The Greatest Exchange - Luke 23 Vs 13-24
November 17, 2024 - Morning Worship Service
Faith Bible Church - Sacramento, California
Message - "The Greatest Exchange" Luke 23:13-25
Pastor Iljin Cho
Transcript
We have Bible study this Wednesday. I think the next one is on the 20th That Bible study will be at 5 30 p .m.
And that's back in the fellowship hall And or you could turn in tune in on YouTube. Sorry about that Our missionaries of the month are
John and Becky Knox who were here They serve with BMW in Japan.
So just pray for them. We have our ladies Christmas brunch So mark your calendars that's going to be
Saturday December 7th at 10 a .m I'm sure you guys noticed on the way in we have the church is being painted
So I think their ETA for that is the 20th. So So we all look forward to seeing how that's gonna look.
So we'll just open in prayer Dear Lord, we thank you for today. Thank you for gathering us all here this morning
Lord Keep getting us here safely. We just pray Lord for today's message that We would all be blessed by Lord and that we could all
Take from it and and walk in obedience throughout the week Lord. We praise you. We love you in Jesus name.
Amen well, please stand together our first song is how deep the father's love and I was looking at Psalm 136 and it's
It kind of repeats that theme over and over again for his mercy his love endures forever
And that's dozen plus times of Oh give thanks to the God of heaven for his mercy
Endures forever his love endures forever and what a loving God that we do have that we can serve him
We can love him we can worship him and that's what we do corporately today And they had been released they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them and Then they heard this they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said
Oh Lord, it is you who made the heavens and in the earth and the sea and all that is in them
Who by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of our father David your servant said?
Why did the Gentiles rage and the people's devised futile things? The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together
Against the Lord and against his Christ For truly in the city there were gathered together against your holy servant
Jesus Whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate along with the
Gentiles and the peoples of Israel To do whatever your hand and your purpose
Predestined to occur and now Lord take note of their threats and grant that your bond servants
May speak your word with all confidence while you extend your hand to heal and signs and wonders
Take place through the name of your holy servant Jesus. Well, let's stand together again we're gonna sing what wondrous love is this and it's a
It's a picture of a believer Sitting back and kind of meditating on how could
God do what he did for me? And we'll never be able to answer that on this side of heaven, but we can certainly appreciate
What a gift what a blessing it is that we can to understand that love that he has for us
Great to hear all of you singing.
I think it's important to Know that people who are up here whether Harold singing or Katie and Lauren playing their instruments
It's to facilitate the whole church in Worshipping the
Lord right first you're singing to the Lord and second You're even singing to each other because the words that we sing are very deep and rich in theology in Shaping what
Jesus had done and who he is So all feel free to sing however loudly you
Want right? It is a blessing to hear real people singing and with Without any recordings, right with that let's all turn to Luke chapter 23
Luke chapter 23 verses 13 through 25 Luke chapter 23 verses 13 through 25
Then Pilate when he had called together the chief priests the rulers and the people said to them you have brought this man to me as one who misleads the people and Indeed having examined him in your presence.
I have found no guilt in this man Concerning those things of which you accuse him
No, neither did Herod for I sent you back to him and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by him.
I Will therefore chastise him and release him where it was necessary for him to release one of them at the feast and They all cried out at one saying away with this man and release to us for Abbas Who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city and for murder?
Pilate therefore wishing to release Jesus again called out to them, but they shouted saying crucify him crucify him
Then he said to them the third time why what evil has he done I have found no reason for death in him
I will therefore chastise him and let him go but they were insistent Demanding with loud voices that he be crucified and the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed so Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested and He released to them the one they requested who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison
But he delivered Jesus to their will this is the word of the Lord Let us pray father we are grateful that you have sent your son to die on the cross for our sin and that his death was not as a punishment for his guilt
But his death was a substitution in our place and in also another since Barabbas's place
Thank you that we have The full pardon and forgiveness of sin in Jesus Christ who died for our sin
Facing the wrath that we deserve Thank you that we couldn't have done it ourselves and thank you that it's a free gift
In Jesus name this text follows a series of injustice
Done by the religious leaders and also the political leaders and In this particular passage
Luke portrays Jesus as clearly innocent In fact this short passage alone has
Pilate the human judge Declaring Jesus to be innocent three different times
In fact Pilate desires to free Jesus, but he is pressured by the crowd and the religious leaders
To release the wrong guy Barabbas who is an actual insurrectionist unless we think this is
Just a rare occasion. I do want us to note how the
Bible actually portrays the world Oftentimes people think
That only if God were to come down everything will be made right and people will just obey
Right. I know we just had the election. I know some people naively think only if Jesus were running as for president
This text clearly shows Jesus would not have been elected But rather he would have been executed
The world is not a fan of Christ in fact
John 3 16 Probably one of the most famous verses in the
Bible right for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son Oftentimes we focus on how big the world is
God's love must be so big because there's so many people to love Yes, that's true but if you consider
How John depicts the world? The world's actually a really dark place
The world actually rejected him The world rebelled against him and in that sense we get to see a greater depth of God's love
It's that he loves despite their rejection In this passage
Has one of the most ironic Exchanges with the crowd and pilot in verse 17
It's said that there's a cultural practice of letting of criminal go free during the festival now some translations don't have verse 17 and This is because many of the early manuscripts of the
Bible the New Testament They do not have verse 17 However, the fact that pilot wanted to release a known insurrectionist a known rebel
In place of Christ and that being a tradition is actually well recorded in both
Matthew and Mark So nothing really is lost whether Luke originally had verse 17 or not
Moreover Whether it is there or not. It does not change the fact that Jesus the innocent one
Was Executed in place of the guilty criminal
This is this exchange of Barabbas and Jesus is the physical representation of what happened spiritually
Although pilots corrupt court committed injustice in crucifying the innocent Christ And releasing a criminal the heavenly court accomplished the ultimate substitutionary atonement on behalf of his people the unblemished
Lamb of God took the place of the guilty and it is not just one guilty person
The innocent Messiah suffered on behalf of his sinful people
Despite despite their rejection and This crucial doctrine is called the substitutionary atonement.
And in fact, it is the core of the gospel It is this idea.
It is this belief view that Jesus took on our place of guilt and sin although innocent and Faced the punishment that we deserved so that we may be found
Righteous not in our own righteousness, but in his righteousness alone That is the core of the gospel.
And if that is lost We lose salvation We miss substitutionary atonement that we don't have the gospel
And we see a physical Illustration of what really went on when the innocent one was put to death while the guilty was released
The main point of today's text is that Jesus despite his innocence suffers on behalf of the wicked
So that the guilty may be released Jesus despite his innocence suffers on behalf of the wicked so that the guilty may be released
First verses 13 through 16 despite Jesus's indisputable innocence the corrupt authorities unjustly kept him
Despite Jesus's indisputable innocence that corrupt authorities unjustly kept him
After Pilate receives Jesus back from Herod, right? It was a back -and -forth interaction
He is ready to make the official ruling Then Pilate when he had called together the chief priests the rulers and the people
Here, we actually have a bigger crowd than just the political and religious leaders. In fact, we have the people
The crowd of people have joined in for once Jesus will not get the popular support from the common folks
They have been Compromised The very group that the religious leaders feared would intervene in saving
Jesus life Have joined their side to oppose
Jesus together and Pilate clearly declares
Jesus is innocent in verse 14 you have brought this man to me as one who misleads the people and Indeed having examined him in your presence
I have found no fault in this man concerning those things of which you accuse him the charge was that Jesus misled the people of Israel and Pilate's investigation
Obviously found it false Jesus is innocent. The irony is of course that the people have been misled
But by the very people who are opposing Christ The one who the ones who are guilty are the ones who are going to be screaming
Crucify him the crowd before Pilate have been stirred up by the religious leaders to oppose their true
King In fact, there is more than just one insurrectionist here the whole group is an insurrection and That includes
Pilate They have rejected the true king of the universe and Pilate's ruling is corroborated by another official
No, neither did Herod for I sent you back to him and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by him
This is the second declaration of Jesus's innocence and this is crucial
It is not just Pilate who's just who happened to be prejudiced against the Jews, right?
After all Pilate does not have a great record with the Judeans right he
One would actually correctly claim his record shows his anti -semitic however, not here in fact one of the officials which is
Herod Herod is half Jewish find found no fault in Jesus himself and The fact that we have the second witness is pretty crucial because that's what
God's law required in Deuteronomy 1915 The law says two or more witnesses were required to be for a charge to be established the law
Represents God's justice And what that means is under God's standard
Jesus is guiltless right a single witness shall not suffice against the person for any crime or For any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed
Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established
During Jesus's trial his innocence Was according to God's standard of righteousness
The only standard of righteousness God's law Was to protect the innocent against the corruptible judges who would take just one evidence and for Jesus trial there were two investigators two officials who found no charge against him and Whether according to God's law or even
Roman law Jesus was innocent he did not deserve to die and Despite his innocence
Pilate desires to please the crowd. I will therefore chastise him and release him chastisement here would have been some public whipping right taking a whip and hitting
Jesus so that his flesh is torn very painful and humiliating but It's a compromise
Okay, you don't want Jesus Free but I can still punish him for you
The irony of course is Pilate just declared Jesus to be innocent not only once but twice
Verses 14 and 15 yet. He is willing to whip Jesus before letting him go
After all innocent men are not to be punished Unless we think
Pilate is pure in all of this we see his true intentions Pilate is not motivated by justice
But the positive opinion in a man He cares more about what the mob thinks of him rather than what
God thinks of him In the end justice is not to be found in Pilate's court we live in a society where justice is oftentimes twisted oftentimes criminals are rewarded and the
Survivors are punished And we have that going now in New York a veteran who saved a lot of people in the subway, and he's being charged for homicide or whatever he's being charged with whether manslaughter or homicide, but He saved the people on the subway
Lest we get confused where justice comes from justice is not from human community evolving
Justice is not In fact inherent in normal humans
Justice is having the right relationship with God and others
That's justice it's being right with God and being right with others
And this morning justice was not done in this passage
This morning justice was not found in Pilate's court Pilate chose popularity over justice
Pilate chose positive opinion of man rather than God's standard of righteousness Pilate loved political efficiency more so than Righteousness of God and this is important because Jesus suffered injustice for our sake
When Jesus suffered on the cross when he died for our sin It wasn't for his sin.
He was the only innocent one in the room When Jesus suffered for our sake it was so that God's justice may be fulfilled in him
There is nothing righteous about Pilate's court It makes no sense that Pilate did not immediately let
Jesus go upon his declaration of innocence Yet he wants to beat him up before letting him go
But as it was read to us this morning by Hezekiah in Acts 4 It was although the wicked man rose against God and his
Messiah Christ God had another plan But according to God's sovereign plan
This was precisely the injustice that Jesus must suffer that the divine justice and mercy meet
In Christ alone you find both mercy and justice Do not let anyone tell you
That mercy and justice are incompatible other religious attempt to Give you one or the other either you get justice where you're heavily burdened by the weight of your sin, and there's no way out and You have to fall under the standards of legalism where you have to follow things that God is silent on or You follow this cheap grace that for some reason
God turns away from all your false and horrible records and Just by fiat say it doesn't exist
It cheapens God's grace and this is an important question.
We have to add answer Have you ever wondered how the Holy God? Could remain righteous and holy yet still pardoned the guilty
How can my sin be forgiven when I don't have to pay for it
After all Would it not be unjust if the judge says you're innocent even if there are records of guilt and sin against you
Other religions will say your good works will cover the bad works and make sure you solve the algebraic equation
So that the good works outweigh the bad yet That equation would not even work in our human court system after all burglars can't serve
Food to the homeless to avoid prison terms Murderers can't even can't earn volunteer hours to avoid serving their sentences
Their records still stand against them. In fact any human judge who allows that would be disbarred or Voted out and the question is how could
God justly justify sinners and still remain just? It sounds like a tongue twister
But God's justice is at stake if God justifies sinners and the sin still remains in the sin on the sinner
Then he's no longer just I think
One the first verse of Solos's song about Romans 3 makes it clear
Jesus came to die God in the form of Christ as a sacrifice to appease
God's wrath and make us right So the judge can freely justify and be just Ultimately the judge himself served the sentence that we deserved
He faced the punishment the penalty that we have earned He faced the full wrath of God that was reserved for us
So that there is none for you to face In order that he may pardon us from our sin and still maintain his holiness and justice
Any God or gods that claim to forgive sin, but have not
Taken care of the sin Have not paid for the sin Have not suffered for the sin himself or themselves are practicing injustice only at the cross
Justice and mercy are fulfilled Our Righteousness our right standing before God does not in fact depend on our own righteous deeds
But what Christ accomplished for us on the cross for our sake Jesus forgiveness is
Only available because he paid for our sin on the cross. In fact
Put it another way. It would be unjust For God to hold back wrath against a sinner who has been forgiven by Christ God's faithfulness and righteousness are at stake here
If you are not forgiven yet believe in Jesus Christ death and resurrection
Now what happens when
Jesus is declared innocent? Despite Jesus innocence the people choose to release the guilty criminal instead of the innocent
Christ Despite Jesus's innocence the people choose to release the guilty criminal instead of the innocent
Christ When it seemed like Pilate was about to release
Jesus the crowd steps in they intervene And they all cried out at one saying away with this man and release to us
Barabbas Different from what the religious leaders feared only a couple chapters ago
The crowd actually wants Jesus dead just like them Barabbas is a
Semitic name and so for some of you who know or who have some
Hebrew Like friends or culture you can actually take it apart bar son
Right Simon bar Jonah Simon son of Jonah bar mitzvah son of the commandment
Right son. So bar means son. What would Abbas mean? Well Abba father?
Translation Barabbas means son of the father the irony is
That they want to kill the true son of the father God to release the actual insurrectionist
Who is not? the son of the father or One would say the son of the devil one who committed murder
Just says the devil Kept killing from the beginning verse 19 actually tells us what kind of man
Barabbas was Who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city and for murder
Ironically Barabbas was convicted of starting a resurrection The exact charge that they could not establish against Jesus in any court
Except against Barabbas the evidence was clear. Someone did die He was a violent resurrectionist who took away another person's life and that was clearly established
Pilate astonished by their choice asked again in verse 20 if the crowd resolutely made up its mind
But they shouted saying crucify him crucify him the fact that they're chanting it twice is
Emphatic There's a measurable pressure from the crowd against the governor's guilty.
I mean guiltless verdict against the verdict of innocence and Pilate makes his last plea to save Jesus Then he said to them the third time why what evil has he done?
I have found no reason for death in him. I will therefore chastise him and let him go
Again, he compromises Jesus will be whipped and the true rebel rebel Barabbas will be dealt with but let's not put an innocent man to death
And verse 23 will show that Pilate was in fact spineless But they were insistent demanding with loud voices that he be crucified and the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed and in the next following two verses 24 and 25
Pilate actually goes with their demands as he frees the terrorists and crucifies
Christ Pilate was a politician rather than a just Judge his political career was more important than administering justice
His desire to avoid a riot during the festival Outweighed his desire for his the innocent man to be released
Now, let's talk about what crucifixion is. What is crucifixion? Crucifixion was the most humiliating form of execution during a
Roman Empire They did not come up with it Human cruelty can go way back
It's a Persian form of it execution by the time you get to Greece and Rome Common folks weren't executed this way mainly slaves and in Rome Roman citizens weren't executed this way only foreigners.
So all the martyrs of Roman citizens of Rome like Paul the
Apostle Paul. He was not crucified. He was beheaded Because it was too shameful for a
Roman citizen to hang on the cross like that the criminal would carry the bar all the way up to the cross where the about a seven feet tall
Wood had been established on a mound and he would be lifted up either he might have been pierced in Jesus case he was or tied
And he would be in such an unnatural posture where every breath he takes would be
Exhaustive The lungs were not in the right position to fill up with air every breath so he would have to go up stand on his feet every time in order to grasp some air but obviously when you're crucified pierced and you've been doing that for hours it gets
Exhausting and Over time as the crowd is watching for hours The one who is crucified would die of suffocation
Unable to go up and hoist himself up in order to grasp the last gasp the last breath of air or He would have died of blood loss
Either way, it was a slow painful and Humiliating way to die and that was precisely the point
The public execution was to send a message to all never to go against Rome or you will face that fate and That is what?
The crowd was chanting for Against an innocent man who hasn't done a thing wrong and they decided
They wanted the guilty man free rather than letting the innocent man go despite Jesus is clear innocence and Barabbas is clear guilt the crowd chose to crucify
Jesus and let Barabbas free in This passage the only person who is blameless is
Jesus alone Barabbas is an actual insurrectionist who committed murder The Jewish leaders stirred up the crowd to kill the innocent man they conspired against the
Lord The powerful Roman politician who had the authority to free this innocent man instead bends justice to appease the crowd rather than God and the only innocent person in this room is
Jesus alone and In the literal sense Jesus died so that Barabbas lives
Jesus died so that the wicked terrorist was freed Jesus died so that a sinner lived and This is the spiritual picture of what was accomplished through Jesus the death on the cross
Although Barabbas was temporarily freed in this exchange Christians are eternally eternally freed because Jesus took our place on the cross
Barabbas was literally freed from death that specific day Christians are spiritually freed from death for all eternity.
I Have no idea what happened to Barabbas afterward But you can have assurance
What will happen to you? Because Jesus took your place and this is because if you believe in Jesus Christ, your sin was placed on him
Jesus died despite his innocence so that you a sinner could be freed and Just like the physical realm.
There was also a judicial exchange in the spiritual realm God poured out his judgment on his innocent son so that you the guilty may be spared
Remember when Jesus died when he took his last breath is it wasn't because he could no longer take his last breath
Because he died after shouting If you're not
Out of it unless you are full of breath you can't be shouting yet.
This is finished. This was his cry He didn't die of suffocation He died after Facing God's wrath out poured his own judgment on his innocent son so that you the guilty may be spared
And the question we have to ask is what are you freed from? You're freed from God's judgment against your sin.
All of us are born into sin. We commit sin against God We choose to rebel against God.
We consistently attempt to usurp God's throne We constantly reject
God's rule Not only that Even after we sin our instinct our nature is to justify ourselves
I don't believe in white lies, but people often say that was a white lie
Not a big deal Or that wasn't gossip. I just needed it to get it off my chest or even more sinister
That's that was a concerned prayer request I'm concerned for her. I'm concerned for him or you you you deserved to be yelled at Or you deserve the cold silent treatment
Instead of falling before the judge's throne for his mercy We enthrone ourselves to decide the verdict for ourselves, right?
That wasn't adultery It was just an inappropriate relationship That's self -justification in this sense.
We're no better than Barabbas the insurrectionist After all we too have committed treason not against Rome, but the highest authority
When we decide to justify ourselves We take the throne of God When we make excuses for our sin
We dethrone God and enthrone ourselves We have committed treason against God But if you trust that Jesus took your guilt
He took your guilty place and he faced God's wrath for you
Then you must believe there's no more leftover wrath for you After all, how could
God try you twice? That would be double jeopardy You cannot be tried for the sins that been paid for God graciously took your place so that you may be pardoned from not just some of your sin, but all of your sin
If that is true in your life, you do not need to justify yourself ever Who are you trying to hide from to cover up your sin?
Whose justification are you longing for if you're justified because of Christ's suffering? Whom do you need to impress when when also for that sin
Christ suffered? Christ's substitutionary atonement not only frees us from the wrath to come but also the deceitful desire to justify ourselves
When you are made righteous when you're declared righteous in Christ God looks to Christ's perfect record your sinful record has been nailed on the cross and been paid for God does not resurrect the past record that's been paid for The only thing
God has resurrected is Christ and that is the foretaste of your resurrection in righteousness
Christ's substitutionary atonement Transfers the focus from our wickedness wicked past our past records our evil desires to his abounding grace
That is what happened when Christ suffered on behalf of the guilty and I don't mean just Barabbas When you truly believe in Christ substitutionary atonement
You are quite mesmerized by his abounding grace That even the thought of just making myself righteous with my own excuses seem preposterous
And I think Charles Wesley wrote such a great hymn Rather not
Charles Wesley the hymn grace greater than our sin Depicts this really well marvelous grace of our loving
Lord Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt yonder and Calvary's mount outpoured
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt grace grace
God's grace Grace that will pardon and cleanse within grace grace
God's grace Grace that is greater than all our sin and we can sing that and mean it
Because we believe in the greatest exchange of all the innocent died
So that the guilty may live Let us pray
Father we are grateful that Jesus died for us
So that we may live so that our records may be expunged So that our guilt may be cleansed so that the judgment that were overdue against us
Would be poured on him And father thank you for this grace that we cannot earn
But was earned for us and freely given as such a high cost and help us
To trust that believe that be transformed by that Help us to never to justify ourselves help us to Also, not to take sin so lightly
But to completely Lean on the cross of Jesus by which the wrath of God was satisfied