His name was Barabbas. He was an unforgivable criminal with a notorious reputation. Barabbas was a thief from the time of his childhood. He robbed innocent people. It just so happened that he was also a vicious murderer with a hardened conscience. He was a first century, home-grown terrorist with Timothy McVeigh-like tendencies.
In his day Barabbas used swords and violence to force acceptance of his ideas. As a presumed zealot he led an insurrection of misguided zealots to violently coerce the government into accepting his religious and political agenda. Zealots like Barabbas were known to carry out their cowardly and barbaric acts in broad daylight in the presence of women and children. Barabbas was the kind of criminal that made people change their minds about the death penalty. His crimes brought incalculable pain and fear to great number of people.
And so there Barabbas sat serving out his sentence on death row awaiting his imminent and well-deserved execution. Barabbas was out of second chances. No grace would be shown to a criminal of his caliber. The only comfort Barabbas received was knowing that it would all be over in less than a few days, but not before a brutal execution on a wooden Roman cross. Little did he know that his life would be dramatically changed by Jesus Christ.
As Barabbas awaited his execution, another drama was unfolding in Jerusalem. The Jewish authorities were circling around the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest Jesus. Peter drew his sword and severed the ear of the high priest's servant, but Jesus immediately rebuked Peter and confronted his captors in Luke 22:52-53 (NIV). "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs? Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour-- when darkness reigns."
The only thing Jesus had in common with Barabbas is that they were both revolutionaries. Unlike Barabbas who chose to advance his cause through hatred and violence, Jesus advanced his cause through peace and submission. In Luke 22:51 Luke tells us that Jesus touched the servant's ear and restored it. Whereas Barabbas inflicted deep hurt, Jesus brought healing. Whereas Barabbas sought to destroy life, Jesus sought to restore life.
The scene next moves away from the Garden of Gethsemane to the Jewish and Roman courts. Another difference between Barabbas and Jesus is that Barabbas received a fair trial. Dozens of Jewish laws were violated during Jesus' trial, suggesting that a Jewish conspiracy was afoot to destroy Jesus.
Jesus' trial and death sentence.
Consider some of the violations Jesus suffered during his trial. First, the trial was held at night in secrecy and unbeknownst to the Jewish people. Capital crimes were only to be tried during the daytime. Second, capital crimes were not to be tried during festival times. Jesus was being tried during the Feast of the Unleavened Bread and during Passover! Third, it was illegal for a trial to start the day before the sabbath. It was also illegal for a trial carrying a death sentence to be completed in one day. It was illegal to force someone to testify against himself, but they questioned Jesus anyway.
But there were other illegal and more serious violations during Jesus' trial. There was no judicial body present except the corrupt ex-high priest Annas and later, his son-in-law Caiaphas. We also find the Sanhedrin originating the charges against Jesus. Jewish law states that the Sanhedrin can only investigate and cannot bring up charges. Furthermore, before they even had the witnesses and evidence in hand, the Sanhedrin had rendered a guilty verdict and sentenced Jesus to death. They then scrambled to find false witnesses to support the false charges they fabricated. In another violation the authorities sought to punish Jesus before he was fairly convicted and tried. And lastly, a unanimous vote by the Sanhedrin usually meant immediate acquittal as it was considered to be an indicator of an unfair trial.
After being tried by Jewish authorities Jesus is brought before the Roman court. The Romans didn't care too much about Jewish religious issues. The charges that the Jewish authorities had leveled against Jesus were of little concern to the Roman officials. Therefore the Jewish authorities changed their charges from a religious issue, blasphemy, to a political issue. They were saying that Jesus was against taxes and that he was undermining Roman rule by claiming to be a king.
After investigating the false charges Pilate concluded that Jesus was innocent. Looking for a way out, Pilate first tried to send Jesus to Herod Antipas who was in charge of all Galilean affairs because Jesus was a Galilean. When that failed, Pilate came up with another idea an idea that was sure to work. This is where the lives of Barabbas the criminal and Jesus the Savior intersect.
The lives of Jesus and Barabbas intersect.
I'll read excerpts from Matthew's account out of Matthew 27. Matthew 27:15-17 (NIV) tells us, "Now it was the governor's custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, 'Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?' " It was Pilate's hope all along that they would chose Jesus over the murderer Barabbas.
Matthew 15:21-26 (NIV) continues, " 'Which of the two do you want me to release to you?' asked the governor. 'Barabbas,' they answered. 'What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?' Pilate asked. They all answered, 'Crucify him!' 'Why? What crime has he committed?' asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, 'Crucify him!' When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. 'I am innocent of this man's blood,' he said. 'It is your responsibility!' All the people answered, 'Let his blood be on us and on our children! 'Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified."
What a paradox. The guilty Barabbas would be released. Barabbas would stand by and watch as Jesus would take his place on the cross. The innocent would die for the guilty! It should have been Barabbas on that cross. How unjust!
This past week I logged unto a website called RighteousInsanity.com and found the words of a play that captures what Barabbas must have thought.
Barabbas' story.
I suppose I was the last person to have a close encounter with him, unless you count the men who drove the nails into his wrists. They should have been my wrists in the eyes of Rome. But due to some politicking between Pilate and the High Council I was released and Jesus sent to his death.
I did have a chance to talk to him briefly. They threw him in a holding cell with me just before the circus on Pilate's balcony. He was a mess. I mean beaten, bloodied, lucky to be alive. The soldiers had really messed him over. They gave him the kind of treatment usually reserved for enemies of the state like me. He didn't belong there. I could tell just by looking at him that he was no criminal.
That made it all the more incredible when I saw that he never spoke a word in his defense. He went where he was led without a complaint, without an argument. "Aren't you the one who claimed to be the king of the Jews?" I asked him. "Are you the Messiah, the man who will deliver Israel from its chains?" He looked at me with weary eyes and spoke with absolute peace. "You are correct in staying that I am."
"Then call down your angels!" I said. "Call down the forces of God and save us! Destroy Rome as you destroyed Babylon! Set your people free!" "My kingdom is not of this world," he replied. "If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But my kingdom is from another place."
The return of the Roman guards interrupted our conversation. They removed us from the cell and led us to the balcony of Pilate's home. There the people of Jerusalem demanded my release and Jesus' death. Ironically, the crime the Jews accused him of was the same crime that had imprisoned me: attempting to incite a rebellion. Why was he killed?
(SHRUGS) Who am I to argue? He took my place on the cross and died in my place. I heard about his final moments, asking for a drink and receiving a vinegar soaked sponge. Then he gasped, "It is finished," dropped his head and died. I don't know what he meant. But I do wish I could have one more chance to talk to him. I want to know why he would choose to die in my place, when we both knew he had done nothing wrong.
Jesus paid the penalty for our sins.
On the cross, Jesus chose the nails and paid the penalty for our sins. 1 Peter 2:21-24 (NIV) says, "To this your were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."
Jesus didn't just take the place of Barabbas on that cross. He took our place and paid the penalty for our sins and he did it so that we might find life in God.
Billy Moore on death row. [Story source: Lee Strobel]
Just now I would like to tell you the story of a modern day Barabbas. Billy Moore grew up in a tough city in Ohio in an impoverished family. At an early age he got involved in a life of crime. He would smoke dope, get drunk, and break into taverns to steal cash registers. When he got older he joined the army, got married, and tried to settle down, but his wife left him and took their two kids with her.
One night Billy was smoking dope with a friend and talking about how broke they were. His friend told him about an elderly man who didn't trust banks anymore and who lived just up the street. He was rumored to have quite a stash of money in his home. Billy went back to the barracks, got his gun, drove to that man's house, broke in, and started ransacking the house.
In his bedroom the elderly man heard Billy and began loading his shotgun. As Billy broke into his bedroom, the 77 year old man took his best shot and missed. Billy took his gun, pointed it at the defenseless man and pulled the trigger twice. That night Billy fled the apartment with $5600 and hid out in his trailer in Georgia.
Well it didn't take long for the police to track Billy down and arrest him. As Billy sat in prison thinking about the electric chair and waiting for his trial date, his mom contacted a Christian couple she knew who lived near the prison. The couple visited Billy and told him, "Jesus is willing to give you a fresh start and a new chance at life."
Billy looked back at them dumbfounded, "You got to be kidding me. Don't you realize my situation here? I murdered an old grandfather. I am charged with a death penalty case. My life is over. There are no new beginnings for me." But the Christian man looked at Billy and said, "No, you don't understand. Jesus Christ loves you so much that he wants to find a way to make your life count."
Billy not only heard these words, but he saw Jesus in them. He said later, "Nobody ever told me that Jesus loved me. Nobody ever told me Jesus had died for me. It was a love I could feel. It was a love I wanted. It was a love I needed." And so that night Billy Moore got down on his knees, confessed his sins, asked Jesus into his life, and asked God to make his life count in the few years he had left.
Jesus heard Billy's prayer. There was a bathtub there on death row. They got permission from the guards to fill it up with water. Billy Moore knelt in the bathtub and they baptized him. God began to change Billy from the inside out. Billy went to court and pleaded guilty saying, "How can I tell you I didn't do it when I did?" For the next 16 years as he sat in a cage on death row waiting to die, Billy further opened his life up to God and became a model prisoner.
The guards on death row had a nickname for him. They called him the peacemaker. Death row was an ugly, violent, hateful place until Billy got there. He began holding Bible studies with the other inmates and one by one, they too found new life and forgiveness in Jesus. That dark cellblock became a place of hope where people cared for each other.
In August 1990 the court system finally caught up with Billy Moore. The hours were ticking down to August 22 when they would execute him. They even put him in the deathwatch cell. His lawyers would call him and the strangest thing would happen as the lawyers would try to console him. Billy would say things like, "Are you guys okay? I know this is difficult for you. Can I pray for you?" Billy was not afraid to meet Jesus Christ face to face. He knew that if God loved him so much that he was willing to die on a cross for his sins, then he could trust that when he closed his eyes in the electric chair, God was going to take care of him forever.
On August 21, 1990, just over seven hours before he was to be electrocuted, something amazing took place. The Georgia Pardon and Parole Board held an emergency hearing about a model prisoner they had heard about. The five members of that Pardon and Parole Board looked at this repentant man and they did something so amazing that it made the front page of the New York Times. They looked at Billy Moore and said, "We are going to show you mercy." They threw out the death penalty against him and set the gears in motion to release him from prison. It was the first time in American history that a confessed killer on death row was ever set free.
Today Billy Moore is where he is every Sunday. He is in church worshiping the God of the second chance. Billy Moore is a pastor. On that cross, Jesus Christ died so that the Billy Moores and Barabbases of this world might find forgiveness and get a new start in life and find hope. When interviewed Billy Moore said, "I will tell you plain and simple. It was Jesus Christ. He changed me in ways I could never have changed myself. He gave me a reason to live. He helped me do the right thing for a change. He gave me a heart for other people and he saved my soul."
You know the question has never been whether God can forgive our sins. The question has never been whether God can transform our lives and give us a fresh start. The question is whether or not we will accept Christ's forgiveness. Christ died on the cross for our sins. He paid the penalty for our sin, which is death, in order that we might be set free to experience a new life with God.
Jesus' death between two thieves.
When Jesus was placed on the cross, he was executed between two thieves. One thief taunted Jesus and mocked Jesus and hurled insults at Jesus. The other thief, like Billy Moore, in his last hours gave his life to Jesus and accepted Christ's forgiveness. He begged God for a second chance. And Jesus looked at that thief and said, "...today you will be with me in paradise." Luke 23:43 (NIV)
Friends, we are all sinners who, apart from Christ's sacrifice, are sentenced to die for our sins. The only thing you have to do today to have a new beginning in your life is to accept the forgiveness that God offers through faith in Jesus Christ. Just reach out and accept that forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ. No sin is too great. No confessed sin can ever keep you from God's mercy and love. Repent and confess your sin to God. Say, "God I'm guilty and I have no escape." Then ask Jesus into your heart, be baptized, and start afresh with a new life in Jesus Christ.
And may God bless you deeply.