If you would, turn with me to
Mark chapter 15. When I was growing up, we lived near
my grandparents. And particularly my mom's parents
were a very influential part of my childhood. And I would
love for my kids and even my wife to have known them like
I knew them, for me to be able to introduce
them as I knew them. And whenever I try to tell them
something about it, words just aren't adequate. They just don't
express who they were. There's so much about those that
we love that when we try to tell, we just can't express it in the
way that we know we want to. And I think it's a struggle everyone
that gets up in the pulpit has. How do you tell of the one you
love Lord Jesus Christ. How do you convey that in words? Where do you start? This trouble
I had looking for a message, where where do you start? Do
you start with Christ, the sovereign creator who spoke the world and
all that is in it into being? who by the word of his power
gives life and breath to us all. You start with his glory as the
only begotten son of God, the express image of the Godhead,
the greatness of his love towards us as a father who loves us and adopted us as children
into his family. His love as a husband who provides
for us as the bride of his youth. You can just get overwhelmed
in all that Christ has done for us. How do you narrow that down
to bring a focus? And as I was pondering on all
this, I was drawn to the account of Barabbas. in a way that I'd
never considered Brabus before. And I realized in considering
what I wanted to convey, it's when I see him who loved me and
gave himself for me that I love him most. The account of Brabus is very
brief, being generous in counting the verses concerning him, his
role in scripture is less than 30 verses. And we know that every word of
scripture is precious, but how much so when the account is recorded
in all four of the gospels? Four different places record
the account of Barabbas, and you can't study our Lord's crucifixion
without Barabbas being part of the study. Mark records the most
detail about Barabbas. So join me there, Mark chapter
15. We'll read the first 15 verses
together. Mark 15, verse one. And straightway
in the morning, the chief priest held a consultation with the
elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus and
carried him away and delivered him to Pilate. And Pilate asked
him, art thou the king of the Jews? And he answering said unto
him, thou sayest it. And the chief priest accused
him of many things, but he answered them nothing. And Pilate asked
him again saying, answerest thou nothing? Behold, how many things
they witness against thee. But Jesus yet answered nothing,
so that Pilate marveled. Now at that feast, he released
unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. And there was one
named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection
with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection. And the
multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had
ever done unto them. But Paul had answered them saying,
will ye that I release unto you the king of the Jews? For he
knew that the chief priest had delivered him for envy. But the
chief priest moved the people that he should rather release
Barabbas unto them. And Pilate answered and said
unto them, what will ye then that I should do unto him whom
ye call the king of the Jews? And they cried out again, crucify
him. And Pilate said unto them, why,
what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly,
crucify him. And so Pilate, willing to content
the people, released Barabbas unto them and delivered Jesus
when he had scourged him to be crucified. I found myself relating very
much to Barabbas while I was studying on this. Not long before
these events occurred, Barabbas had been a free man. He had come
and gone as he willed, doing what he needed to do, day in
and day out. He probably had a job. He had
family responsibilities, I'm sure, whether to his own household,
if he were married, or to his parents or relatives. He had friends and neighbors
that he gathered with, enjoyed an afternoon with. In short,
he was a man living out his life. He lived under the Jewish and
the Roman laws, and he had no concern with them. For by all
accounts, up to this point, he had kept all those laws. He had
nothing to fear from them. Barabbas reminded me of another
man, My father Adam once stood before God perfect and communed
with him without any fear. He lived under the law and yet
he didn't fear it and he wasn't under condemnation. He had kept
that law. He was created perfect. He was
free from condemnation and the judgment of death. Another man it reminded me of
was the Apostle Paul. He wrote in Romans 7-9, I was
alive without the law once. Meaning I once lived thanking
myself guiltless before God's law. He reminds me of another man.
This one. Like my father Adam before me
and like Paul and just like Brabus, I justified myself before God's
law. Did I keep it completely and
wholly? No, can't do that, but I did
my best and I counted that the just and holy God was just like
sinful man, that he would judge his laws the same as we do, our
own. I did my best, and that should
be good enough, because I'm doing better than them. I judged God and his judgment
of his law to be the same as we do concerning speeding. We all follow the posted speed
limit at all times, I'm certain, except for yesterday because
I was in a hurry. But as I'm going down, knowingly
and willingly breaking that speed limit, I'm very careful that
there's always someone else going a little bit faster because the
law's going to get them. They're worse than I am. I'm
better. I'm not speeding as much as them,
so the law's going to get them and I'm going to go free. And
that's what mankind thinks of God's judgment of his law. And
we are Horribly wrong. Paul continued in Romans 7-9,
I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came,
sin revived and I died. For Barabbas, a day came when
his nature, that rebellious, murderous, riotous nature was
made manifest. God allowed it to be revealed.
and he was allowed to perform all that was already in his heart. Having done so, the law that
he had previously freely lived under bound him and he was confined
into the prison cell. How heavy the weight and the
guilt hung upon him, the fear and the dread that he must have
felt. For having been found guilty,
he faces one certain future, death. One day, I was going about having
no concern for God or his law. And a preacher stood and preached
unto me, Christ crucified. And the Holy Spirit was pleased
to bring to light in me that I, not someone else, I had sinned
against God. I had lifted my hands in rebellion
and I had slain the son of his love. I was guilty. I was and had always
been, without knowing it, bound and in prison awaiting my just
condemnation, which was the only possible future
for me, the rebel against God. I had sinned and the wages of
sin is death. Now, let's suppose that in our
account here, Barabbas is in that dark dungeon prison cell. But he can hear that a large
crowd has gathered. He's not fully aware of what's
going on outside of his little domain. bound in that prison cell, but
he can hear that a large crowd has gotten together. And he's not able to hear distinct
words by an individual, but all at once, the crowd clearly cries
out, Barabbas. That gets his attention. They've
called out his name. And then there's more. He's paying
more attention now, but he still can't fully make out what is
being said. And then he clearly hears, crucify
him, crucify him. His heart sinks. He knows he's
guilty. He knows death awaits him. But
the death of the cross not this death, any death but this death. When the commandment comes to
God's elect sinner, when our eyes are opened and when we see
our true nature as rebels against God and that we ourselves have
murdered his son, we find ourselves condemned and guilty of the death
that we deserve. We hear the cries of the law
and justice of God demand our death and the eternal separation
from God. And our hearts fail us. We have
no strength. We have no plea. We have no hope. The just sentence, eternal separation,
the second death, it is what we have earned and what we deserve. Back in that prison cell, in
that dungeon, chained, unable to move, and unbeknownst to him,
Barabbas doesn't know that there's another man standing there before
that crowd, before the judge, and before the ruler. A man who
stood guiltless before the law. for no man could lay any charge
to him. Yet it was because of his presence
in that crowd that Barabbas heard his name cry. It's because of
his presence that the crowd cried out, release Barabbas. And it was that other man that
they cried out to be crucified. And the Roman law, having prepared
for and having promised three to be crucified that day, is
satisfied with this. Doesn't particularly care which
man is on that cross, just as long as there's a man on that
cross. Back in that cell, Barabbas knowing
the death that awaits him. that he thinks awaits him. He
hears the steps of the guard coming, the key in the door,
the bolt is pulled back, and the guard enters in and goes
straight to Barabbas. He lifts him up, removing his
bonds, and the guard says to him, By the order of the most
excellent Roman emperor and his governor Pontius Pilate, Barabbas,
you are hereby free. In a stupor of uncertainty, of
disbelief, his own disbelief, and the disbelief of those prisoners
that were with him, for he was bound with them that had made
insurrection with him. The law takes Barabbas and leads
him forth from that cell. As they approach the outer walls
of the judgment hall, Barabbas finally shakes off What's going
on? I don't understand. How can this
be? And he's finally able to say
to the. To that guard taking him out. The law. The rulers, the crowd, I heard
them. They cried out for my crucifixion
fiction. And now I'm set free. How how? How can it be? And the guard pauses a moment,
turns and points and says, that man over there, he took your
place. You're free. Before God spoke the world into
being, before my fathers rose up in open rebellion, before
I joined them in the fight, God looked upon this sinner, a polluted,
bloody murderer, in love. He saw me for who I am, saw me
for what I am, a vile, wretched, dead sinner, and yet he chose
me to be one that he set his love on. as I am nothing but sin and cannot
approach or commune with Him, as He is holy and cannot approach
and commune with me. So God the Son was given a chosen, elect, wretched bunch of sinners
by God the Father. And he seeing my plight, loving
his father, he took my place. He took me into his bosom. As he kept the law, I kept the
law in him. my sin, my shame, my guilt, my
curse, me. He owned all of that and said,
it's mine, it's no longer yours, I take it. When our Lord Jesus Christ went
to the cross, The wrath of God was poured out on his sin, none
of which he had committed. It was mine, but he took it to
be his own. He took my death so that he could
grant unto me eternal life in Christ Jesus. being in his bosom,
when he died, I died. When he rose from the grave,
because there was no sin, for he has put it away by his own
blood, I rose with him." When Christ reveals to that elect
sinner, we are made to know what it is. to be set free. We're made to
know that because of Him, because He kept the law, because He suffered
the wrath and the punishment, because He put it away, because
He finished the work, we are free. Do we not follow Him to Calvary
Street? Do we not gaze upon him in wonder
and adoration as we see him there dying for such a rebel as this? And you see why I love Lord Jesus
Christ? Deserving nothing, being bound
and condemned by the law, Serving wrath and death, he looked
upon me in love. He came to where I was. He took
my place. He suffered and died the curse
that I deserve. And he gave me eternal life in
him. Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory,
had mercy upon this poor, wretched sinner. and He is able and willing
to save all who come before Him seeking His salvation. Are you condemned? Is justice
and wrath of God crying out against you? Cry out to Him in mercy. Cry out for mercy. Go to the
Lord Jesus Christ, for He came into the world to save sinners. Turn over to Galatians chapter
two. I have just one final thought
concerning Barabbas. Galatians chapter two. Do you suppose Barabbas ever
feared that the Roman law would come back after him? He's been
set free. He's going about living his life
again. Think he ever looked over his
shoulder and wondered if that soldier that he had just walked
past was going to come after him? There are times when the law threatens my conscience. I cannot keep the law, much as
I would love to, All is good. As much as I would love to live
a life that is totally honoring to the Lord, my Savior, I just
can't do it. And the fearful thought wells
up in my heart, you don't serve God as He deserves. You don't worship Him as He deserves. You don't love Him as He deserves. the doubts and fears of our sinful
nature that we must strive with while we're in this body of death. But I have found them all to
be good. For every time those doubts and
fears arise when my conscience plagues me, sometimes it takes
longer than other times, but always I'm pointed back to the
Lord, my Savior, who gave himself for me. They always lead me back
to flee to the cross where my Lord cried out, it is finished. It's done, they're put away. Oh, the relief that comes once
again from being reminded that he has done it all. There at the cross, looking one
more time upon the one I love, my guilty conscience finds the
rest that it needs. Paul says here in verse 20, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. I pray the Lord will be pleased
to reveal himself to us again today, that we may know him. And if we know him, we love him. I pray the Lord bless us.