I've entitled this message, The
Story Within the Story. The Lord, in his mercy, gives
us a story within the story that helps us to understand why the
Lord Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross. And in this story,
we're given what the Bible means by substitution. Now somebody
may say, well, the word substitution is not in the Bible. Well, neither
is Trinity, but it's there. Neither is sovereignty of God,
but it's there. And our concepts of substitution
fall very far below what the Bible means by that. Substitute
teachers. Anytime somebody's in sports,
they know something about substitutes coming in, one taking someone's
place. Now, those concepts of substitution
fall infinitely below the biblical doctrine of Christ's substitutionary
death. And in this story, within the
story, we're given an understanding of substitution. Barabbas was a very evil man. Matthew's account tells us he
was a notable prisoner, notorious. He had been at the top of the
most wanted list until he was arrested. He was an insurrectionist. He was a rebellious and a violent
man. He was a thief and a robber. He plundered people violently. And the scripture says he was
a murderer. That's a bad dude, isn't it? That's a criminal. That's somebody you don't want
out in society. Barabbas was to be crucified
as a notorious criminal, as a danger to society. Now he has an interesting
name, Barabbas. You know what Barabbas means?
Means son of the father. Simon Bar-Jonas, Simon son of
Jonas, Barabbas means son of the father. And he certainly
typifies a son of our first father, Adam, doesn't he? A rebel against God. A thief seeking to rob God of
his glory. A murderer, guilty of murdering
the son of God. We see how Barabbas is a great
type of the son of the first father, Adam, but he's also a
type of those who are children of God, sons of God, and how
they are made that way. We see both of these in this
man, Barabbas. Now, on a Friday morning in Jerusalem,
there were three men scheduled to be crucified by the Roman
government. Two nameless thieves, we know
them, don't we? The one that was crucified on
the right hand and the left of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the
middle cross was reserved for this man called Barabbas. And Barabbas lay bound in the
prison cell, and the morning of his execution has arrived."
Now put yourself in his place. No doubt he was a hardened man,
but I feel quite sure he was scared to death at what lay ahead
of him. That night he was thinking of
the nails being driven through his hands and through his feet. And he knew he was going to have
to hang on that cross for who knows how long until he died. And what a sense of dread must
have come over him. He hears the guards come to the
prison door and what must have been on his mind. Now, before we think of the guards
coming into Barabbas, I want to take us to another scene.
And this was a scene Barabbas didn't know anything about. You
see, he was in prison. The scripture says bound. He
didn't know what was going on. He was in a deep dungeon. He
didn't know what was going on outside. But we read in verse
six of Mark chapter 15, now at the feast, he released unto them
one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. This was done every
Passover day. It wasn't prescribed in the law.
There wasn't anything in the Old Testament that said you must
do this. I have no doubt that it was brought on by the Roman
government to pacify the Jews. They were doing them a favor.
We're going to release unto you a prisoner. Now, there was one,
verse 7, named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had
made insurrection with him who had committed murder in the insurrection. As I said, as he lays there bound,
he doesn't know what's going on outside. Verse eight, and
the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he'd ever
done unto them. We want a prisoner released. But Pilate answered them, saying,
Will ye that I release unto you the king of the Jews? Now, I love the way he calls
him the king of the Jews. He was and is the king of the
Jews. Will ye that I release unto you
the king of the Jews? For he knew that the chief priests
had delivered him for envy. He knew exactly what was going
on. They had delivered him out of pure malicious envy. But, verse 11, the chief priests THE PEOPLE THAT HE SHOULD RATHER
RELEASE BARABBAS UNTO THEM, THIS EVIL MAN, THIS PUBLIC CRIMINAL, THIS MAN WHO, IF HE
WAS OUT, YOU WEREN'T SAFE. YET, THEY WANTED THIS MAN RELEASED
OVER THE LORD JESUS Verse 12, and Pilate answered and said
unto them, what will ye, what is your will, what is your desire
that I shall do unto him whom you call? And I think he's saying
this with sarcasm. He didn't like these people.
He says, this is that one you call. The king of the Jews, what
is it that you want? What do you will? And they cried
out again, crucify him. We want him nailed to a cross
and we want him to hang there until he is dead. That is our
will, to crucify him. Then Pilate said unto them, Why? What evil hath he done? And they
cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him. So Pilate, willing to content
the people. Now remember, he believed the
Lord Jesus Christ to be innocent. He said, I'm innocent of the
blood of that just person. You remember when his wife had
sent him a message, had thou nothing to do with that just
man, but he came in willing to contend the people, your typical
politician, willing to contend the people. He released Barabbas
unto them and delivered Jesus when he had scourged him to be
crucified. All this takes place while Barabbas
is in the cell. He hears the door open. Can you imagine the feeling he
probably had in his gut? The time has come, and there's
nothing I can do about it. And the prison guards say to
him, Barabbas, you've been released. You're set free. You're set free. Somebody has taken your place. That cross that was reserved
for you to be crucified on, somebody has taken your place. Now in this story, the innocent, is condemned that the guilty might go free. That's precisely what took place.
The innocent is condemned that the guilty might go free. Remember this cross was for Barabbas,
this notorious criminal. But the Lord Jesus Christ took
his place on Calvary Street, that middle cross, and Barabbas
is set free. Now I have four points to this
message. All of them begin with an S.
And I hope that we can be enabled by grace to have a greater appreciation
of these things than we've ever had before, before we ever walked
into this room. My four points are these, sovereignty, sin, substitution, and salvation. Wouldn't it be a blessing if
you and I can enter into the meaning of those words? God's
meaning. Sovereignty. Sin. Substitution. And salvation. Sovereignty. Turn with me to
Luke 23 and Luke's account of this. He is mentioned by all
four gospel writers. I looked in my old notes. I've
preached through all four gospels, so I've preached on Barabbas
four times, or this is the fourth. All four gospel writers mentioned
Barabbas, and he's so important for us to understand the cross. Now, look in Luke chapter 23,
in Luke's account, beginning in verse 16. I will therefore chastise him
and release him." He wanted to release the Lord Jesus Christ.
He didn't want him to be nailed to a cross. He had some kind
of respect for him. He had some kind of fear of him.
You know, in John, when they said he ought to be put to death
because he called himself the Son of God, the Scripture says
he was all the more afraid. He was scared at this and he
wanted to let the Lord go. But look what verse 17 says,
for of necessity, get that word. It was absolutely necessary for
of necessity. He must release one at the feast. Now why was it necessary? The Bible never said you had
to do that. There isn't anything in the Old Testament about on
the Passover day or the feast day you need to release a prisoner.
There wasn't anything in the scripture that said that had
to be done. And as far as that goes, there wasn't anything just
about that. I mean, releasing a criminal
back out into society, this man was a murderer. This man was
a thief. This man was a robber. This was
a violent man. Do you want him out on the streets?
And here he is released once again, yet the Bible says he
of necessity. It was absolutely necessary for
one to be released at the feast. Why was it necessary? Because it was the will of God. It was the purpose of God Almighty. You see, Christ is called the
Lamb slain. from the foundation of the world."
Now, before there were any angels, He was the Lamb slain. When the
angels, I believe the angels obviously, I think, were created
before man, He was the Lamb slain then. Did they know it? I suppose
they did because it's the subject of the eternities. I don't think
they fully understood it, but he's the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. And God created this universe
for this to take place, for the lamb to be slain. And it was
necessary that Barabbas be released, that the Lord Jesus Christ might
take his place on that middle cross. Acts chapter two, verse
23 says him being delivered. by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God. That's why he's there. That's
why it's necessary. This is the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God. Acts chapter 4 verse 27 says,
For the truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed
both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people
of Israel. That's everybody. That's everybody. We're gathered
together. for to do whatsoever thy hand
and thy counsel determined before to be done." Why was it necessary? God's hand and God's counsel
determined before for this to be done. This was the purpose
and will of God. I wish I could say this the way
it ought to be said. I wish I could bow before the
majesty of the Lord and even thinking about this thought,
but the cross of Jesus Christ is the whole counsel of God. Let me repeat that. The cross
of Jesus Christ is the whole counsel of God. of God, the universe
was created for the cross of Christ, and I hope I say this
reverently, I've said it numerous times over the past, and every
time I say it, I do so, I hope, with fear and trembling, but
the cross, Christ's death on the cross for sinners is the
most God-like thing God ever did. That's how glorious. This is, it's the subject of
the eternities. It was a necessity that must
be because of the sovereign purpose of almighty God who has absolute
control over everybody and everything. And when they were nailing the
nails, hammering the nails into his hands and feet, they were
doing what God determined before for them to do. Now, the second
point is sin. Sin. Now, anybody, believer and
unbeliever alike, would agree that Barabbas was a sinful man. He was a murderer. He was an
insurrectionist. He was a thief. He was a robber.
He was a violent man. And he is someone that everybody
would be in agreement. Unbelievers, believers, this
man's dangerous. This man needs to be behind bars. He's a sinful man. But you know,
Barabbas tells us very little about sin. You're there in Luke
chapter 23, verse 21, but they cried saying, crucify
him, crucify him. And he said unto them the third
time, why, what evil hath he done? I found no cause of death
in him. I will therefore chastise him
and let him go. And they were instant with loud
voices. Look at that next word, requiring. That's strong language. requiring
that he be crucified. Requiring. That word is also
translated craving. This was what they were craving
for. for the son of God to be put to death. This is what they
wanted. This is what they were begging
for. This is what they desired. They hated Jesus Christ and wanted
him to be nailed to a cross. Verse 24, and Pilate gave sentence
that it should be as they required. And he released unto them him
that for sedition and murder was cast into prison whom they
had desired but he delivered Jesus to their will. Now your will, my will, is what we really are. You can cover up everything else,
and you can hide and disguise your will, and make it seem like
it's not your will, But your will before God is what you really
are. Did you know that there's no
such thing as free will? It's an absurdity. Your will
is controlled by your nature. And there's no such thing as
free will. You know, somebody that believes
free will does not believe man is totally sinful. You can't
believe man is sinful and believe in free will. And secondly, somebody
that believes in free will, they believe their will trumps God's
will. They believe their will is sovereign and not God's. God
can want something to happen, but I can stop it by my free
will. Now, what was the will? What
was the desire of these men that Jesus Christ might be put to
death? The natural man, the way you
and I are born into this world, are born hating God. To not love God is to hate Him. To not love Him as He is, as
He is revealed in His Word, in all of his glorious attributes
as he's revealed in the gospel. To not love him as he's revealed
in the gospel is to hate him. Now, there's sin. Yeah, murder's
sin. That's a bad one. Thieves and
robbers, that's sinful. But they are only symptoms of
the real problem. Sin is a hatred of the living
God. And you know, men don't know
they hate God until they hear the gospel. That's when they
find out they hate Him. They hear the gospel and they say,
well, my God's not like that. I know He isn't. But your God's
not the God of the Bible. Your God's the figment of your
imagination. This is the God of the Bible. The natural man
hates him and that is what sin is. He delivered over Jesus to
their will. Ye will not come to me. that you might have life. That's man's will. We will not
have this man reign over us. That is man's will. That is the essence of sin. That is the essence of evil,
the will of man. Sin. He delivered Jesus to their will. Now, the next point, we consider
sovereignty. We've considered sin. Here's the third word, substitution. I'm going to need your real careful
attention here. Substitution. This is the heart
and soul of the gospel, and there is no understanding of the cross
without some understanding of this thing of substitution. Now, here's what happened. The innocent was condemned, and the guilty was set free. And that's what took place, isn't
it? The innocent was condemned and the guilty was set free. Christ was crucified in the place
of Barabbas and Barabbas was released. Now, what a horrible
thing when the guilty are set free. How many times have you
read in the paper, it's been in the paper even recently, where
a prisoner was granted pardon and they were let out of prison
and what did they do? They committed even worse crimes
because they were set free. What a horrible thing when the
guilty are set free. What do you reckon the relatives
of the person that Barabbas murdered, what do you reckon they felt
like when he was set free? What about the people who were robbed
and plundered by this man. How do you reckon they felt when
the guilty was set free? And what a horrible thing for
the innocent to be condemned. How many times has this happened?
Somebody is executed. in whatever form it
may be, hanging, beheading, gas chamber, electric chair, but
they are being executed and put to death for a crime they did
not commit. How many people in prison are
in prison right now for a crime they did not commit? What a horrible thing. Now turn with me to Proverbs
17. Remember, we're wanting to see
what the Bible means by this thing of substitution. Verse 15. Proverbs 17, verse
15. He that justifieth the wicked,
and he that condemneth the just, He that sets the wicked free
and punishes the just, what's it say about these two people? Even they both are abomination
to the Lord. Somebody that sets somebody free
that is wicked, that's an abomination to the Lord. SOMEBODY THAT CONDEMNS
SOMEBODY THAT IS JUST THAT IS AN ABOMINATION TO THE LORD HE
THAT JUSTIFIETH THE WICKED AND CONDEMNETH THE JUST THEY BOTH
ARE ABOMINATION TO THE LORD IT'S NOT RIGHT FOR THE INNOCENT TO
BE PUNISHED AND IT'S NOT RIGHT FOR THE GUILTY TO GO FREE RIGHT?
YOU BELIEVE THAT? THAT'S AN ACT OF INJUSTICE in
either way. Now here is the glory of the
substitutionary work of Christ. God made a way to be just and justify ungodly
people in a way that honors and glorifies his absolute justice. Isn't it amazing? Only God can
do something like this. Now in the gospel, he who will
by no means clear the guilty, aren't you glad he's that way?
Under no circumstance will he ever clear the guilty. He that will by no means clear
the guilty made a way for the guilty to be not guilty. Now that's the glory of his substitutionary
work. When he took my place, he made
a way for God to be absolutely just, inflexibly just, by no
means clearing the guilty. He made a way for God to do that
and clear me in a way where justice demands my salvation, where the
law of God demands my salvation, where the holiness of God demands
my salvation in a way that completely honors God's justice, in a way
that completely honors God's law. I am guilty. I know that, you know that. You're
guilty. God took my sin off of me. And Christ bore it in his own
body on the tree. And that sin was punished and
put away. And the very righteousness of
God is given to me so that I stand before God and he looks me over
and he sees nothing but perfect likeness to himself. It's what the Bible calls justification. My substitute took my place. God's law was honored and glorified. And I'm given the very righteousness
of God. And God has made the way to be
just and justify the ungodly. Now, somebody may be thinking,
how can that be right? How can that be right? Let me
give you four reasons. Number one, because God did it. If he did it, it is right. We
can't sit in judgment on God and say, well, I think that's
right. No, whatever God does is right. It's right because the Lord Jesus
Christ voluntarily became my substitute. HE WASN'T FORCED
TO DO IT AGAINST HIS WILL. HE SAID, NO MAN TAKES MY LIFE
FROM ME. I HAVE POWER TO TAKE IT, LAY
IT DOWN. I HAVE POWER TO TAKE IT UP. THIS
COMMANDMENT HAVE I RECEIVED OF MY FATHER. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
WILLINGLY WITH FULL CONSENT DID EVERYTHING HE DID IN BEHALF OF
HIS PEOPLE. IT'S RIGHT BECAUSE GOD DID IT.
THAT MAKES IT RIGHT. IT'S RIGHT BECAUSE CHRIST WILLINGLY
DID THIS. HE WASN'T FORCED TO, HE DID WHAT
HE WANTED TO DO. HE BECAME OBEDIENT TO DEATH,
EVEN THE DEATH OF THE CROSS. AND THE THIRD REASON IS BECAUSE
OF HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS PEOPLE. NOW SHALL I CALL HIS
NAME JESUS, FOR HE SHALL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS. THEY'RE HIS PEOPLE. And because
of his relationship with them, that's what he wants to do. Husbands,
love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for
it that he might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of
the water by the word, that he might present it to himself a
glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that it should be holy. Yes, it's right because that's
what Christ does for his people. And if you haven't heard anything
else I've said, listen to this. We're saved the same way we were
ruined in another. I was ruined in another. I'm completely responsible. I
can't say, well, I wouldn't have done that. I did it in another. I was ruined. but thank God I
am saved in another." This is substitution according
to the scripture. Now, my last point, salvation. Sovereignty, sin, substitution,
and salvation. Barabbas was not set free because
he believed. Barabbas was not set free because
he was sorry. Barabbas was not set free because
he made restitution. Barabbas was not set free because
he begged for mercy. Barabbas was set free for one
reason. Christ took his place. That is the only reason. That is the reason My Brabus
found out that Christ had taken his place. He didn't know about
it while it was going on. He found out the one singular
reason. Why I'm saved is because Jesus
Christ the Lord took my place. He took my sins and my sorrows,
he made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone. He took my place. Now I can't
express, I've gotta say this, I've gotta get in here. I can't
express the contempt I feel for that teaching that says that
Jesus Christ can take somebody's place and they wind up in hell
anyway. That takes away the old hope I have. My hope is that
when he took my place, I was saved. Period. Did Bribus experience more than
a temporal salvation? I don't know. I like to think
he did. I don't know that he did. The Bible doesn't tell us.
But I like to think he did when he found out that Christ took
his place. But I know this. I am saved for one reason. Christ willingly took my place
as my substitute. Now somebody says, how can I
know if he took my place? That's a real easy question to
answer. That's a real easy question to
answer. First Timothy 115 says Christ
Jesus. Came into the world. To save. Sinners. If I'm a sinner. He came and
took my place and saved me. And I stand before God without
guilt. The story within the story. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you For the Lord willingly, joyously endured the cross, despising,
counting as nothing the shame that he might do what you told him to do, and
that he might save his precious bride. Lord, all we can do is say thank
you for your grace, for giving your son to take our place. In
his name we pray, amen.