If you want, join me in Mark
Chapter 15. Growing up, My mom's parents
were a very influential part of my childhood. And I would have loved for Stacia
and the kids to have known them like I know them. And I try to
tell them about my grandparents, try to let them know them in some way.
And when I do, I feel so inadequate to describe what they meant to
me growing up, what our relationship was, what their personalities
were like. Is that feeding back? Try that. But I can't convey to them who
they were. Don't you find that to be the
case? When you try to introduce someone that you love to somebody
else, you just can't express who that person is adequately. There's so much we can tell about
those that we love that it's often difficult to know where
to start. When we preach, when we witness,
Isn't our goal that when we leave that person, when the message
is over, when we've told all that we know
how to tell, all we truly want is for that person that we're
talking to to know and fall in love with the Lord Jesus Christ? Where to start? When you're asked
to preach, when you're asked to witness, when somebody asks
you, who is Jesus Christ to you? Where to start? Do you start with Christ, the
sovereign creator who spoke the world and all that exists in
it into being, who by the word of His power gives life and breath
to us all? Or of His glory as the only begotten
Son of God? the express image of God the
Father, the one in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. Then there's the greatness of
his love toward us as a father has for his children. The fact
that he has adopted us, that he provides for us as a husband
for the bride of his youth. It's overwhelming. When you consider
who Christ is, how can you convey that in 30 minutes, 45 minutes,
in a passing conversation with a friend? As I was thinking on this, my
attention was drawn to Barabbas in a light that I hadn't considered
him before. And I realized that in considering
our Lord Jesus Christ, it's when I see him who loved me and gave
himself for me that I love him the most. The account of Barabbas
is very brief. If we're exceeding generous in
counting the verses, his role in scripture is recorded in 30
verses or less. But we know that every word of
Scripture is precious, and how much more so when an account
is recorded in all four Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
record something of Barabbas. You can't study our Lord's crucifixion
and not know of Barabbas. Mark records the most detail
about Barabbas. So join me there in Mark chapter
15 and we'll read the first 15 verses. Mark 15 verse 1. 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 Pilate 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. In Luke's account it says, They
cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release
unto us Barabbas. Back in verse 12, And Pilate
answered and said unto them, What will ye then that I shall
do unto him whom ye call the king of the Jews? And they cried
out again, Crucify him! Then 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. More so than ever, I found myself
relating to Barabbas and his condition in this account. Not
long before these events occurred, Barabbas had been a free man.
He had come and gone as he pleased. He most likely had a job and
family cares to attend to. He had friends and neighbors
that he gathered with. In short, he was a man living
his life. He lived under the Jewish and
Roman laws, having no concern about them, for he had kept those
laws. Does he begin to remind you of
another man? Our father Adam once stood before
the law of God free of guilt. He was created perfect and free
from the condemnation and judgment of death. That's one example. What about
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. Can you relate to him like I
can? This man Barabbas in his free state? Like my father Adam
before me and like Paul, like Barabbas, I justified myself
before the law of God. Did I keep it perfectly? Of course
not. But I counted the just and holy
God to judge His law the same as unjust men judge our own laws. While we were driving over yesterday,
driving down the interstate or a four-lane highway. I'm not
doing the speed limit. I'm exceeding it. By an amount
I judge, I'll be okay. As I'm watching these other people
come flying past me, I'm not afraid of the law. They're
going to get them. They're not going to get me.
That's how we think of God's law. As long as we're doing better
than this person flying up next to us, God's going to judge me
just fine. That's not a just God. That's not a holy God. That's not the God we serve. 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 and he was allowed to do all that was in his heart. Having done so, the law that
he had freely lived under bound him and confined him to a prison
cell. How heavy the weight of his guilt
hung upon him, the fear and the dread he felt. For having been
found guilty, he faces only one future, death. Is it so with you as it is with
me? One day I went about having no
regard for God's law, no concern for it, but then the Holy Spirit
brought to light in me that I had sinned against God. I, not another, had lifted my
hands in rebellion against the true and holy God, and I had
slain His Son. I was guilty. and I had always
been guilty without knowing it, I was bound and in prison with
only one possible future available and awaiting me, my death. Now, let's suppose that in that
dark prison cell, Barabbas can hear the going-ons in that court. A large crowd has gathered on
this day. He's unaware of all that is going
on outside of his little domain being bound in that cell, but
he hears that crowd has gathered. He's unable to make out clearly
everything that is occurring. He can hear murmuring. He can
hear shouting. Nothing real clear is coming
through, nothing definite. But at one point, the crowd gathers
its voice together and cries out, Barabbas! That's my name. My name has been called out by
this crowd. Then the murmur starts again. Unclear sounds come through.
But then he clearly hears, crucify him, crucify him. His heart sank within him. He knows he's guilty. He knows
that death awaits him. But this death, this judgment,
the death of the cross, not this death. When the commandment comes to
God's elect sinner, when our eyes are opened and we see our
true nature that rebels against God and has murdered the son
of his love, we find ourselves condemned and guilty of the death
we deserve. We hear the cries of law and
of justice who demand our death. and our eternal judgment, the
second death, eternal separation from God. Our hearts fail within
us. We find that we have no strength,
we have no plea, we have no hope before the just and holy God. Unbeknownst to Barabbas, there
was another man standing before that crowd, before the judge
and before the ruler, He stood there guiltless before the law. No man could lay any charge against
him. Yet it was because of his presence
that the crowd cried out Barabbas' name. Because of his presence
that the crowd called out, release Barabbas. And it was for this
man that they cried out, crucify him, crucify him. The Roman law, having prepared
for and having promised three to be crucified that day, were
satisfied. We promised three, we'll take
three. Barabbas or this other man? The
Roman law didn't care. In his cell, knowing the death
that he deserved, Barabbas hears the steps of a guard coming.
The keys enter the door and the bolt is slid back. The guard
goes to Barabbas, lifts him up, removes his bonds, and then the
guard proclaims to him, by order of the most excellent Roman emperor
and his governor, Pontius Pilate, Barabbas You are hereby free. In a stupor of uncertainty, of
disbelief, not only his own, but those who had made insurrection
with him, his fellow prisoners were here. They had heard that
he was guilty. They had heard he was going to
be crucified. And now they see him free. The law leads Barabbas forth
from his cell. As they approach the outer walls
of the judgment hall, Barabbas is finally able to find his voice. And he says, how can it be? The law, the rulers, the crowd,
they all called out for my crucifixion. How? Can it be that I go forth
freely? And the guard points. He says, that man standing there
before Pilate, he took your place. before God spoke the world into
being, before my fathers rose in open rebellion, before I joined
them in the fight, God looked upon me, a polluted, bloody murderer
in love. He saw me for who and what I
am, a vile, dead, wretched sinner. And yet, He chose me to be one
that He set His love upon. As I am nothing but sin, I cannot
approach the Holy God to commune with Him. As He is holy, He cannot
approach and commune with me. So God the Father gave me to
God the Son, who seeing my plight, who loving His Father, He took
my place. He took me into His bosom as
He kept the law, as He walked this earth and kept the law in
perfect obedience. I kept the law. My sin, my shame,
my guilt, my curse, upon that cross, He took it and bore it
as His own. When Christ Jesus went to the
cross, the wrath of God was poured out on His sin, none of which
He had committed, but He owned it as His own. Being my death, He granted me
eternal life in Christ Jesus. Being in His bosom when He died,
I died with Him. When He rose from the grave,
because there was no sin, for He had put it all away by His
own blood, I rose with Him. When Christ is revealed to the
elect sinner, when we are made to know it is because of Him
that we are set free, do we not follow Him to Calvary's tree?
Do we not gaze upon Him in wonder and adoration as we see Him there
dying for such a rebellion as I am? Can you see why I love my Lord
and Savior Christ Jesus? When I was bound and condemned
by the law, deserving nothing but his wrath and judgment and
death, he looked upon me in love. He came to where I was. He took
my place. He suffered and died the curse
I deserve. And he gave me eternal life in
him. Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory,
had mercy on this sinner. And I know he is able and willing
to save all who come before him seeking his salvation. Are you
condemned? Is the justice and wrath of God
against you? Cry out for mercy. Go to the
Lord Jesus Christ. He came into the world to save
sinners. Turn with me to Galatians 2 verse
20. Galatians 2. I have just one final thought
concerning Barabbas. Do you think that after Barabbas
left, do you think there were times when he feared the Roman
law after his release? Think he looked over his shoulder
every time he passed a Roman guard. Will they take me again? It's so with me. Sometimes the
law threatens my conscience, for I cannot live as I would.
I can't live a life that is honoring to the Lord I love. And the fearful
thought occurs I don't serve God as I should. I don't serve
Him as He demands. I failed. The law is going to
get me in the end. Oh, the doubts and fears of our
sinful nature that we must contend with. But I have found those thoughts
to be good. When those fears arise, when
those plagues of conscience come to my heart, eventually, they
always cause me to flee back to the cross where my Lord cried
out, it is finished. And there, looking once more
upon the one I love, my guilty conscience finds rest in Christ
alone who took my place. As Paul says here, Galatians
2 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. May the Lord be pleased to reveal
himself to us today, that we may know him. And if we know
him, we will love him. May the Lord bless that to our
hearts.