We Are Barabbas 02-02-03

WE ARE BARABBAS 02/02/2003

·         Matthew 27:11-26, Jesus never defended himself, because we were on trial, and not him. His only answer was about himself as the Son of God.

·         Barabbas, bar in Hebrew means son, and Abba is Father or Daddy, Barbabbas means son of the Father, and Jesus truly is The Son of the Father.

·         Barabbas is a type of the son of the father, or father of this world, and Jesus is the true type of the Son of Man, and he came as the Son of The Father. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 says Satan is the god of this fallen world.

·         Barabbas was a Zealot, the Greek is zelotes, or a Jew determined to have Israel returned to the Israelis. Jesus had a disciple named Simon the Zealot, Luke 6:15. The comparison would be to a modern day Palestinian, attempting by murder and terror, to throw out the “occupying force,” or they could be called “freedom fighters.”  A sect of Jews which originated with Judas of Galilee (Acts 5:37). They refused to pay tribute to the Romans, on the ground that this was a violation of the principle that God was the only king of Israel. They rebelled against the Romans, but were soon scattered, and became a lawless band of mere outlaws. They were afterwards called Sicarii, from their use of the sica, the Roman dagger.

·         Barabbas shows us the substitutionary nature of Christ on the cross, and Christ’s identification with us. Barabbas had no theological understanding of what happened, all he knew was that he should have been killed, but Jesus took his place.

·         Fortress of Antonia, Barabbas hears his name shouted out in verse 21, and the next verse he hears crucify him. He “knows” he is about to be killed, and there is no doubt in his mind that he deserves to die.

·         Was Barabbas worthy of death? Yes, but Jesus “accepted” Barabbas in his place, and that makes Barabbas, and us worthy indeed. Jesus said in John 10:13-18 that he laid his life down, and Barabbas is the first man that Jesus laid his life down for, because as he said he is not the hireling, and this makes us worthy.

·         Who are we to call unworthy that which Christ died for? To call ourselves worthy is bringing the highest honor to Christ. When we call ourselves worthy in his sight, we are honoring The Blood of Jesus. Hebrews 12:1-2.