Richard Halverson, a past chaplain to our U.S. Senate, once said, “There is nothing you can do to make God love you more! There is nothing you can do to make God love you less! His love is Unconditional, Impartial, Everlasting, Infinite, Perfect!” God’s love, folks, is even hard to comprehend with our finite minds. But, one thing is for sure: It is real. And, we see it alive and well in his Son, Jesus!
It is that love that we’re going to continue talking about today… Every move Jesus made during the last 24 hours of his life was based on this love. His life was truly a life motivated out of love; he lived what he taught! He always asked, “What is the most loving thing that I can do?” And, then he did it… Let me remind you—from last week—that, out of love for you & me, Jesus spent the night in the ‘pit,’ the underground dungeon beneath the high priest’s very large home. It is from there that we pick up with our story for today. Listen…
Mark 15:1-15 (MSG)
1 At dawn’s first light, the high priests, with the religious leaders and scholars, arranged a conference with the entire Jewish Council. After tying Jesus securely, they took him out and presented him to Pilate.
2 Pilate asked him, "Are you the ‘King of the Jews’?" He answered, "If you say so."
3 The high priests let loose a barrage of accusations.
4 Pilate asked again, "Aren’t you going to answer anything? That’s quite a list of accusations."
5 Still, he said nothing. Pilate was impressed, really impressed.
6 It was a custom at the Feast to release a prisoner, anyone the people asked for.
7 There was one prisoner called Barabbas, locked up with the insurrectionists who had committed murder during the uprising against Rome.
8 As the crowd came up and began to present its petition for him to release a prisoner,
9 Pilate anticipated them: "Do you want me to release the King of the Jews to you?"
10 Pilate knew by this time that it was through sheer spite that the high priests had turned Jesus over to him.
11 But the high priests by then had worked up the crowd to ask for the release of Barabbas.
12 Pilate came back, "So what do I do with this man you call King of the Jews?"
13 They yelled, "Nail him to a cross!"
14 Pilate objected, "But for what crime?" But they yelled all the louder, "Nail him to a cross!"
15 Pilate gave the crowd what it wanted, set Barabbas free and turned Jesus over for whipping and crucifixion.
The spiritual leaders of Israel had made up their mind that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy and he had to die. But, since they themselves didn’t have the power to execute him (capital punishment being a Roman prerogative), they decided to take Jesus to someone who did have that kind of power—the local Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. They knew the charges of blasphemy wouldn’t mean anything to Pilate, but if they could just convince him that here was yet another ‘messiah’ who was plotting an insurrection in Pilate’s back yard! Now, that would get his attention! So, they decided their story about Jesus would be one of tax evasion, treason, and terrorism. As the sun rose over Jerusalem that first Good Friday morning, Jesus was led through the streets to Pilate’s Antonia Fortress, about a quarter mile away … and these are the charges that would be named against him. This is where today’s story really begins…
In today’s scripture, here’s what I see is really going on: First, Jesus was determined to sacrifice himself for you & for me! The incredible love of God is at work here! Otherwise, why the silence? There’s no way Jesus was going to try & get out of the death penalty; this, in fact, was the very reason he came to Jerusalem … believing this was God’s will for his life—God’s gift to humanity…
And, we see this truth in the story of two men…
- One guilty and one innocent…
- One treacherous and one righteous…
- One an earthly ‘messiah’ and one ‘the heavenly Messiah!’
In today’s story, we’ll see a microcosm (a miniature version) of what was really going on in God’s macrocosm (the big picture of salvation or at-one-ment)! In other words, a micro version of God’s macro-LOVE! Here it is…
IN BARABBAS, WE CAN SEE OURSELVES—ANYTHING BUT INNOCENT. In verse 7 it says, “There was one prisoner called Barabbas, locked up with the insurrectionists who had committed murder during the uprising against Rome.” Though he was an enemy of Rome, he was probably a hero of many Jews! And, that certainly helps explain what was going on this day…
Barabbas is an intriguing character, both in his own right, as well as in his role in the death of Jesus. In Barabbas, we have an insurrectionist (a leader of rebellion against the government) who had led a revolt against the Romans. He was someone who, apparently, had murdered some fellow Jews who had collaborated with Rome, and perhaps even some Roman citizens. He was a person who robbed others … and then used their money for his rebellious cause…
In other words, he was more than guilty on this day … and Pilate knew it; and, the religious leaders knew it! So, here we are. What’s a good governor to do? Well…
It was customary for Pilate to release one prisoner to the Jewish people each year during Passover… This custom was a brilliant political move, directly connected to their being freed from Egypt (as if he was celebrating with them)! Unfortunately, this custom—though meaning to appease his subjects—could also come back to bite Pilate … and this time it did:
- He was being forced to free a known enemy of Rome! How do you think that went over with his superiors?
- He was being forced to convict someone who—by his very words in scripture—he knew was innocent! But, the religious leaders couldn’t lose either way: either Jesus would confess that ‘he was just kidding’ … or they would be rid of him through Pilate’s power to convict & crucify! Either way, they’d win (or so they thought)!
So, how could the people there that day—the religious leaders, merchants from the Temple, and folks who had hailed him as king just a few days before now call for Barabbas to be free … and for Jesus’ life to end? It became obvious Jesus wasn’t going to be the kind of messiah that they needed to overthrow Rome, so… in Barabbas, we can see the kind of Messiah that the ‘people’ wanted…
IN JESUS, WE CAN SEE THE LOVE OF GOD—AN AT-ONE-MENT FOR US. Verse 12 reminds us, “Pilate came back [to the religious leaders], ‘So what do I do with this man you call King of the Jews?’”
I will say right now that I know that the theory that I’m about to talk about was much easier to understand … in days where animals were still being sacrificed for atonement, but let me see what I can do here… You’ve heard it said that Jesus death was an ‘atonement’ for our sins; in other words, it was a sacrifice that—in its offering—worked to cover the sin of humanity.
The ‘substitutionary theory of the atonement’ can be summarized in this way:
- Every one of us has sinned, and in our sin we’ve been alienated from God…
- Justice (who God is) calls for punishment for the whole of humanity’s sin; the Bible says that ‘the wages of sin is death’ (Rom. 6:23) and eternal separation from God…
- God wishes us to receive grace—an undeserved or unmerited favor…
- An ordinary person—sinful by nature—could not die for all of humanity (substituting themselves for our sin); but Jesus (God in flesh and sinless by nature) could be an acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the entire world…
- So, he paid a price he did not owe, giving us the gift of God’s grace which we did not deserve…
This is what we see in Barabbas walking away free from the prison and Jesus hanging on a cross…
In Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ, as Barabbas was released, he looked back at Jesus; and a momentary look of understanding crosses his face. For an instant, it seems that Barabbas comprehends that this innocent man would be nailed to the cross in his place.
Barabbas, folks, would be the first sinner for whom Jesus died. And, this is one small picture of the substitutionary work of atonement Jesus performed with his death; for we, like Barabbas, have been spared, with Jesus suffering the punishment we deserve… In Jesus, folks, we can see not the kind of Messiah that the people wanted, but the kind of Messiah God knew we needed…
V. 15 ends our story today: “Pilate gave the crowd what it wanted, set Barabbas free and turned Jesus over for whipping and crucifixion.” While Pontius Pilate was busy re-acting out of fear, Jesus—the Son of God—was busy acting (very deliberately) out of LOVE on this day… Remember, the question is not “What is the thing that will make me feel most secure?” … but “What is the most loving thing for me to do?” Jesus answered that question with his life; today, Jesus is asking us to do the same…
- WHAT IS THE MOST LOVING THING YOU CAN DO … IN EVERY SITUATION?
- DO YOUR ACTIONS TODAY REPRESENT THE LOVE OF CHRIST?
One thing I know: Once Jesus is allowed to become LORD in any life, loving behavior will follow. We can’t help it! Once we allow the Spirit of God to live in our life, it is that Spirit of God who then loves others through us. It’s God’s nature coming through. Jesus died so that would be possible!
- Has right behavior followed right belief in your life?
Check the mirror, folks! And my prayer is that, when you do, you will see Jesus looking right back at you…
