Substitute Matthew 27:15-26

There’s an experience that some of us can remember back to, if we think about it long enough: our first substitute teacher. In the Spring of 1987, I was in Mrs. Steber’s kindergarten class, when a strange thing happened. We had gotten the joyful news that our teacher was going to have a baby. We all celebrated and were excited for her, but had no idea that this would mean she would get the rest of the year off. In her place, a substitute filled the role and we finished out the year under new guidance, but I was in shock. I couldn’t imagine anyone taking Mrs. Steber’s place. That’s how we usually think of substitutes: a pale imitation to the real thing. This morning, we are going to see a very different kind of substitute, one who was able to accomplish for us what we could never accomplish for ourselves!

-Jesus is the substitute who dies so that we can live.

I. Sinless vv. 15-19

When we pick up, we have moved forward to Jesus’s trial before Pilate, the Roman governor

This is a pivotal moment; the Jewish leadership does not have the capacity to sentence Jesus for a capitol crime for what they consider blasphemy

Pilate will have to face a decision, because he has the authority to pass sentence in the trial

All of the evidence demonstrates that Pilate understands Jesus’s innocence:

First, there is a path to freedom in the form of a choice to the crowd: one prisoner each year is allowed to go free

Pilate makes the decision as stark as possible, between Jesus and Barabbas, a man who was tried on charges of actual insurrection against Rome

For Pilate, the people should clearly be able to distinguish between the two!

Second, we see that Pilate has observed much

Jesus did not respond to the charges against Him, but remains silent

Pilate perceives that envy is at the heart of the accusations brought against Jesus v. 18

Third, Pilate has been warned about this:

His wife was troubled in a dream and she told Pilate to have nothing to do with this situation

She knows that Jesus is a righteous man

Why does this matter so much?

Jesus is not only innocent of the crimes He is charged with; He is completely innocent

He is the sinless Son of God and His innocence in all things is central in establishing His role in God’s redemptive work

It takes the sacrifice of something innocent to take the place of someone who is guilty

It seems like we are always having an adventure in our office. This week, I came into work to find Cathy with a pet. She and Edwin were surprised with a baby lamb over the weekend and she brought it to school for our CDC kids to see. As I looked at the lamb, I was reminded that this is exactly the image that God uses to describe Jesus and His role in our salvation.

Leviticus 4:32–33

[32] “If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish [33] and lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. (ESV)

II. Substitute vv. 20-23

Pilate’s plan is good, but a horrific thing happens; the crowd, stirred by the priests and elders, chooses Barabbas to go free

Barabbas is a notorious criminal who has been convicted of the exact types of crimes that Jesus is being accused of

Seemingly, the stage has been set for Barabbas to be crucified between two of his fellow criminals. There will be one on either side of him, but the notorious Barabbas is centrally positioned as the biggest rebel of them all

The symbolism couldn’t be more shocking; Jesus will literally die in Barabbas’s place on the cross prepared for him

The notion of the substitute is powerful; it is exactly what we need

Jesus is completely innocent, yet He will endure the punishment that Barabbas rightly earned

Barabbas is completely guilty, yet He will enjoy the freedom that Jesus rightly deserved

We are all standing in Barabbas’s place right now:

We are guilty in the court of God’s Law, a rebel against His divine Kingdom

Our only hope is a substitute who could take our place

A story is told about Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton who become friends. Darnay, a young Frenchman, is thrown into a dungeon and faces the guillotine. Carton, a wasted lawyer is finishing his life as a loose-living individual in England. Carton hears of Darnay’s imprisonment and through a chain of events gets into the dungeon and changes garments with Darnay who escapes. The next morning Sydney Carton makes his way up the steps that lead to the guillotine. As the writer tells his story he says, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friend” (John 15:13).

2 Corinthians 5:21

[21] For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (ESV)

III. Sacrifice vv. 24-26

What do you do with the reality of Jesus’s substitutionary death?

Pilate gives us one example: He tries to wash his hands from responsibility

He had every opportunity to set Jesus free, but out of fear of the consequences, he went along with the sentence

This is where a lot of us find ourselves, trying to position ourselves as innocent bystanders who do nothing more than observe what took place with Jesus, not understanding our role in all of it and our need that has driven it

The crowd of people give us another, if unintentional example: they accept responsibility for the death of Jesus: “His blood be on us!”

It turns out that this is exactly what we need

When we recognize our complicity in the death of Christ, we can receive the gift of salvation.

When we understand our responsibility for His death, we can then receive the benefit of His sacrifice

We have it all wrong, in our fleshly way of thinking:

We live with fear that if I acknowledge my sin it will make me guilty, but it’s too late for that, you’re already guilty.

When we recognize our responsibility, it sets us free and we can receive His holiness

Hebrews 9:13–14

[13] For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, [14] how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (ESV)

At the time of the Civil War, there was a band of organized outlaws in the Midwest called Quantrell’s Raiders.  They would sweep down upon an unsuspecting community on the frontier to rob, pillage, burn, and then ride away before help could come.  The situation became so desperate that some people in Kansas formed a militia to search out the desperadoes.  They had orders to execute without delay any of the raiders that could be found.  Not long afterward, a group of these men was captured in Iowa.  A long trench was dug; they were lined up, hands and legs tied, and eyes bandaged.  The firing squad was forming. Suddenly a young man rushed out of the underbrush, crying out, “Wait! Wait!”  Covered by the guns of the firing squad, he approached the officer in command [Major Whittle].  He pointed to a man who was waiting to be shot, and said, “Let that man go free.  He has a wife and babies, and is needed at home.  Let me take his place.  I am guilty.”  It was an extraordinary appeal, but the stranger insisted that it not be denied.  After a long consultation, the officers decided to grant the request.  They cut the ropes and released the condemned man. The volunteer was put in his place, and fell dead before the firing squad.

Later the redeemed man came back to the awful scene of death, uncovered the grave, and found the body of his friend.  He put it on the back of a mule and took it to a little cemetery near Kansas City, where he was given a proper burial. At the time, he marked the grave with a rude wooden slab. Later, however, the grateful man erected a 15-foot marble monument inscribed with the words:

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIE LEE HE TOOK MY PLACE IN THE LINE HE DIED FOR ME