Maybe to get us going, have a think is what we need to think about.
When was the last time that you did a swap?
Maybe it was Pokemon cards.
Maybe it was your packed lunch.
And that's just the adults, kids, isn't it?
When was the last time you did a swap?
You know, Thursday night in our house is date night.
Sometimes Alex and I go out for food.
And this is the swap that I think of every time.
Every time we go out, I'm just waiting for that point in the meal
when Alex will inevitably turn to me.
And I know what's coming because I've seen the food envy in her eyes
that's been there for the moment the waiter brought it out.
She'll turn to me at some point in the meal and say,
how would you feel about a swap?
I'll be honest, we've married for nearly 16 years.
And to this day, I'm still not quite sure what I make of that request.
But have a think about it, right?
When was the last time you did a swap?
And here's the further question for you.
You should think about that swap.
Good swap or bad swap?
Yeah?
Good swap or bad swap?
That's the question I want us to ask tonight.
As we meet this man in this passage,
you'll see him there at verse 18.
Barabbas.
Fun fact for you.
The only time Barabbas is mentioned in the Bible is in this episode.
But so important is it that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all record this episode.
And why that's surprising is that Barabbas, if you noticed it,
if you look at it there,
the guy doesn't even make an appearance.
He's mentioned by name two times.
Do you see with me verse 18 and 19?
And there's one kind of subtle reference to him there at verse 25.
As you take him in there, here's the thing to notice.
The man doesn't utter a single word.
He could not be more passive in this drama.
And yet, here's the thing we're going to take in.
He so profoundly represents all of us.
So we're introducing him there.
Do you see it?
Verse 18.
What do we learn about him?
We learn that this guy's notorious.
Right?
Now, if you Google notorious people, what comes up are names like Jesse James,
that American bank robber, Pablo Escobar, the Colombian drug lord, Lance Armstrong, the cyclist.
You get it.
Notorious people.
People who have a reputation, a bad reputation,
and the whole world kind of knows about it.
Okay?
Notorious.
That's Barabbas.
Notorious.
Everyone knows that he is one of Jerusalem's bad guys.
So think about it.
Okay?
He's the kind of guy you don't want to come across in a dark alley at night.
The kind of guy you're hoping your daughter doesn't bring home and say,
Mom, Dad, meet my new fiancé.
Learn in the text that Barabbas is a zealot.
So he's a Jewish freedom fighter who's got one aim in life.
And it's to see that the Romans, who are the occupying force of the day,
it's to see that the Romans are kicked out of Jerusalem.
And that's probably the reason that he's in prison in the first place.
Do you see verse 19?
Luke wants us to know, and we get this detail twice,
that Barabbas has been involved in an insurrection.
So that's just someone who riots and plots in order to take down the ruling authorities.
You can kind of think it's like Guy Fawkes.
Barabbas hates the Romans.
He hates them with a passion.
And he's likely committed murder in the process of carrying out his hate.
So this is a guy with a lot of hate in his heart.
This is a guy with a lot of rebellion in his heart.
This is a guy with a lot of anger in his heart.
This is a rebel of the highest order.
So try and picture Barabbas.
You've got to use your imagination here tonight.
Okay, try and picture him.
He's sitting in that dingy prison cell.
He knows he's there because he's guilty.
The guy has no rights.
There's no appeal system that he can use.
There's no legal aid that he can apply for.
There's no, you've got one phone call.
And I don't even imagine with all of that that this guy gives two hoots.
The only thing that's in his diary
is my death.
He doesn't know when it's coming.
All he knows is that it is coming.
And it's a death by crucifixion.
That barbaric Roman form of execution reserved for the worst of people.
This is Rome's way of making a public statement to the watching world that says,
if anyone, anyone dares to try and set themselves up as a king,
they want to rebel against Rome's king,
then this is the fate that's going to await them.
They're sending a message, sending a signal to the watching world.
Don't you dare.
Because that's what's going to happen to you.
Now, use your imagination to picture this scene, right?
Get inside Barabbas' shoes.
Maybe he's in his cell.
And from his cell,
he hears this crowd
baying for blood,
screaming.
See it in the text, verse 20.
Crucify him.
And he hears this in his cell.
And he thinks,
this one must be for me.
Let's put on a brave show for the people.
Let's go out a defiant hero.
The adrenaline starts pumping in his body.
And he thinks,
vive la revolution.
That's what I want to happen here.
I'm going to go out.
I'm going to go out with a bang.
And all of a sudden,
he hears the clinking of keys.
And the guard,
the one who's probably utterly delighted
to see him behind bars,
shouts his name,
Barabbas.
And he's told to his utter astonishment,
not,
it's time to go.
He's told,
you're free to go.
So up he gets.
And he's probably shoved out.
And he covers his eyes
because he's not seen the sun in days.
Forgot what the smell of fresh air is like.
And as Barabbas is led away to life,
he sees another man passing him,
going in the opposite direction,
who's being ushered away to his death.
And it dawns on Barabbas
that that man,
as he goes,
going in the opposite direction
to the one that I'm going in,
that man has taken my place.
And I wonder whether Barabbas,
he keeps on walking
because he doesn't know
what to do with himself, right?
And he finds himself roaming the streets
of Jerusalem as a legally free man.
I wonder if he grabs somebody
who was in that crowd in this scene
and he asks them,
what on earth?
What on earth?
Happened back there?
Now what did happen back there,
let me just try and get you
into the history behind this.
It's widely understood
that there was a custom
that had developed over the years
between the Romans and the Jews.
One that took place
every Passover festival in Jerusalem.
I guess this is kind of like
a goodwill gesture
from the Romans
to the Jews
to try and keep them sweet.
And the deal was
that every year
the people were presented
with two Jewish prisoners.
Prisoner A, prisoner B.
And they got to choose
one of them
to be released.
The Romans, as it were,
saying to them,
because we're nice people
deep down
and we kind of want you
to tolerate us,
but we're kind of going to give you
one of yours back
to keep you sweet.
That's what's going on here.
And on this particular Passover day,
the choice
was Barabbas
or Jesus.
The notorious Roman killer
with blood in his hands
or
the innocent
Jewish carpenter.
And I wonder if you picked it up,
I even just noticed
that there
as we were having
that Isaiah 52
reading for us
that no deceit
was found in his mouth.
Did you pick that up?
The prophecy
about who Jesus will be.
And I think to myself,
why was no deceit
found in his mouth?
Well, of course,
no deceit
was found in his mouth
because there was no deceit
in his heart.
Totally innocent,
totally blameless,
and yet here he is,
Barabbas
or Jesus.
Now, we use that phrase
in our culture,
don't we?
It's a no-brainer.
When we speak about
a really obvious decision
that's
right in front of us,
well,
this would seem to be
your
no-brainer.
And what's more,
if you start piecing this together,
Pilate,
the Roman governor
overseeing this whole transaction,
he's not neutral
on this one,
right?
It's not like he's still
to make up his mind
who he would want
to see released.
He wants Jesus off the hook
and so he's probably
picked the worst prisoner
he can possibly imagine
that he knows he's got
in the prison
in the form of Barabbas
to go up against Jesus
as if to say,
come on.
I mean,
Barabbas isn't just
the underdog in this fight.
He's not even
the Leicester City
500 to 1
outside shot.
Surely Barabbas
as he goes up
against Jesus
has got absolutely
no hope.
However,
Pilate's
hugely
underestimated
just how
much hatred
and hostility
there is
towards this man
Jesus.
So imagine Barabbas,
we're back in his shoes,
he's still hearing
this report
of what happened
from the guy
in the street.
Remember he's gotten
by the scruff of the neck,
what on earth
happened back there?
He's hearing all this
from him.
The guy says back to him
he was got by the
scruff of the neck,
he says to Barabbas,
what happened
is that Pilate
asked the crowd
which one of these men
do you want me
to release to you?
That's what Pilate
asked us
and after some
strong arm
persuasion
from the religious
leaders
against all the odds
the crowd
chanted back
not Jesus' name
they chanted back
your name Barabbas
they wanted to see
you released
they wanted you
to go free
and so
the crowd
we made
our feelings
crystal clear
to Pilate
and Pilate
in a stunned tone
said
he was just
going to punish
Jesus
but we weren't
satisfied with that
because we got
ourselves going
at this point
and although
we could tell
by the tone
of his voice
that he thought
this was deeply
unfair
verse 23
regardless
with loud cries
we kept
insisting
angrily
we kept
insisting
crucify him
send Jesus
to the cross
because he's
the real rebel
and if you look
at it in the text
here this is
what they're
trying to do
they set
Jesus up
as the real rebel
against both
Rome and God
and that's a
double whammy
and so we just
kept on shouting
we shouted
crucify him
and then Pilate
gave the order
to release you
and to condemn
Jesus
here's the long
and short
of it Barabbas
the cross
the one that
had your name
written all over it
guards tripping
over each other
to be the first
to bang the nails
into your hands
and to say
good riddance
they put Jesus
on that cross
instead of you
and at that moment
I'm sure it becomes
crystal clear
to Barabbas
that this man
Jesus of Nazareth
physically took
his place
the rebel
declared to be
innocent
and the innocent
declared to be a rebel
so
good swap
or bad swap
well
as is so often
the case
in the bible
friends
there is
glorious
depth
to this
to be honest
I haven't really
seen them
until recently
and here it is
Barabbas' name
means
son of the
father
so
bar son
abba father
Barabbas
right
Barabbas
is
the son
of the
father
and in
Jesus
we have
a son
of the
father
so the
choice
here
really is
between
two
sons
and for
all
intents
and purposes
as you
consider
this
whole
chaotic
scene
I mean
it is
utter
bedlam
here
isn't
it
utter
bedlam
it
looks
like
they've
condemned
the wrong
son
but
here's
what we
need to
see
and I
think
it's
the
thing
that
Luke
wants
us
to
see
despite
all
this
chaos
despite
all
this
noise
and
commotion
and anger
and rage
and injustice
even though
the Jews
and Pilate
put forward
the wrong
one
God
put forward
the right
one
because it
looks like
Pilate
the one
in the
earthly
seat of
power
has
totally
lost
control
of this
situation
however
the
Lord
the one
who sits
in the
place
of all
power
the heavenly
seat
of power
in contrast
is in
total
control
as the
one
who so
loved
the world
that he
gave his
one and
only son
that all
who would
believe in
him would
not perish
but have
eternal
life
and so
see verse
25
somewhat
mysteriously
Luke just
kind of
drops in
that detail
right at
the end
there that
Pilate
surrendered
Jesus to
the crowd's
will
and that's
kind of the
view from
the street
level
however
the view
from
3000 feet
what's
actually
going on
is Jesus
wholeheartedly
surrendering
himself to
his father's
will
in pursuit
of his
people
Barabbas
is the
one man
in history
who can
say that
Jesus
literally
took the
cross that
was reserved
for my
wrongs
Jesus
bore the
guilt
the shame
the curse
that he
deserved
and he
received the
release
freedom
and life
that Jesus
deserved
but this
man Barabbas
so profoundly
represents
all of us
and we
might not
share his
life
but we
certainly
all share
his sin
and shame
and because
we share
his sin
we share
his sentence
rebels
guilty
awaiting
death
and couldn't
care less
totally
helpless
totally
passive
when it
comes to
this cosmic
drama
and yet
Jesus
took our
place
he gets
what we
deserved
and we
get what
he deserved
and that's
why Martin
Luther
the famous
reformation
individual
looked upon
the cross
of Christ
and he
called it
the great
exchange
the greatest
exchange in
all of history
Jesus gives up
his life so
that all who
would come to
him in faith
and trust
in him
can by
faith
know the
joy of
forgiveness
of sins
past
present
and future
we can
go free
and we
can live
as sons
and daughters
of the
living God
we can
live our
lives
as the
sons of
the father
loved
forgiven
ransomed
!
adopted!
This is
the glory
of the
cross
how
marvelous
and yet
how horrific
is this
place
that God
the father
sent God
the son
who willingly
came to
die for
people like
Barabbas
and people
like us
and he
holds out
his nail
pierced hands
tonight and
says would
you come
would you
come and
see that I
died in
your place
for your
sin for
your forgiveness
would you
have faith
in me
friends good
swap or
bad swap
the words
of Charles
Wesley
and can
it be
that I
should
gain
an interest
in the
saviour's
blood
died he
for me
who caused
his pain
for me
who him
to death
pursued
amazing love
how can
it be
that thou
my God
should die
for me
so just
in a few
moments we
are going
to sing
and then we're
going to move
into a time
of communion
together but
why don't we
just be
silent and
be still
before our
God
bring before
him our
anxieties
our worries
our sins
run to him
knowing the
forgiveness
that is found
in this man
who took
our place
and then I'll
pray and
we'll stand
to sing
God made
him
who had
no sin
to be sin
for us
so that
in him
we might
become
the
righteousness
of God
and so
father we
praise you
this evening
for sending
your son
Jesus
to rescue
us through
his precious
blood shed
on the cross
thank you
for the
forgiveness
and the
peace
and the
newness of
life
that we
have in
him
lord help
us
savor it
more
father for
those of us
here tonight
lord and we
feel distant
we feel
far
lord would
we be
reminded that
by our
faith we
are connected
to the
most loving
and strong
of saviors
father for
those of us
maybe here
tonight we're
not sure what
we make of
all this
stuff
would your
spirit be
taking the
message of
the cross and
be applying it
deep into our
hearts
convince us of
the truth that
there's none
like him
and so be
with us now
lord as we
sing and as we
take communion
together we
pray all of
these things in
jesus's precious
name amen