It was a Good Friday

Luke 23:13–25 (NIV)

Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.” But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.) Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.” But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

It’s Friday

It’s Friday morning, and Barabbas is sitting in a dark and damp prison cell. Barabbas knows what is about to happen. There’s nothing he can do. He has begun to process what awaits him and all he can do now is think about his Dad, his Mom, and his family that he will never hold again.

As he hears the guard walking towards his cell the knot in his stomach is getting tighter and tighter and tighter.

The jailor grabs him and Barabbas can hear a crowd in the distance. He’s beginning to wonder, how many people have come to see me die? Why is there such a loud crowd gathering to watch my punishment? Something seems off.

And indeed, something is off.

Barabbas is taken to the steps of Pilate’s court. As this happens he begins to think to himself, “Pilate is here. He’s not supposed to be here, why is he here?

And who is that man over there? Why is he here? Who is he? What has he done?”

Pilate begins to speak up and pointing to Jesus, that man, he tells the crowd that has gathered, “I have examined this man and I have found no basis for the charges that you have brought against him. But, according to the yearly custom of the passover, I will release one prisoner to you. Who do you want me to release? Barabbas; a man that is guilty of insurrection and murder? Or this man Jesus, who has no fault?”

At once the crowd begins to shout, “Gove us Barabbas! Give us Barabbas!”

And in that moment, an exchange was made.

None of this makes sense!

Why should an innocent man die in the place of a guilty man?

This is Our Story

Well, the truth is, this isn’t just a story about Barabbas. The story of Barabbas our story.

Barabbas is supposed to die for his crimes on that Friday, and he deserves to die. He was guilty.

He was guilty of leading an insurrection and he was guilty of murder. His execution wasn’t an injustice, he is dying becuase he deserved to die. He deserved the judgment that was being handed down to him.

But to his surprise, there is a man that is going to die in his place.

Jesus, the Son of God, is about to take Barabbas’ place.

On this Friday, when the crowd chose Jesus, it wasn’t an exchange, it was a substitution. Jesus doesn’t die instead of Barabbas, he dies in the place of Barabbas. He becomes the representative for Barabbas and dies the death that belonged to Barabbas.

And remember, Pilate had already examined Jesus, and he found him innocent. This wasn’t a crime for a crime. This was an innocent man for a guilty man.

This was a substitution.

And this is our story.

We’ve all fallen short of God’s glorious standard. Every single one of us has failed to live up to the right standing that God asks of us. We are not like Barabbas, we are Barabbas.

We are the ones deserving of judgment.

We are the ones deserving of death.

We are the ones who have been found guilty.

But there’s another man who is going to take our place.

There is another man who is innocent.

He hasn’t committed our sins, but he is about to pay for them.

And this is the beginning of what makes this a Good Friday.

It’s a Good Friday because we deserve judgment, but instead, judgment passed over us and applied to Him - Jesus.

The Passover Custom

Pilate says to the crowd that there is a tradition in which I release a prisoner to you. This is done as part of a long held passover tradition.

What is the passover?

Well, we have to go all the way back to Egypt to understand the passover.

After days of plagues in God’s attempt to lead Israel out of Egypt, the most severe plague was to come.

This was the plague of the first born son dying so that Israel could be released.

On this Good Friday there is a connection to passover in Egypt; when the first born son of Pharoah died so that the first born of God, which is Israel, could be released.

And now here on this stage, Jesus, the son of God, is about to die so that Barabbas could be set free.

Do you know what the name ‘Barabbas’ means?

His name means Son of the Father.

So here, on the steps of the court, the Son of God died for the Son of the Father.

Paul gives us a beautiful application of this in Galatians.

Galatians 4:4–5 (NIV)

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.

You see, unless Jesus dies in our place, we don’t become the Father’s Son.

But because He did, now are we the sons of God.

From Prison to Rest

When the crowd made their decision, Pilate was left with no other option but to release Barabbas.

It’s getting later in the afternoon and families are leaving the courts. It’s Shabbat; the Sabbath. And the Jewish people will make their final preparations. Shabbat begins at sundown and will continue into sundown the next day.

Shabbat is a 24 hour period of rest.

It was a custom that God ordained for Israel to break their previous identity as slaves. Shabbat would remind them that they are no longer slaves, but they are the people of God. And on the Sabbath they rest.

This rest is a reminder that our work doesn’t earn us a place with God.

This rest is a reminder that while we rest, He is still working.

And, on this Friday evening, the man named Barabbas who woke up in a prison cell will end his day with the Sabbath. Resting.

And this is a beautiful picture of what salvation means for us.

Jesus doesn’t take our place on the cross and leaves the rest of our life to our own imagination. No, he invites us to live from a place of rest. A life of Sabbath. All the work to earn salvation is done, not by us, but by Jesus. And now, we live from a place that all of the work has been done.

We don’t need to strive.

We don’t need to live up to a standard.

We don’t need to earn his grace and his love.

No, we receive His rest. And everything we do comes from that place. The place of rest, love and acceptance.

And if you’ve not understood this truth, and if you are still trying to earn God’s love, let me just say that I appreciate you doing what you know to do. But it’s not the way of Jesus.

What is the way of Jesus?

Well it’s right here in Matthew.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

The way of Jesus is to start with rest, love, and acceptance, and from that place of identity and affirmation, we live out the abundant life. We live our lives making known the beauty of Jesus and the love of the Father.

Oh what a Good Friday it was and is!

We don’t work for affirmation, we work from affirmation.

We don’t work for the love of God, we work from the love of God.

Everything that we do is from the place of what He has already done For us.

This is the what makes this Friday Good!

[GO WITH WHAT’S IN THE ROOM IN THIS MOMENT]

Conclusion (Communion)

Now as we close, we’re going to receive communion. Communion is a beautiful reminder of the cross.

His body beaten. His blood shed.

Man could not become like God, so God became like man, so that the sons of man could become the sons of God.

Let us stand to our feet and let’s get ready to take communion together.

1 Corinthians 11:23–25 (NIV)

The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”