Jesus is Loving Barabbas
So we all know the story of Jesus and his journey to the cross. He is betrayed by Judas, taken by the Romans, and goes through some of the most horrendous things a person could ever go through. In the midst of this, the people were given a choice: free Jesus who had never committed a single sin, or free a murderer. As we all know, the people cried for the murderer, Barabbas, to be freed.
Now, we never really give much thought about one certain detail in this little part of the story. It appears to be just another point to prove that the Jews really just wanted Jesus to suffer and die because they hated him. But that’s just the surface. We hardly give much thought to Barabbas. Why should we? He’s just an awful, cruel, murderer who got to be free instead of Jesus.
So let’s dig deeper. Barabbas: a thug, rebellious, cruel, deserved to be a prisoner, and just an all around bad person. Jesus: perfect, healed, loved, freed, performed miracles. But Barabbas is the one who is freed. He is welcomed by the crowd as he proudly takes his first steps into freedom. Not once looking back to the man who is now taking his place on death row. Jesus made no protests. He just stood there, silently, letting the man who didn’t deserve freedom, walk away. He knew that this was going to happen, he knew it was all in the Father’s plan. “For Jesus knew that the Father would have to treat Jesus like Barabbas so he could treat Barabbas like Jesus.”
Barabbas gave the credit of his freedom to the people. They were the ones who voted and cheered for him. But was is really the people who freed him? No. It was the love of the Father.
Who is Barabbas really? God loved him. He was an awful person. God knew everything he had ever done, and everything he was going to do. Barabbas never realized he was given the gift of freedom. He was so self absorbed and prideful. God knew that. He still loved him. So who is Barabbas? Barabbas is us.
Sometimes, we think it is up to us and earthly things to get us out of the tough times. Sometimes, we think we have to do everything we can to get us down from that platform and set ourselves free. But it never really works out our way does it? We can’t overcome sin by ourselves. We can only do that with Jesus, who took our place, not only on the cross, but on the platform. How many times have we found ourselves on the platform with Jesus? How many times has Jesus set us free, whether we think we deserve it or not? Every time, Jesus tells us to give him our sins. When we think we deserve to be ashamed, he says to give it to him. When we think we deserve pain, he says give it to him. No matter how much we mess up, He will still be there. His love is so expansive, never ending, so perfect, so caring, so welcoming, that he will always love everyone of us. Everyone in this room, on this campus, in this state, in this country, and in the world. So when he says to give him our sins, that’s what we have to do. And he covers us in his forgiveness. He takes our sin to the cross with him to pay the price, as we get to walk free through the crowds.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 ESV
There is no way we could ever free ourselves. It will always be Jesus. If his blood can give us salvation, then it can continue to help us through every challenge we ever face.
“Jesus is enough.”
Here is the link! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwX_EpNR4CA
