to bring you a message this morning
that I've entitled, Barabbas Released and the Lord Jesus Christ
Crucified. You see that in verse 15 of Mark
15? So Pilate, willing to content
the people, released this man who was a murderer, a robber,
a rebel, a thief, unto them and delivered the Savior, delivered
Jesus to be crucified, to be crucified. Barabbas released
and Christ crucified. Now that's the long title. The
short title will be much easier for you to remember. The short
title is simply substitution. Substitution. That's the essence
of what I want us to see today. Substitution. Substitution. The Lord Jesus Christ takes the
place of a notable murderer, a rebel named Barabbas. The Lord dies in his stead and
Barabbas is set free. That's substitution. That's the
heart of the gospel. the Lord Jesus Christ dying in
our room and in our stead. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ, the gospel of substitution, for it is the
power of God and the salvation to everyone that believes this
gospel. Here's what we see in substitution. The guilty is set free and the
innocent dies, is put to death. That's the gospel. The great
sinner is delivered, set free, and the sinless one
remains bound and dies. Barabbas is spared, and the Lord
Jesus Christ is crucified for the sin of His covenant people.
My friend, that's the essence of the gospel. That's the good
news of the gospel. This is a faithful saying, and
this is worthy of all acceptation. that the Lord Jesus Christ, He
came to save sinners. Do you know how He saved them?
By giving His life as a ransom and a sacrifice for sin. That's
what God's justice demanded. A full payment for sin. That's what we could not produce.
But what the Lord Jesus Christ provided for us. His sacrifice. His death. His life. His blood. that put away the
sin of God's people. We know the record of Holy Scripture
is true. The Lord Jesus Christ dies for
the sin of His covenant people by the determinate decree of
God. Christ crucified is not an accident. He dies on purpose. He dies according
to God's purpose. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, foreordination of God. He's
not the mere helpless victim. Never think of it that way. Of
ungodly reprobates, He is the appointed sacrifice of a thrice
holy God. This is God's Lamb. This is God's
means of my very salvation. Thank God for Christ and Him
crucified. He dies the appointed death at
the appointed time. for the appointed people to accomplish
God's eternal purpose. Do you remember the messenger
from heaven declared unto Mary and Joseph about the coming incarnate
God? The message from the throne of
God to us? Call His name Savior, for He
shall do what He is sent to do. He shall save His people from
their sin. And my friend, He got the job
done. He did put away the sin of God's
covenant people by the sacrifice of Himself. We should always
remember that His death is the life of our soul. That unless
His blood had been shed for us as a sacrifice for sin, we must
forever suffer under the just everlasting punishment of a holy
God against our sin. No wonder Paul said, I'm determined
to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ in Him. Crucified. As Peter declared in 1 Peter
3, verse 18, Christ once suffered for our sins. He is the just
one for the unjust that God might bring us unto Himself in Christ. Now I want us to notice several
things, significant things, found in these first 15 verses of Mark
15. Here's the first one. We see
in verse 1, the Lord is delivered up to the Gentiles unto Pilate
to be examined and to be condemned. Look at verse 15, and straightway
in the morning the chief priest held a council with the elders
and scribes and the whole shooting match, the whole council, the
Sanhedrin it's called, bound him, carried him, led him away
and delivered him unto the Gentiles. Deliver Him to Pilate. This happens to fulfill all Scripture. You remember back in Mark chapter
10? Turn over there. The Lord said this very thing
would happen. Notice Mark 10. It didn't sneak... Calvary and His crucifixion didn't
sneak up on Him. He's known about this from all
eternity. Look at Mark 10. He reminds the
disciples, were in the way going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went
before them. And they were amazed, Mark 10,
32, and were afraid. And he took again the twelve
and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, saying,
Behold, we go to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered
unto the chief priests, unto the scribes. They shall condemn
him to death. We've seen that. That's already happened. And
shall deliver him to the Gentiles. And that's exactly what happened.
They shall mock him. They did. They'll scourge him,
spit on him, and they'll kill him. But the third day, we're
going to see in Mark 16, he didn't stay dead. Delivered for our
offenses and raised again because he justified us from all our
sin. You see, all this happens. Look
back to Mark 15 again. All this happens to fulfill the
Scripture. for our sin according to the
Scripture. Now let's look at two things
here. He was bound and led away. You see that? He was bound. They bound him and led him away. Now this too happened to fulfill
all Scripture. When Abraham offered up Isaac
his son upon the altar, do you know what happened to Isaac?
Abraham bound him and laid him upon the altar. Isaac, we know,
is a type and picture of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Lamb of God. God's justice and God's law bound
the Lord Jesus Christ in our room and in our stead that we
might be set free. They bound him. He was led, and
they led him away. Isaiah 53 said he was led as
a lamb to the slaughter. Now here we see the beginning
of the Lord Jesus Christ laying down His life for us. Secondly, why did they deliver
Him to Pilate to be executed? Well, the Jews had lost all authority
to justly execute any under the Levitical law, because they were
now under Roman law. As a matter of fact, in John
18, Pilate said to them, well, why don't you just take him and
put him to death? And they replied back, it's not
lawful for us to put any man to death. But this too is fulfilling the
Scripture, because the time of the Messiah was upon them. Jacob's
prophecy in Genesis 49 was being fulfilled in the coming of the
Messiah, and they didn't understand. Although they were familiar with
the Scripture, they didn't see the coming of the Messiah when
he was in their midst. Jacob's prophecy reads this way
in Genesis 49, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, tribe
of Judah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet until somebody
comes, until Shiloh comes, the Messiah comes, and unto him shall
be the gathering of the people. Here's Shiloh in the midst of
them. The time of the Messiah is here.
And they don't even realize what's going on. Secondly, we see this. We clearly see the Lord Jesus
Christ is not only the Messiah. You remember back in chapter
14? when they asked him, verse 61, Are thou the Christ, the
Son of the Blessed? And he said, I am. I am the Messiah. I am the Christ
and you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand
of God with power and coming in judgment in all power and
all glory. Glory. We see the Lord Jesus
Christ is not only Messiah, but He's also The king. The king. Let's read verse 2. Pilate asked him, Art thou the
king of the Jews? And he answering him said, You're
right. You've said right. I am. And
the chief priest accused him of many things, but he answered
nothing. Pilate again asked him, saying, Answerest thou nothing?
Behold, how many things they witness against thee? But Jesus
yet answered nothing. So that Pilate marveled. He is the king. Now, why did
Pilate ask him whether or not he was a king? Well, the answer
is found in the earlier scripture we read. Do you remember in Luke
23, they accused him of many things, of being a rebel against
Rome and accusing him of being the king? And Pilate asked him, are you
the king? And the Lord plainly confesses he's not only the Messiah,
but he is the king. He is God's king. Now this is
clearly stated in John 18. Turn over there. John 18. John chapter 18 beginning at
verse 33. John 18 verse 33. Read this carefully
now. Then Pilate entered into the
judgment hall again and called Jesus and said unto
him, Art thou the king of the Jews? And Jesus answering, Sayest
thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?
And Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation, 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
thence. Pilate therefore said unto him,
Art thou a king then? And the Lord answered, Thou sayest
I am a king. To this end was I born. For this
cause it came I into the world that I should bear witness to
every one of the truth. Every one that is of the truth
will hear my voice that I am the Messiah. I am the Savior. I am the King. I'm your King. I'm your Lord. I'm sure as he's standing before
Pilate being questioned on his authority whether he be King
or not, I'm sure before Pilate that he didn't look like a king.
Having been abused and having been beaten by the scribes and
the Pharisees, I'm sure he didn't look like a king. He is truly the king of kings. Revelation 19 talks about his
kingship, his lordship. He is king of kings and he is
Lord of lords with whom we have to do and we will bow before
his and acknowledge that He is King, either here or in the judgment,
but we will bow. Every tongue will bow. Every
knee will bow. Every tongue will confess that
He is Lord. He is King to the glory of God
the Father. Now, let me ask you this question.
What's He doing here as God's King? Why did He come here among
us as God's King? Well, I'd like to ask a question
and then answer it from the Word of God. Here's the answer, Psalm
74, 12. For God is my King of old, working
salvation in the midst of the earth. That's why He's here.
He is accomplishing salvation for the likes of you and me. What's He doing here as King?
Accomplishing God's purpose. Where does He reign as God's
King? Where does He reign? Does He
reign just in California? Maybe up in Maine? Maybe over
in Israel? Is that where he reigns? Oh,
no. No. Where does he reign as God's
King? Well, here's the answer, Psalm 47. For God is the King
of all the earth. He's King everywhere. Among all
nations, He is King. He is King of all the earth.
Sing praises with understanding. saying unto him that he is King
of kings and Lord of lords." Now consider this, when God took
upon him our flesh, we call that God incarnate, God manifest in
the flesh. The wise man came that day when
he was born, begotten of God. When he was born in the flesh,
took upon him that body of flesh as the babe. Conceived of God
the Holy Spirit and the wise men came that day and they said
where is he that is will be King someday That's not what they
said. Where is he that is born King? He was King when he got
here You see he's King from everlasting to everlasting He is God and
as God he is King. He was born King He's always
been King. He lived here among men as King
He controlled all things. Read the record of Scripture.
The disciples said of Him that day, as they were out in that
ship on the Sea of Galilee, and the ship was sinking because
of that mighty storm, and they were very concerned, the ship
was going down, taking on water, sinking. And the Lord stepped
on the deck of that ship and said, Be still. And the wind
ceased, and there was a great calm. And they said, Behold,
what manner of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey
him? What kind of man he is? He's
a God-man mediator. He's king. Not only that, do
you know he died as king? He died as king. Have you ever
noticed this? Turn to John 19. He died as king. John 19. Look at this. John 19, verse
19. John 19, 19. And Pilate wrote
a title and put it upon his cross. Now, whenever the Romans crucified
someone, they put the accusation of the crime over their head. In other words, if you were convicted
of robbery, they'd put over your head, he's dying as a thief. Do you know what they put over
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ? Pilate wrote a title and put
it on the cross, and the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth, the King
of the Jews. This title then read, many of
the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was not out
of the city, and it was written in three languages. Isn't that
amazing? It was written in Hebrew, that
was the religious language. It was written in Greek, that
was the language of the common people. It was written in Latin,
that was the language of the intellectual. So that all could
see he dying as God's king. Now read on, John 19. Then said
the chief priest of the Jews to Pilate, write not the king
of the Jews, but that he said, but that he said, I am the king.
And Pilate answered, what I've written, I've written of God. You see that? He died as king. He lived as king. He was born
as king. He died as king, and he's raised
again as king. And my friend, you know what?
He's coming back as king. And as king, everyone will answer
unto this one who has all power and all authority. You know,
in this story here, they mocked him as king. They mocked him
as king. Remember, they planted a crown
of thorns and crushed it down on his head and gave him some
kind of a makeshift scepter and mocked him as king. My friends,
we worship him as king. We don't mock him as king. We
honor him as God. We worship him as God, our Savior. Now, be sure you know this. The
Lord Jesus Christ was not guilty of any petty crimes they accused
Him of. He was indeed guilty of declaring
the truth. And the religious Jews could
not stand the truth because it exposed their sin and their refuge
of lies. But He told the truth. He is
King. Thirdly, we see this. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the spotless, holy Lamb of God without blemish
and without spot. He had no sin, he knew no sin,
and he did no sin. Notice Mark 15, verse 14. Pilate said repeatedly, remember
we read it, I find no fault in him. Look at verse 14. Why? What evil has he done? In other words, he's done no
evil. He is a spotless Lamb of God. Pilate's own testimony declares. He said, I've washed my hands
from his innocent blood. O Herod and Pilate and others
declared the Lord Jesus Christ is righteous and innocent. Listen
to these parade of witnesses. Judas it said in Matthew 27. Judas who had betrayed the Lord,
do you know what he said? He came back and cast the money
on the floor and he said, I've betrayed innocent blood. Pilate's
own wife recorded in Matthew 27, she had a dream about the
Lord Jesus Christ. And she said to Pilate the next
morning, have nothing to do with this just man. He is the Holy One of God. Pilate
himself declared repeatedly, I find no fault in this man. The Roman centurion, after the
Lord Jesus Christ expired, when he said, it is finished, when
he gave up the ghost, even the Roman centurion beholding that
scene said this, surely this is a righteous man. I want you
to turn to Acts chapter 3 and read this testimony. Acts chapter
3. You see, my friend, he's the
spotless, holy Lamb of God. He had to be to be my substitute. to be the Lamb of God, to die
in my place. Look at Acts chapter 3. Acts
chapter 3 verse 12. When Peter saw it, he answered
unto the people, ye men of Israel, why marvel you at this? Or why
look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness
we made this man to walk? They just healed a crippled man.
And Peter here is in the temple preaching the gospel. Look at
verse 13. The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the
God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son, whom you delivered up
and denied in the presence of Pilate when he was determined
to let him go. But you denied the Holy One. the just, and you desired a murderer
to be granted unto you, and you killed the Prince of Life, whom
God raised up from the dead, whereof we are witnesses." The
record of Holy Scripture is clear. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
spotless, holy Lamb of God without blemish and without spot. The
book of Hebrews declares such a high priest became us who was
holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sin, made higher than the
heavens. My friend, let this blessed truth
seek deep into your heart and give you sweet assurance and
hope of salvation. There is forgiveness of sin in
this one. Turn back to the book of Acts.
I want you to read this with me. Acts 13. Acts chapter 13. Forgiveness of sin. There is
forgiveness of sin in this man. The God-man mediator. The one
that's crucified, risen, enthroned, seated, throne of God. Acts 13. This is Paul preaching. Verse 38. Got it? You with me? Let's read it. Be it known unto you therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man, It's preached unto
you the forgiveness of sin. By Him all that believe are justified
from all things which you could not be justified by the law of
Moses. There is forgiveness of sin in
whom we have redemption from all sin through His blood according
to the riches of His grace. We have an atonement for sin.
Who is it? This One who dies as King, as
God's Messiah, as God's sacrifice for sin. John pointed Him out. He said, Behold the Lamb of God
that takes away the sin of God's people in this world. Now, let's
move on. Here's number four. In this story
before us, we see a glorious picture of the Gospel, as I pointed
out earlier. Barabbas was set free, and the
Lord Jesus Christ dies in his place. Notice, if you will, verse
6 of Mark 15. Now at the feast, He released unto them one prisoner
whom they desired. And there was one named Barabbas
which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him,
who had committed murder in this rebellion, this insurrection.
And the multitude, crying aloud, began to desire him to do as
he had done before. And Pilate answered, Who will
I release unto you, the king of the Jews? And he knew that the chief priests
had delivered him from envy, but the chief priests moved the
people that he should release, rather release Barabbas unto
them. And Pilate said, What will you
that I should do with whom you the one with whom you call the
king, and they cried out, crucify him, crucify him. Substitution,
substitution. God in his marvelous, now you
think about this, of all the things that were going on that
day, God in his marvelous providence, his sovereign, mysterious providence,
ordered and arranged all events this day to reveal and preach
the gospel unto us. There had been a custom, I guess,
among the Romans to release a prisoner during the Feast of the Passover,
sort of a kind gesture to appease the Jews. Pilate must have thought
this, that surely the Jews would desire that they would request
Jesus of Nazareth to be released. But to his utter shock and to
his total dismay and complete astonishment, they sought for
the release of Barabbas and for the Lord Jesus Christ. to be
crucified. What a testimony of two things. First of all, I see this. What
a testimony to our total depravity and the sin of this human nature.
It says in Isaiah 53, when we see Him, there is no beauty that
we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of
men. He came into His own people,
His own nation, and they esteemed Him not. They received Him not.
We read earlier in Luke 23, 25, remember, they then, Pilate,
delivered Jesus over to their will. What was their will? It
was in bondage to their nature. They cried out, away with him,
crucify him, and give us this thief. Now you think about that
for a minute. Men by nature left to their depraved
and wicked will, will always reject the true Christ and prefer
the way of Barabbas. For he was a murderer, a robber,
and a rebel." Now listen to this. This sums up our wicked ways.
To rob God of His glory, to rebel against His sovereign command,
and commit insurrection against God. Murder the Lord Jesus Christ. Butcher the gospel. And murder
Him. That's the sum of this depraved
flesh that we dwell in. Don't tell me you'd do different.
Lester yourselves, you'd be right there. I would too. I'd be leading
the crowd. Away with him. Cruising by him. Give us Barabbas. We like him. He's like us. What a testimony to our total
depravity. But secondly, we see this. What
a testimony to the love, mercy, and grace of God. Barabbas, it
says in verse 15, is released. Pilate, being the clever politician
willing to appease and content the people, he was a coward. Plain and simple. Released Barabbas
delivered Jesus after he had beaten Him to be crucified. Barabbas
is freed. and the Lord Jesus Christ dies
in His place. Do you see the gospel here? I thought about this. I wonder
what Barabbas thought that day. Now, imagine with me for a moment. Barabbas here is in prison. Perhaps,
I don't know, perhaps he is close enough that he hears the roar
of the crowd. Maybe he doesn't hear what Pilate
says. Maybe he hears just the roar
of the crowd. And he hears two things. Hears Barabbas. He hears this. He hears His name. Give us Barabbas! Give us Barabbas! And he doesn't hear what Pilate
says, What shall I do with Jesus? All he hears is this. Secondly,
he hears this. Crucify Him! Crucify Him! So
he hears two things. He hears His name. from the roar
of the crowd, and he hears, killing, killing. Now, what's going to
happen? Here's Barabbas sitting in that
dungeon, and here he hears the rattle of the keys, the rattle
of the soldiers. Here they come to get him, and
he's thinking, this is it. They're going to crucify me.
And they come down there and they tell him, go free. We're going to set you
free. There's another named Jesus of
Nazareth. He's going to take your place.
He's going to die on your stead. What do you think Barabbas thought
that day? A happy man. He was on death
row. Condemned. Justice had a claim. My friend, that's our story.
God's justice had a claim on us. We're on death row, sentenced,
convicted to die. And another comes in and takes
our place, takes our punishment, dives in our room and in our
stead, and he sets us free. You see the gospel. Substitution. That's the core and the heartbeat
of the gospel. God made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. All for whom the
Lord Jesus Christ stood as substitute, mediator, all those for whom
He died, those sheep given to Him, they must be set free. God's justice demands their release. Justice is satisfied. The law
of God is honored. Now, set them free. Set them
free. Since the Lord Jesus Christ paid
our sin debt, Because God's justice is fully satisfied, His people
must be set free. He came to set the captive free. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law being made a curse for us. Here's what we learn. Substitution. Substitution. Here's another
thing we learn today. Satisfaction. He satisfied the
Lord Jesus Christ, satisfied God's law and justice. No wonder
the Apostle said, I am determined unto nothing among you but Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. May we be determined as Paul
to preach Christ crucified as all our hope of salvation. Christ
crucified is our forgiveness of sin. Christ crucified, His
shedding of His blood is our justification before God. Christ
crucified is our total acceptance before God. That's our hope. That's our plea. Unto Him who
loved us and washed us from our sin in His own blood, to Him
be all the honor and glory both now and forever. Do you have a substitute? Do you
have a Savior? I trust the Lord will give us
grace to believe Him and bow in submission unto Him and confess
that He is our Lord and Savior.