The Gospel of John chapter 18.
We'll begin reading in verse 28 of John 18. Then led they
Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment, And it was early, meaning it
was a bit after midnight. And they themselves went not
into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might meet the
Passover. Pilate then went out unto them
and said, What accusation bring ye against this man? They answered
and said unto him, If he were not a malfactor, We would not
have delivered him unto thee. Then said Pilate unto them, Take
ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore
said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death.
They pretty much exposed what their end game was. That the
saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spake, signifying what
death he should die. Then Pilate entered into the
judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art
thou the king of the Jews? And Jesus answered him, Sayest
thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it of thee? And Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief
priests have delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done? And
Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom
were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should
not be delivered to the Jews, but now is my kingdom not from
hence. Pilate therefore said unto him,
Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that
I am a king. To this end was I born, and for
this cause came I into the world. that I should bear witness unto
the truth. Everyone that is of the truth
heareth my voice. Pilate said unto him, What is
truth? And when he had said this, he
went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in
him no fault at all. But ye have a custom that I should
release unto you one at the Passover. Will ye therefore that I release
unto you the King of the Jews? Then cried they all again, saying,
Not this man, but Barabbas." Now, Barabbas was a robber. I've entitled this message simply,
Barabbas. But I could have entitled it,
I Am Barabbas, or We Are Barabbas, and we'll see why in a few minutes.
Verse 40 of this text tells us Barabbas was a robber. A robber
is someone who takes, sometimes by force, something that belongs
to another. And mankind, by nature, tries
to take from God what rightfully belongs to him, and him only,
his glory and his praise. The Lord tells us this in Isaiah
42.8, it says, That is my name, and my glory
will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Religious folks try to claim
that their salvation was a group effort between them doing their
part and God doing his part. They acknowledge that, yes, the
foundation for salvation was laid by Christ, But it just kind
of lay dormant until they made it effectual by their decision.
It's kind of like when you plant a seed in bone-dry ground, it
doesn't spring forth until it's watered. And they kind of claim
that their decision to believe is sort of the water that makes
their salvation spring forth. And thereby they become as Barabbas,
a robber, attempting to rob God of His glory. Malachi 3.8 asks
this question, Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed
thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are
cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Now this verse speaks, of course,
of the physical nation of Israel at the time of Malachi, but it
can well be applied to the entire human race from Adam up to this
very moment. Men try to rob God of the glory
that's due His name for the work that He has done on behalf of
elect sinners. Christ did all that was necessary. We know that to be true. Christ
did all that was necessary to satisfy the holy law of God. He made a sacrifice of Himself,
yet men teach that that was not enough. That there is something
more to be added. to the work of Christ by the
sinner, therefore robbing God of the glory that is due to Him
for the work accomplished by Him for sinners. Turn over to
Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 1. Very, very
familiar text. Ephesians chapter 1. We'll read the first 12 verses.
Ephesians 1.1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to
the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you and peace from
God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings, in heavenly places in Christ, according as
he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, wherein
he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having
made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his
good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation
of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth,
even in him. In whom also we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things, after the counsel of His own will,
that we should be to the praise of His glory who first trusted
in Christ. Verse 4 of this text explains
clearly that God Almighty made a choice of a people, and those
people were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world. Yet men choose to rob God of
His glory that is due His name, by denying the doctrine of election.
It's a hated doctrine among most Christian religions because it
takes away man's glory and gives it to the one to whom it rightfully
belongs. Again, they try to say that their
decision makes the work of Christ effectual. And by doing so, they
rob God of His glory, that glory which He tells us plainly He
will not give to another And verse 5 in Ephesians 1 here tells
us that God predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself. But natural, unregenerate man
says otherwise, that he decides to give his heart to Jesus, and
thereby he makes himself a child of God, again robbing God of
the glory. that he will not give to another.
Then in verse 11 we're told that we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the pleasure of him which
worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. But again, men claim that they
have a free will and therefore they are the ones that truly
in the end make the work of Christ effectual by deciding to give
their hearts and lives to Jesus. In Mark 15, turn over there with
me. Mark 15, we have another account of what we read in John
18. It's a little bit different wording.
It tells us some things that John 18 did not tell us. Mark
chapter 15. And straightway in the morning
the chief priests 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 priests accused
him of many things, but he answered nothing. And Pilate asked him
again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? Behold, how many things
they witnessed 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 priests
had delivered him for envy. But the chief priests moved the
people that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. And
Pilate answered and said unto them again, What will ye then
that I should do unto him who 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 deliver Jesus
when He had scourged Him to be crucified. Verse 7 states that
there was one named Barabbas which lay bound with them that
had made insurrection with Him, and were told that He had committed
murder in this insurrection. The definition of this word insurrection,
it says, the act or an instance of open revolt against authority,
The act of rising up against authority, a conflict in which
one faction tries to wrest control from another. Now, if that is
not a perfect description of mankind, I don't know what would
be. This verse tells us that Bribus lay bound. He was in a situation that made
it impossible for him, in and of himself, to improve his condition. And such is the condition of
every man and woman born into this world, and such was our
condition before our God came to our rescue. Barabbas was in
bondage, he was in chains, in a dungeon. And Hebrews tells
us in chapter 2 that our condition was the same as Barabbas in bondage.
It says, starting in verse 14, For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself took part of
the same, that through death he might destroy him that had
the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them who
through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage. We are under the bondage of sin,
that sin which Hebrews describes so well when it says it does
so easily beset us. This word beset is an interesting
word. It means to attack from all sides,
to trouble persistently, to harass, to attack. Now is that not a
perfect description of what sin does both in the life of the
believer and the unbeliever? to trouble persistently without
a let-up. We're under the constant bombardment
of sin our entire lives. Religious folks like to say,
well, once you get saved, things are a lot better. You just don't
struggle with sin. I don't know about you, but I
sure have not found that to be true. I found it to be quite
the opposite. I didn't have a bit of trouble
with sin when I was an unbeliever. I relished it. Took delight in
it. Didn't have any problem at all
with it. Indulging myself whenever I felt like it. But once you're
a believer, and God gives you that new heart, there's a constant
warfare that goes on. And if you've not found that
to be so, you need to seriously consider whether or not you know
the Lord. If you find sin, an easy companion, there's something
wrong with your heart. We're under constant bombardment.
Peter tells us this. He said, for of whom a man is
overcome of the same as he brought into bondage. And so was our
condition in our natural unregenerate state. But thank God that He
gives us the victory over sin in our lives because He makes
us a promise in Romans 6.14 He says, sin shall not have dominion
over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace. And further, he promises in 1
Corinthians 15 that we shall also have the final victory over
death as well. And this verse goes on to say
that Barabbas lay bound with them that had made insurrection
with him. Now everyone who had taken part
in this insurrection had been gathered up and thrown into prison
with Barabbas. And such is the case with all
mankind. And our father Adam, we all took part in the rebellion,
in the insurrection. We cried out, we will not have
this man to rule over us. We will go our own way. We'll
do our own thing, as he used to say back in the 60's. Do your own thing. Now while
lost men claim to be free to do as they please, the fact is
are bound by the chains of their own depraved will, and can only
do that which is evil, which results in our being found in
bondage. And the last part of this verse
tells us that Barabbas had committed murder during the insurrection
in which he had participated. Now, we can only surmise that
it was probably a soldier or someone who was trying to put
down this rebellion who was murdered by Barabbas. But regardless,
he was under the sentence of death awaiting His execution. And so are we in our natural
born state under the sentence of death. What does the Scripture
say? The soul that sinneth, it shall die. In our natural state
we're born under the sentence of death. Paul told us that we
were by nature the children of wrath. We were never the children
of wrath, But we were by nature the children of wrath. As Don
used to tell us, goats don't become sheep. We've never been
goats. We've always been sheep. But
at that time, for all we knew, we were under the wrath of God. Barabbas was waiting for his
sentence to be carried out. But there's one more thing that
I want you to see in this verse. It says, Barabbas lay bound with
them that had made insurrection with him. Now one must assume
that there was a substantial number that took part in this
insurrection. I can't imagine anybody being
crazy enough to stage an insurrection with a handful of people. But out of all the companions
that took part in that insurrection with Barabbas, As far as we know,
he was the only one that was set free. And I got, I got thinking about that. And of all my companions that
I used to run with in my youth, I still keep in touch with quite
a few of them. And as far as I know, there is
not one that has any interest in the gospel. And we can also apply that to
our family members, both our immediate family, many of us,
and our extended family. God chose us to be objects of
His grace and mercy. And it seems at least at this
time that the others are left in their unbelief. With that in mind, we must declare
with the songwriter, how can my praises ever find end? God the Father chose us to be
trophies of His grace and left others in unbelief, wonder of
wonders. And why would God do such a thing?
Turn with me to Matthew 11. Why would God choose one? And leave another. We have the answer in this text.
Matthew 11, starting in verse 20. Then began He to upbraid
the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done, because
they repented not. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe
unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which
were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would
have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you,
it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of
judgment than for you. And now Capernaum, which are
exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell. For if
the mighty works which had been done in thee had been done in
Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto
you that it shall be more tolerant for the land of Sodom in the
day of judgment than for thee. At this time Jesus answered and
said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and has
revealed them unto babes. And this is why, even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in Thy sight." God sometimes chooses
individuals, sometimes chooses cities, sometimes chooses entire
nations to be the recipients of His goodness and grace and
leaves others in their blindness and unbelief. And he does this
because it seems good in his sight for no other reason. Lot
asked the question of God in Genesis 18.25, Shall not the
judge of all the earth do right? And the answer, of course, to
that is a resounding yes. All that our God does, He does
in strict righteousness and goodness. David declared in Psalm 18, As
for God, His way is perfect. And it should be further noted
that Barabbas did nothing to secure his pardon. One moment
he was bound in chains under the sentence of death. The next,
the guard came in, unshackled him, led him down the hall out
of the prison, and told him, you're a free man, you're free
to go. He didn't promise to reform his life. He didn't decide he
was going to go free, and the authorities who had power over
death said, okay, We're glad that you decided to let us pardon
you. That would be the height of absurdity. Yet, that is exactly
what religious men and women claim that they do to God. They
decide they will believe on Jesus, thereby freeing themselves from
the sentence of eternal death. And God just goes along with
it, and he's just happy that they made the right choice. Barabbas
did nothing to secure his release. His release happened. because
of the condemnation of another. Likewise, we go free because
of the condemnation of another. In John 18, we find an account
of the conversation between our Lord and Pilate. We already read
it. In verse 18, we find Pilate going
back out to address the Jewish leaders who gathered, and he
says, I find no fault in him at all, but ye have a custom,
you have a tradition, and you're going to cling to it to your
death. You have a custom that I should release unto you one
at the Passover. Will ye therefore that I release
unto you the King of the Jews?" Then cried they all again, saying,
Not this man, but Barabbas." Now, Barabbas was a robber. This
was at the time of the Passover, the time that the Jews remembered
how the God had delivered them out of the land of Egypt. out
from under the bondage in which they served in Egypt. And part
of the Passover observance was the sacrifice of a lamb, an innocent
lamb, a lamb which had no blemish, no spot, a perfect lamb. And
the blood of that lamb was to be shed for a sacrifice unto
the Lord. Turn with me over to Exodus.
Exodus chapter 12. Exodus chapter 12. We'll begin reading in Exodus
12, verse 21. And then Moses called for all
the elders of Israel and said unto them, Draw out, and take
you a lamb according to your families, and kill the Passover. And ye shall take a bunch of
hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike
the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the
basin, And none of you shall go out at the door of his house
until the morning. For the Lord will pass through
to smite the Egyptians. And when he seeth the blood upon
the lintel and upon the two side posts, the Lord will pass over
the door and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto
your homes to smite you. And you shall observe this thing
for an ordinance to thee and to thy children forever. And
it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the
Lord will give you, according as He hath promised, ye shall
keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when
your children say unto you, What mean this service? That ye shall
say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over
the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote
the Egyptians, and delivered our houses, and the people bowed
their heads, and worship. This is an account of the very
first Passover. Notice in verse 24 that the people
were given instructions to observe this ordinance forever, as long
as the nation of Israel existed. All of the houses on which this
blood was found were spared the judgment of God as a destroyer
swept through Egypt that night. These houses that were under
the blood. So it is today with the true
Israel, the church of the living God. All those found under the
blood of the Lamb are safe from destruction, from judgment, and
from condemnation. Everything that Christ did from
His first breath as an infant to His last breath as a man was
done in strict accordance with the Scriptures and the law. Paul
wrote to the Corinthians, For I delivered unto you first of
all that which I also received. How? that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures. Everything our Lord did when
He walked this earth robed in human flesh was done in strict
accordance with the Scriptures. All of the seemingly random circumstances
that took place at His trial and His death, those things that
were done by the high priest and the Romans, were done not
because they thought that that was the right thing to do. They
were done according to the Scriptures that were prophesied hundreds
of years before. Therefore, His death, Christ's
death, had to take place during the Passover. He was that Lamb
that we're told in Revelation 13.8 was slain from the foundation
of the world. He was that final Passover Lamb
that was pictured all those years before in the sacrifices of every
Passover lamb ever slain. And further, his death took place
at exactly the time of the Jewish evening sacrifice. We have to
remember that the Jewish days were 12 hours long. Our Lord
told us that in one of the Gospels. He said, are there not 12 hours
in a day? Their day started at 6 a.m. and
went to 6 p.m. Their night started at 6 p.m.
and went to 6 a.m. And Christ's death took place
at the time of the evening sacrifice, which was 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
That was done according to the Scriptures. We read of the account
in Matthew 27, starting in verse 45, it says, Now from the sixth
hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth
hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice,
saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabbathanai, that is to say, My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? Then in verse 50 we read, Jesus,
when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the
ghost at the ninth hour. Little did the Roman and Jewish
leaders know that everything they did, they did in exact order,
in exact accordance to that which was spoken of before in the Holy
Scriptures. When the Roman soldiers cast
lots for Christ's garments, they did so according to that which
was spoken by the prophet when he said this, Thou parted my
garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
Someone had to die. The law demanded it. Justice
cried out for it. And justice was completely satisfied
when the fierce wrath of God was inflicted upon His precious
Son. Nothing enrages God as much as
the sight of sin. We're told He is of purer eyes
than to look upon sin. So it should come as no surprise
that when we read that our sin was laid upon Christ, that God
reacted in the only way his justice would allow him to react. Retribution
was swift, sure, and terrible. Because of our sin, he was bruised,
he was wounded, he was chastised, he was smitten, he was afflicted. He went from being the apple
of God's eye to being the object of his hatred, and wrath. We read in Malachi 3.6, I am
the Lord, I change not. God hates sin and promises to
punish that sin wherever and on whomever it is found. And
when it was found on His dear Son, He did not hesitate to administer
the appropriate punishment. God's Word tells us that He hates
all workers of iniquity. And by imputation, and I want
to make that clear, by imputation only, there was never a greater
worker of iniquity than our Lord Jesus Christ, when all the sins
of all of God's elect were laid on His head. We cannot begin to imagine the
degree to which our Lord suffered on that Roman tree, It was as
if all the oceans of God's wrath were condensed into a thimble
and poured out on one innocent soul. The unimaginable suffering
that an untold number of men and women would have suffered
and should have suffered for eternity was borne by our Lord
in those three excruciating hours. Now we see in this story of Barabbas
how that the just suffered in the place of the unjust. Barabbas
was guilty of everything which he was charged, robbery, insurrection,
and murder. He deserved the punishment which
he was facing, which was death. Christ, on the other hand, was
completely innocent of all charges leveled against him. We're told
in God's Word that he was holy, harmless, and undefiled. Even Pilate, that heathen ruler,
had to admit, I find no fault in him at all. And this is the
picture of natural man, always, always, without exception, choosing
the evil over the good. It's our very nature to do so. And it should also be noted that
our Lord Jesus and Barabbas were accused of the same crimes, sedition,
Insurrection and treason. Remember how the Jews cried out
to Pilate, Whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. And even though Pilate declared
he found no fault in him, yet he was led away to be crucified,
to be sacrificed in the place of another. But his death did
so much more than spare Barabbas from judgment and punishment.
It satisfied justice for an untold number of God's elect In the
words of that old hymn, in my place condemned He stood, sealed
my pardon with His blood. Hallelujah. What a Savior. Now we were all at Barabbas before
our gracious Lord brought us out of bondage. We were robbers
seeking to steal the glory that was due to God in His name and
for His name. We were insurrectionists. rebelling
against the will and authority of God to whom belongs all power. And we were murderers with hearts
full of hatred and enmity against God and his blessed son. Had
we been there on that dark, dark day, we would have been with
the crowd yelling, crucify him. But we're also akin to Barabbas
in another way. He, being guilty, was set free
because another was chosen to die in his place. And so it is with the elected
God we are released from our terrible bondage of sin and death
because another was chosen to die in our stead. Barabbas was
guilty of all the charges brought against him, and yet he suffered
no punishment whatsoever. So it is with the redeemed of
the Lord. We're guilty of every sin imaginable, either by deed
or by thought. Yet, because of the sacrifice
of another, we will suffer no harm. We will bear no punishment. Because that punishment has already
been handed out. The Lord hath laid on Him the
iniquity of us all, and when He did that, He laid on Him the
punishment due of us all. Now are we free? There's no condemnation. Jesus provides a perfect salvation. Free from the law? Oh, happy
condition. Jesus has bled, and there is
remission. Now, we're not told in Scripture
what became of Barabbas after he was freed. But I can't help
but believe that later he was maybe given faith to believe
on this one who had died in his place, that perhaps he began
to be curious about this man named Jesus, who they call the
King of the Jews, and was led to maybe seek out his disciples
to learn more of this one who John the Baptist called the Lamb
of God. This one who died in his place
is his substitute, but there's another reason that I believe
perhaps Barabbas came to know Christ in saving faith because he would be the only
person in the history of this world for whom Christ died to
eventually perish in unbelief. And more than that, he fit the
requirements of those Christ came to seek and save. He was
a sinner, a most vile, most wretched sinner. As we are and as we were
before our gracious God, Paul said he was the chief of sinners. And Barabbas was certainly not
so far gone that a grace of our God could not rescue him from
ruin. None of us sitting here were. And as I've already shown,
we fit that description that was given Barabbas, a robber,
a rebellious insurrectionist, one who despised all authority
and a murderer, ungodly, and a perfect candidate for God's
grace and mercy. So let us now go on our way rejoicing
in the fact that the required price has been paid, that our
sins are so obliterated that they can never be found again,
and we know that there's no way that we can ever repay our blessed
Savior for all that He's done, but we'll spend eternity trying
as we sing in praise with the ransomed in glory. Worthy is
the Lamb that was slain. I thought of that song that we
sang a little while ago, There is a Fountain. There's a line
in that that says, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power
till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more.
It won't even lose its power then. We will forever, forever praise
our blessed Savior and shout out with those that are spoken
of in Revelation saying, worthy is the Lamb that was slain to
receive power and riches and wisdom and strength, honor and
glory and blessing. And our praise will never find
end because He's worthy to be praised Forever, many of our
dear friends are already there singing His praises. And it won't
be but a few more days, just a few more days, before we join
them in praise of our Lord. Larry Criss is scheduled to be
with us, Lord willing, this coming Sunday and also next Tuesday
evening. So be in prayer for Larry as
he prepares to come and to preach for us. Let's be dismissed in
prayer. Our merciful Father, we thank
You and praise You for Your goodness, for Your mercy, that endures
forever. Father, we thank you that one
day we will look upon the face of Him who loved us and gave
Himself for us. And Father, our feeble minds
cannot begin to comprehend what that will be like. We have our
silly little ideas of what glory will be like and yet, The human mind cannot begin to
comprehend what it will be to see Christ high and lifted up,
seated on a throne, receiving praise from those for whom He
suffered and died. But Father, we know that it will
be more glorious than we can imagine And we'll never tire,
a hundred million years from now, we will never tire singing
His praises. Father, help us to be ever mindful
of that unimaginable sacrifice that He made on our behalf. And
help us, Father, to hold Him in the highest esteem for what
He has done for us. We pray it in His name and for
His name's sake. Amen.