At Todd's Road Grace Church,
we'd like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I've entitled the message for
this morning, The Story Within the Story. And we are going to
look at what the Word of God tells us about Barabbas. And Barabbas is the man that
Christ took his place. Barabbas was scheduled to be
crucified on that middle cross, and Christ took his place, and
this man Barabbas tells us something about what was really going on
when Christ was nailed to the cross. The story, speaking of
Barabbas, the story within the story. I'm going to read from
Mark chapter 15, beginning in verse 6. Now at the feast he released
unto them one prisoner whomsoever they desired. Now every Passover
a prisoner would be released. This was not found commanded
in the Scripture. It was the Roman government who
did this, I suppose, to appease the Jews. 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 cried aloud, began to desire him to do as he'd ever
done unto them. They wanted Pilate to release
a prisoner the way he did every year. 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, what will ye that I shall do unto him whom you
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. Now, the Lord has given us a
story within the story with regard to Barabbas to teach us something
about why Christ was nailed to a cross. And we're given substitution
in this story. Now, let me say this. When we
think of a substitute, we think of a substitute teacher. We think
of maybe a ball game. Someone goes on in the place.
for somebody else and they substitute for them, those ideas we have
of substitution fail to teach what biblical substitution is,
how Christ took Barabbas' place. So I pray that God will use this
to teach me and you what the Bible has to say about this thing
of substitution, why Christ was dying on the cross. Now Barabbas
was a very evil man. Matthew's account tells us he
was a notable prisoner, notorious. I have no doubt that he was on
the most wanted list until he was arrested. He was an insurrectionist,
a rebellious, and a violent man. The scripture describes him as
a thief. and a robber, he plundered people and through violence took
what belonged to them. And he was a murderer. Now Barabbas
was to be crucified. This notorious criminal and dangerous
man, someone you would not want in society. And he had a very
interesting name, Barabbas. Barabbas means son of the father. You know, when the Lord calls
Peter Simon Bar-Jonas, it means Simon the son of Jonas. Barabbas
means the son of the father. And he typifies a son of Adam. a rebel against God. Adam's our first father. He typifies
our first father, a thief and a robber, seeking to rob God
of His glory, a murderer, guilty of the murder of the Son of God. He typifies a son of our first
father Adam, but he also typifies someone that God saves, a true
son of the Father, and how they are saved. Now, one Friday morning
in Jerusalem, there were three men scheduled to be crucified. Two nameless thieves and a man
by the name of Barabbas. They were to be crucified by
the Roman government. And Barabbas, the scripture says,
lay bound in the prison cell. And I try to put myself in his
place when the morning of his execution arrived. How do you
think he felt that night? I doubt that he got much sleep,
if any. How do you think he felt when
the morning came, that sense of dread knowing what is getting
ready to take place? Now, he might have been a very
hardened man, but I'll guarantee you he wasn't hard at the thought
of being crucified. He wasn't indifferent about that.
The pain he was going to experience to have to be nailed to a cross
and suffer and stay there until you die, I'm sure he was overcome
with a sense of dread. And he hears the prison guards
coming. He hears them moving and opening
his prison cell. Can you imagine the sense of
dread that he felt? Now, before we go on with the
prison guards opening the cell, let's go to another scene the
Barabbas didn't know anything about. You see, he was in a dungeon,
a dark prison cell, and he did not know what was going on outside. Now, we read in verse 6 of Mark
chapter 15, Now this was a custom. It was not prescribed in the
law, but every Passover day, this was instituted by the Roman
government, every Passover day to appease the Jews, they would
deliver and set free some Jewish prisoner, whoever the people
desired to be set free. That happened every Passover. And there was one named Barabbas. which lay bound with them that
had made the insurrection with him who had committed murder
in the insurrection. Now he was public enemy number
one and he was sent to prison and his death sentence was given.
And today is the day of the death sentence Crucifixion was reserved
for the most notorious, the most vile criminals. And that's exactly what Barabbas
was. And the multitude, crying aloud,
began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them. We
want you to release us, a prisoner, whoever we ask for. But Pilate
answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the king
of the Jews? Now, this is what the Jews hated.
This is why they had Christ arrested in the first place, because he
claimed to be king. And they couldn't stand Pilate
saying the king of the Jews, but he says it. For he knew that
the chief priests had delivered him for envy. He knew they were
envious of the Lord Jesus Christ and despised the thought of him
being king. And so I think he said that somewhat
to rub it in. He did not like the Jews. But
the chief priests moved the people that he should rather release
Barabbas unto them. No, we don't want the king of
the Jews, the Lord Jesus, released. We want him crucified. We want
this criminal, this murderer, this thief released unto us. And Pilate answered and said
unto them again, what will ye that I shall do unto him whom
you call the king of the Jews? Once again, I think this is a
jab on Pilate's part. And they cried out again, crucify
him. They wanted Jesus of Nazareth,
the Son of Man, the Son of Mary, the Son of God, to be nailed
to a cross and hang there until He die, dying in pain and agony. That is how much they hated 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. Now, let's go back
to that prison cell. All this happened without Barabbas
knowing it. And now he hears the prison cell
open And he's overcome with fear and dread. And the soldiers come
in and say to Barabbas, you have been set free. Someone has taken your place. Can you imagine how shocked he
was? How happy he was? You've been set free. He thought
they were coming to take him to nail him to the cross. And
he hears, you have been set free. Somebody has taken your place. Now in this story, the innocent
is condemned. that the guilty might go free. The cross was for Barabbas, the
notorious, notable criminal, the malfactor, but the Lord Jesus
took his place on the cross, and Barabbas was set free. Now, I have four points to this
message. I hope you listen to them carefully. Sovereignty, sin, substitution,
and salvation. And wouldn't it be a blessing
if you and I are given the grace to understand and enter into
what these things mean. Now, the first word I would like
to use with regard to what took place is sovereignty. I'm going
to read from Luke's account. In Luke chapter 23, we read in
verse 17, with regard to Pilate, it says, For of necessity he
must release one unto them at the feast. Now notice those words.
Of necessity. He must. Now why is that language
used? It was not prescribed in the
law. God didn't say to do this in his word. It was not necessary
in the sense that justice was done. I mean, a criminal's being
let back out into society. There's nothing just about that.
There is one reason why this was necessary. There was one
reason why this must be done because of the will of God. of
the sovereign God. Do you remember in Gethsemane's
garden when he was praying, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me? Nevertheless, not my will but
thine be done. This was the will of God being
done. God is the cause of this. You see, Christ is called the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And before there
was ever a sinner, there was a Savior. And Christ is the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. God's purpose is the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. God created the universe. Listen
to me. God created the universe so Christ
could come and be nailed to that cross. The scripture says, Him
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. That's why He was delivered.
Listen, He wasn't a victim. He was doing what He did willingly. He was doing what He did in obedience
to His Father's command. him being delivered by the determined
counsel and foreknowledge of God you have taken, and with
wicked hands have crucified and slain. Peter said in Acts chapter
four, for the truth against the holy child Jesus, whom thou has
anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and
the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. The reason this was necessary
is because it was the sovereign will and purpose of God. You see, the cross of Christ
is the whole counsel of God. Now, I say this reverently, Christ
going to the cross is the most God-like thing God ever did. It's the subject of the eternities. It was a necessity that must
be because of the sovereign purpose of God. Now, those men that were
nailing the spikes in His hands and in His feet, they were doing
what they wanted to do. They weren't being constrained
to do this. They hated Jesus Christ. They
wanted Him nailed to a cross. But remember this. God is absolutely
sovereign over the free and uncoerced actions of men. And he was nailed
to that cross according to the purpose of God. Now, the second
word I'd like to bring out is sin. Sin. Anybody can see that
Barabbas was a sinful man. I mean, he was a murderer. He
was a thief. He was a robber. All of society
would agree that Barabbas was a sinful man, but that's not
the real picture of sin. Not at all. In Luke 23, verse
25, we read, Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required.
They required Christ to be crucified. They craved it, they wanted it.
And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder
was cast into prison, Barabbas, whom they had desired, but he
delivered Jesus to their will. Now, sin is seen in the will,
what man desires, what man wants. And their desire, their will,
was for Jesus Christ to be nailed to a cross. That's what they
willed, that is what they desired. Now, I hear people talking about
free will, and it's almost a given that people believe that man
has a free will. But you know, that's just not so. It's not
what the scripture teaches. Your will is controlled by your
nature. There's no such thing as a free
will. God doesn't have a free will
in the sense that he can't just up and decide to become evil.
He can't up and decide to sin. God cannot lie. God cannot change. There are things God cannot do
because of his nature. And to speak of free will is
a denial of the sinful nature of man. Man's will is controlled
by his nature. And to speak of man having a
free will is the same thing as saying man's will is sovereign
over God's will. God might will something, but
man can trump that will if he freely decides to do that. Can't
be done. God's will is sovereign. And man's will is evil. Now, the evil of man is not seen. It's partly seen in actions like
brabis, murder, robbery. No doubt that's evil. But those
are only symptoms of the true problem. Men hate God. They hate Jesus Christ. Someone
says, now wait a minute, preacher. I don't hate God. I don't hate
Jesus Christ. Well, you might not hate your
idea of a Christ that you feel comfortable with, of a God you
have made up that you feel comfortable with, and can even say, I love
him. But the God of the Bible, the God who's absolutely sovereign,
the God who controls everything and everybody, who's the first
cause, the God who saves whom he will, and he passes by whom
he will, that God, the natural man does not love. They say,
my God's not like that. I know he's not. But this is
the God of the Bible. Now, to not love this God, to
not love the God of holiness, to not love the God of absolute
sovereignty, to not love the God of absolute justice, to not
love the God of saving love and saving mercy and saving grace,
to not love that God is to hate Him. Let me repeat, to not love
the God of the Bible as he is, as he reveals himself in his
word, is to hate him. And men expressed what they really
thought about God. Remember, Christ is the one in
whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in his body. And
when God let men do what they wanted to do, they nailed him
to a cross. Sin. He delivered Jesus to their
will. Now, the third statement I'd
like to make, the next point is substitution. We've seen sovereignty,
God's sovereignty caused all this. We've seen sin, man's sinful
hatred of God. And the next word is substitution.
And this is the heart and soul of the gospel. All this is good
news. There's no understanding of the
gospel without this substitution. And this is what happened at
this time. The innocent, Christ, was condemned. And the guilty,
Barabbas, was set free. Now, what a horrible thing when
the guilty are set free. How many times have a prisoner
been released early, perhaps shock probation, and he's set
free and brought back out into society and commits the same
crimes? That's a horrible thing when
the guilty are set free, when the guilty are not condemned.
And what a horrible thing it is for the innocent to be condemned. Can you imagine if you were innocent
of a crime you were accused of, how you would feel when you were
strapped into the electric chair knowing you didn't do it? How
many people are in prison right now who have not been guilty
of the crime that they were accused of? Oh, it's a horrible thing
when the guilty are set free and when the innocent are condemned.
But let me read a passage of scripture to you from Proverbs
17, verse 15. It says, he that justifieth the wicked and condemneth
the just, they are both alike an abomination to the Lord. It's not right for the guilty
to be set free. It's not right for the innocent
to be condemned. But here is the glory of the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. God made the way to be just He
said, I'll by no means clear the guilty to be absolutely inflexibly
just and punish the guilty. And yet in his justice, he made
a way to be just and yet justify the ungodly by making them not
guilty. Now, this is something only God
can do. He can make somebody who is guilty not guilty. Guilty. I am guilty. God took it off of me. My sin
was placed upon Christ. He became guilty. He became guilty
of the commission of my sin. The justice and law of God slew
Him. It was God who killed Him. He
used men to do it, but it was the justice of God smiting Him. And He took the perfect righteousness
of His Son and gave it to me. He gave it to everybody that
Christ died for, so they stand before God without guilt, perfectly
righteous in God's sight. Now, my dear friends, this is
the gospel. Someone says, that's not gospel. It is to me. And
it is to everybody who needs God to do something for them
that they can't do for themselves. Now, somebody may be thinking,
well, how can this be right? You think of that publican in
the temple. He, by his own confession, said he was a sinner. God be
merciful to me, the sinner. He beat on his breast thinking
he was the worst man to live. And Christ said with regard to
that man, I tell you, that man went down to his house justified. rather than the religious fellow.
Now, somebody says, well, how could that be right? Well, let
me give you some unanswerable reasons. Number one, because
God does it. God doesn't do something because it's right. It's right
because he does it. And if he does this, it's right. That alone makes it right. God can do this. 2 Corinthians
5.21 says, for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no
sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Secondly, Christ did this willingly. He did this voluntarily. No man
takes my life from me. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it up again.
This commandment have I received of my Father. Thirdly, because
of His relationship with His people, they're His people. Now
shall I call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people
from their sins. And we are saved the same way
we were ruined in another. I was ruined when Adam sinned. I sinned. I was condemned in
him. I was ruined in him. But I'm
saved in another. I'm saved in the Lord Jesus Christ
and what He did. Now this is salvation. Barnabas
or Barabbas was not set free because he believed or because
he was sorry or because he made restitution or because he begged
for mercy. He was set free for this one
reason. Jesus Christ took his place,
and he was released. He was set free. Case dismissed. Now Barabbas did not know Christ
took his place. He did not ask Christ to take
his place. Christ took his place. And Barabbas found out about
it. Now, did Barabbas experience
more than temporal salvation? I don't know. I like to think
that he did. But I know this. Everybody Christ
died for is set free, is released. Somebody may think, how can I
know if he died for me? I can answer that question. Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. If you are a sinner,
He came to save you. And listen, if He took your place,
you must be set free. You are saved. You are perfect in God's sight. You've been made not guilty. That's what justification is. He was delivered for our offenses,
their substitution, and raised again for our justification. Now, we have this message on
DVD and CD. If you call the church or write,
we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer.
To receive a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send your
request to todd.nyberg at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen. Mm.