Jesus or Barabbas?

If someone asks you, who would you choose, Jesus or Barabbas, I believe everyone who knows the story would say Jesus of course.

After all, Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, was and is perfect. He did and does nothing but good. 

Yes He was misunderstood, taken for granted, lied on, hated, and even crucified while He walked this earth, but we know that were it not for His sacrifice for you and for me, we would have no hope of being saved from this sin sick world. We know that Jesus is definitely The One we ought to be emulating. 

He said in John 14:6 NIV, He is the way and the truth and the life.

Now Barabbas, on the other hand, was a rebellious man and the Roman authorities dealt with him. Luke 23:19 NIV “(Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)” 

This was during the time Jesus was to be crucified.  He was taken before Governor Pontius Pilate. Pilate said he saw no fault in Jesus and gave the crowd a choice - Jesus or Barabbas.

Matthew 27:15-17 “Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”” 

And the 24th verse says: “When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!””

 

We know the story - the crowd, under the influence of the chief priests and elders, again rejected Jesus and chose to free Barabbas. 

Mark 15:12-15 ““What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them. “Crucify him!” they shouted. “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.”

 

There are so many nuggets and lessons right there: don’t be a leader without backbone, do what is right not necessarily what is popular, don’t follow the crowd, don’t be negatively influenced and don’t influence anyone to do wrong, let righteousness and justice prevail.

As this story is brought to mind this morning, Family, I want us to see ourselves as Barabbas. 

Bear with me. I know none of us wants to be rebellious, we don’t want to be a part of any uprising, we don’t want to go to prison and we certainly don’t want to be put in a position where someone has to chose between us and Jesus. 

But guess what? We do that all the time! We choose Barabbas!

See, Barabbas represents everything not Jesus. Barabbas was a sinner, a rebellious man, a criminal. He was guilty of causing trouble in the land. Barabbas was a murderer.

Do we see ourselves like Barabbas sometimes? Or maybe I should state, that we are definitely like Barabbas sometimes, when we commit fornication and adultery, cheat, steal, lie, gossip, tear down one another, sow seeds of discord, and just allow the enemy to use us as his imps.

All of us have sinned and we fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23. As humans, we are flawed. That’s one side of the Barabbas analogy, representing our sinful nature and the consequences of rebellion against God. 

Barabbas was a stand-in for all that is opposed to the divine nature of Jesus. He represents wrong doing, which separates us from God. 

So as much as we go about condemning Barabbas and bemoaning the fact that they chose to save Barabbas instead of Jesus, we have to check ourselves and understand where we find ourselves choosing to be like Barabbas sometimes, when we disobey God. 

That’s deep, isn’t it? Help us Jesus! 

We are so busy living our lives, trying to be popular, trying to excel at our workplaces or in business, trying to stay fit, you know these things that are not necessarily bad but those things that can take up so much of our time that we forget that the real focus should be on living for Jesus. We become so busy that we lose sight of just living righteous and holy and in alignment with the will of God. 

But today Family, we can all say thanks be to God for Jesus, the sinner’s friend. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost - Luke 19:10. 

Today, indeed, as circumstances arise in our lives where we are faced with the choice, Jesus or Barabbas, we must take a stand and choose Jesus. Jesus represents purity, righteousness, moral perfection and our chance to reconcile with God. Hallelujah.

1 Peter 2:21-22 says, “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”” 

Family, when we continue to live in sin, we are choosing Barabbas. We are being rebellious. It’s like we are choosing the punishment of death over the reward of eternal life that God offers to us.

Romans 6:23, John 3:16, John 10:27-28, Ephesians 2:8-9, and Revelation 21:4, all point to this great gift.

I know I don’t want to be like Barabbas. Do you?

We ought to recognize the great sacrifice Jesus made on the cross of Calvary, giving up His life for us, so that we might have eternal life. 

Despite the crowd choosing Barabbas, despite the fact that some people continue in sin, day in day out - you wake up with a man in your bed that you’re not married to, you go about being malicious and mean towards your brother or sister, we know exactly what we’re doing that’s wrong. But in spite of that, God woke us up this morning. Here we are with another chance to choose Jesus over Barabbas. 

Here we are Family, with another chance, to not just say we are grateful for God’s love, grace and mercy, but to actually live like we are grateful. 

This study humbled me. I don’t know about you. 

There are so many simple things that we allow to interfere with our relationship with Jesus. Pride is such a big one. And there is so much to unpack here, I’ll probably discuss this tomorrow as a follow on from this exhortation. 

But today Family, I encourage us to recognize Barabbas in ourselves and choose Jesus over Barabbas. 

We continue to do the things we know we are not supposed to do and we know that we deserve to be punished. But God is giving us another chance, right this minute, to receive forgiveness and live as new creatures in Christ Jesus. 

2 Corinthians 5:9-10, 15, 17, 20 “So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” 

I trust that this exhortation today would have stirred us to turn from sin and follow the righteous path Jesus laid out for us. 

If we understand what Jesus did for us, truly we would live for Him. And the choice would really be clear for us when the question is asked or we are put in a compromising position. 

What is your answer today Family? Jesus or Barabbas? 

As we ponder this question, we can see ourselves as Barabbas, prisoners of sin deserving judgment. Or we can look to Jesus who took our place, bearing our sins and granting us freedom. 

Jesus or Barabbas? The choice is clear. It must be Jesus. Give me Jesus. What do you say?

aub - 20May24

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