Death Of Christ

But before that--it's been almost 7 years now--it will be in June--that two gruesome murders took place outside what was then a residence in a rich southern California neighborhood. You remember the murders. A woman named Nicole Brown Simpson along with one, Ronald Goldman--they were found with multiple stab wounds among other things.

And the turn of events that was to follow that awful evening as regards the police handling of the crime scene, let alone the capturing of the prime suspect after a televised car chase later in the week--football star O. J. Simpson--and his subsequent trial--it'd literally captivate America and the world for months to come. And it'd all reach a climax a year later in October '95 when the verdict came in. "Not guilty" was the juror's response. O. J. was found not guilty. We were to learn later at the Federal level of our justice system that indeed O. J. was guilty. And yet to this day, for the most part, he's walked away "scot-free," as they say, except for the monetary damages he owes. O. J. Simpson is still living his life outside of jail even as we speak.

It's the title of my message this morning, my brothers and sisters--"Getting Off 'Scot-Free'" as I'm wanting to look at the story of someone in the Bible who had the same thing happen to him as happened with O. J. He walked away "scot-free," also.

If you could please turn with me in your Bibles and we'll find out who this person is. Turn to the Gospel of Mark and chapter 15. I want to read 10 verses in Mark 15. ******* I want to read v. 6-15 as here we are a week away from Easter already and celebrating the resurrection of our Lord. I want to look at a particular incident that took place while Christ was on His way to the cross--in the final hours of His life. Do you have it, my friends? Notice then now, Mark 15 and v. 6 reads...

Now at the feast he (Pilate) used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. And the man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. And the multitude (v. 8) went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. And Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" For he was aware that the chief priests had delivered Him up because of envy. 15:11 But the chief priests stirred up the multitude to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. And answering again, Pilate was saying to them, "Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?" And they shouted back (v. 13), "Crucify Him!" But Pilate was saying to them, "Why, what evil has He done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify Him!" 15:15 And wishing to satisfy the multitude, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he delivered Him to be crucified (Mk. 15:6-15).

Again, the title of my message today is: "Getting Off 'Scot-Free.'" "Scot-free" means "unharmed" or "unpunished" (Webster's 534). That's really what happens in today's story with Barabbas. Quite a turn of events for him. Wouldn't you agree? Quite a turn of events--listen--all brought about because of Jesus. *******

We're looking at the story of Barabbas today. And let me just say at the outset that his story is really a story about you and a story about me in the sense that each of us has been set free who didn't deserve to be set free who have accepted Christ. Raise your hand if that's the case with you. You've been set free from a sinful past and you didn't deserve it, but Jesus freed you anyway. ******* And so Barabbas' story--it's really a story about you and a story about me.

And we're coming to the first point I want to make now. I want to talk about Barabbas and how much of a bad guy he was. I really want to develop this. And to do it, I want to look at parallel Gospel accounts to the one we just read in Mark's Gospel to begin. I don't know if you knew this, but all four Gospels include the Barabbas story we're considering.

And in all four Gospels we learn something about Barabbas. In Matthew, we learn that his past was one of notoriety. Let me just read you the verse. Actually, why don't you just turn to it with me. Turn to Matthew 27 and v. 16. You're just flipping one Gospel back. I want you to see this verse for yourself. ******* We learn something about Barabbas in Matthew 27 and v. 16. Notice, my friends, it says...

And so Barabbas was "notorious," first of all. Which means Barabbas was widely known for his bad behavior. He was widely known in the community. He was widely known by those in authority in the area. And especially this latter group--they widely knew him, I believe, because, the verse says, Barabbas was a "notorious prisoner." Which seems to imply, at least to me, this wasn't the first time Barabbas was found in jail in our story. He'd been there before. The "cops" knew him all too well. My friends, Barabbas was the kind of person with a "rap sheet" a mile long. Have you ever known anybody like that? They're not very nice people to know. Barabbas was "notorious," first of all--a "notorious prisoner." *******

And secondly, we learn something else about Barabbas in the Gospel of John. I want you to turn now to John 18 and v. 40. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. ******* In John 18 and v. 40, the second part of the verse, we learn something else about Barabbas and his past. Notice, it reads--the second part of v. 40--just five words...

robber. So which one is it? Was Barabbas a murderer or was he a robber? Or could it be that the gospel writers were confused when they were writing and they made a mis-take? ******* Well, certainly the answer to this latter question is "No" because Mark and John couldn't possibly be confused when they were writing their Gospels. They couldn't possibly make a mistake. Because how many of you know holy men of old were moved of the Holy Spirit and that's how the Scriptures came about in the first place (2 Pet. 1:20-21)? The Holy Spirit who moved Mark and John to write what they wrote is perfect because He's God. And so the Scriptures are correctly written and infallible. They contain no mistakes. *******

And so there isn't an error in that Mark states Barabbas was a murderer and John says he was a robber. And so there has to be another answer. And there is another answer, my brothers and sisters. And it's really a quite simple one. You probably figured it out. The answer as to whether Barabbas was a murderer or a robber is: He was both. Barabbas was both a murderer and a robber. Did you figure it out? (Pastor, we're not that dumb.) Barabbas was both a murderer and a robber. ******* And I'm convinced Barabbas was a robber first before he was a murderer. I just mentioned how Barabbas had likely been in jail before--it wasn't the first time in our story. And I believe when he was in jail before, it was for the crime of robbery that Barabbas was there.

I'm going somewhere with all this. The place I'm going is to the truth we're reminded of here. I was thinking that we're reminded of how smaller sins lead to bigger sins. Isn't that the case? ******* Oh, but he's only stealing a pack of gum from the grocery store. What's the big deal? She's only smoking pot. Well, the big deal is smaller sins lead to bigger sins.

Beloved, how many of you understand that a young person doesn't just wake up one morning and decide to go and shoot up his high school? It doesn't work that way. A young person must be sinning in other ways to begin with--whether it's in the area of harboring grudges or anger or resentment. Or maybe it's manifesting in physical ways in his life--in tantrums or after-school fights or something else. The bottom line is a young person doesn't just wake up and go shoot somebody. He must work his way up to that point from smaller sins. The same is true for those who shoot bosses and co-workers in the workplace. Barabbas worked up to murder and it was through robbery that he did it. "Now Barabbas was a robber," John 18:40 says. *******

And certainly this verse in Luke is a parallel verse to Mark 15 and v. 7 ("And the man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection"--Mk. 15:7), except that here it adds that it was a "certain insurrection" Barabbas was a part of and it took place "in the city." Do you see that in the verse? ******* An insurrection, as you know, is "[an uprising] against established authority; [a] rebellion" (Webster's 315). It's important to note this as I'm going to be making a point about it in just a moment as regards us--we've all got insurrection in our blood. I'll develop this further in just a moment.

But let me just say before I do that when you think of Barabbas, I don't believe it's a stretch to think of him as a political fanatic who just very well might have murdered a political figure in the revolt that took place "in the city." That might have been the mur-der Barabbas was in prison for. And so Barabbas quite possibly could be thought of in terms as being akin to the likes of John Wilkes Booth (Lincoln's assassin), Lee Harvey Oswald (JFK's killer), James Earl Ray (assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr.), Sirhan Sir-han (shot Robert Kennedy), etc., etc. Barabbas could be thought of as akin to these. Barabbas was a bad guy.

sisters--listen--I'm convinced Barabbas is a picture of each of us and who we are as sinners--we're bad. Each of us--we're bad in our sinful condition. We've got insurrec-tion in our blood. I said it once. Insurrection--it's running through these veins of ours. We won't have God as our authority. We won't have Him. We're bad in our sinful condition. *******

And lest someone might think, "It may be true that I've rebelled against God. But at least I haven't murdered anybody like Barabbas"--lest someone might think that I thought I ought to read these words of our Lord. Jesus said in Matthew 5:21-22...

"You have heard that the ancients were told, 'You shall not commit murder' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry (somebody say, "Angry")--everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother, 'Raca,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever shall say, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell" (Mt. 5:21-22).

Have you ever been angry with somebody, my friends? Are you angry with somebody today--this very moment? ******* It's a hard pill to swallow, but it's the truth. The Bible equates being angry with murder. My brother, my sister--if you're mad at somebody right now, I counsel you to deal with it--your anger. Because you're not only harming the other person with whom you're upset (which is bad enough!), but you're harming yourself. Deal with your anger. Don't let the sun go down this evening before you do (Eph. 4:26b).

And let me just read you a couple of other verses that further emphasize this. It's not that I don't think you've gotten the message. But Isaiah talks about our "badness" in this way and I want you to be reminded of what he says. In Isaiah 64, Isaiah says...

"There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, Together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one" (Romans 3:10b-12).

a picture. We're bad. ******* And let me just go a bit further than that here as well. We're bad like Barabbas and we deserve to be condemned and executed just like he deserved to be condemned and executed ("The Life And Times Of Jesus The Messiah" by Edershiem, Vol. 2, pg. 576). In our condition of sin, we deserve the same thing. It's another hard pill to swallow, but it's also true. *******

Which brings me to the second point I want to make this morning regarding Barabbas. Surely he was a bad guy as I've been very careful with detail to emphasize. And yet it was this very same bad guy--this ought to encourage us--that was the object of God's favor. It was this very same "bad guy Barabbas" who was the object of God's grace.

If you could please turn with me back to the Gospel of Mark now so we can pick up the story again there. You're turning back to Mark 15. We've ventured off into the other three Gospels for a time this morning, but we're coming back to Mark now. I want to read v. 6 again of Mark 15. ******* Notice v. 6 again--it reads...

And we realize it was Barabbas who was decided upon to be in the running for freedom. You talk about being fortunate, my brothers and sisters, I was thinking. You talk about "luck." That's what many in our society would call it, "luck." ******* While as believers--how many of you know we don't live life with that kind of "chance" mentality? Rather, we know things happen for a reason. We know there's a God behind it all that causes this and that to take place and allows this and that or disallows it. We, as believers, don't live thinking it's by chance that things happen. You're not here in church today by chance. Surely it's by choice--your choice. But it's also because God's been working on you that you're here--some of you. Others of us, God worked years ago and drew us to Christ. None of us is here by chance today.

And neither was Barabbas chosen to be in the running for freedom in Pilate's court that day long ago--by chance. It was by design instead. It was by design that Barabbas was chosen. God wanted Barabbas there. It was because God wanted Barabbas set free. ******* And isn't that what God's favor and grace is all about, my friends? *******

God's favor--God's grace--it's all about people being chosen for freedom from sin not based on who they are or what they've done in the past, but rather based on because God's love has decided for it to happen (Rom. 5:8). *******

God had decided that Barabbas should go free though he was a "notorious prisoner"--though he had insurrection in his blood--though he had robbed and murdered. Despite all that, God had decided that Jesus would die in Barabbas' place (our place!) so that Barabbas (we!) could go free. Isn't this amazing, the story we're afforded in Barabbas today, my brothers and sisters? Like I've already said, his is really a story about you and a story about me. *******

The last point I want to make in my message this morning has to do with a question--so whatever became of Barabbas? Where did he end up after his release? What kind of life did he lead in the days that followed? Have you ever wondered about that? Maybe you have. Maybe you haven't.

But let me just tell you that the Bible is silent on what happened to Barabbas, first of all. And not only is the Bible silent, but history is also silent. I read in a Bible Encyclopedia that "Nothing is known concerning the subsequent history of Barabbas" (ZPBE Vol. 1, pg. 472). And so it's a mystery--the answer to whatever became of Barabbas. Nobody knows.

And yet I'd like to offer you a couple of scenarios of what might have happened to him though we don't have evidence for it. It's just my conjecturing, but I think either scenario might be close to the truth. The first scenario of what became of Barabbas in my mind is he was so struck by the turn of events that had accompanied his release that his attention was gotten and he sought for a change in his life. And quite possibly--hopefully!--that change he sought included asking God for forgiveness of sins, becoming born again, and then living for the Lord. Could Barabbas have been among the 120 in the upper room when the Spirit fell (Acts 2)? He could have been there. Why not if he'd accepted Christ? It's just conjecture--this first scenario of mine. Whether you agree with it or not, this could have been what happened to Barabbas. *******

And then there's scenario number two. Do you know what I'm going to say? Barabbas went right back to his old life upon being set free. He robbed again. He took part in insurrection-type activities again. And could it be that he even murdered again? Might Barabbas have ended up back in prison, condemned and awaiting execution a second time? This just might very well have been how Barabbas ended up. And after all that God had done for him to bring about his release, I was thinking, this would be a saddening turn of events indeed.

And certainly I've been only conjecturing about what became of Barabbas here. But by doing so, we've really been afforded what are the two responses that any person can make towards what Christ has done that he might be set free from his sins. #1: a person can respond by surrendering his life to God to follow and obey Him. Or #2: a person can go on living like he's been living--apart from the Lord--apart from freedom--even though Jesus has made it so he can be free. The choice is each of ours to make. How will we go on living when we realize that Jesus has secured our release? ******* I need to stop right there.


	From Our Heart To Yours \| home Christmas \| Death Of Christ \| Easter \| End Times \| Gambling \| Godly Living \| Hell \| Memorials \| Spiritual Slumber \| The Cross GETTING OFF "SCOT FREE" (Sermon: April 8, 2001) I'll be having you turn in your Bibles in just a moment this morning. But before that--it's been almost 7 years now--it will be in June--that two gruesome murders took place outside what was then a residence in a rich southern California neighborhood. You remember the murders. A woman named Nicole Brown Simpson along with one, Ronald Goldman--they were found with multiple stab wounds among other things. And the turn of events that was to follow that awful evening as regards the police handling of the crime scene, let alone the capturing of the prime suspect after a televised car chase later in the week--football star O. J. Simpson--and his subsequent trial--it'd literally captivate America and the world for months to come. And it'd all reach a climax a year later in October '95 when the verdict came in. "Not guilty" was the juror's response. O. J. was found not guilty. We were to learn later at the Federal level of our justice system that indeed O. J. was guilty. And yet to this day, for the most part, he's walked away "scot-free," as they say, except for the monetary damages he owes. O. J. Simpson is still living his life outside of jail even as we speak. It's the title of my message this morning, my brothers and sisters--"Getting Off 'Scot-Free'" as I'm wanting to look at the story of someone in the Bible who had the same thing happen to him as happened with O. J. He walked away "scot-free," also. If you could please turn with me in your Bibles and we'll find out who this person is. Turn to the Gospel of Mark and chapter 15. I want to read 10 verses in Mark 15. ***** I want to read v. 6-15 as here we are a week away from Easter already and celebrating the resurrection of our Lord. I want to look at a particular incident that took place while Christ was on His way to the cross--in the final hours of His life. Do you have it, my friends? Notice then now, Mark 15 and v. 6 reads... Now at the feast he (Pilate) used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. And the man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. And the multitude (v. 8) went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. And Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" For he was aware that the chief priests had delivered Him up because of envy. 15:11 But the chief priests stirred up the multitude to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. And answering again, Pilate was saying to them, "Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?" And they shouted back (v. 13), "Crucify Him!" But Pilate was saying to them, "Why, what evil has He done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify Him!" 15:15 And wishing to satisfy the multitude, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he delivered Him to be crucified (Mk. 15:6-15). Shall we pray? Again, the title of my message today is: "Getting Off 'Scot-Free.'" "Scot-free" means "unharmed" or "unpunished" (Webster's 534). That's really what happens in today's story with Barabbas. Quite a turn of events for him. Wouldn't you agree? Quite a turn of events--listen--all brought about because of Jesus. *** We're looking at the story of Barabbas today. And let me just say at the outset that his story is really a story about you and a story about me in the sense that each of us has been set free who didn't deserve to be set free who have accepted Christ. Raise your hand if that's the case with you. You've been set free from a sinful past and you didn't deserve it, but Jesus freed you anyway. *** And so Barabbas' story--it's really a story about you and a story about me. I. Barabbas Was A Bad Guy. And we're coming to the first point I want to make now. I want to talk about Barabbas and how much of a bad guy he was. I really want to develop this. And to do it, I want to look at parallel Gospel accounts to the one we just read in Mark's Gospel to begin. I don't know if you knew this, but all four Gospels include the Barabbas story we're considering. And in all four Gospels we learn something about Barabbas. In Matthew, we learn that his past was one of notoriety. Let me just read you the verse. Actually, why don't you just turn to it with me. Turn to Matthew 27 and v. 16. You're just flipping one Gospel back. I want you to see this verse for yourself. *** We learn something about Barabbas in Matthew 27 and v. 16. Notice, my friends, it says... And they were holding at that time a notorious prisoner--a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas (Mt. 27:16). *** And so Barabbas was "notorious," first of all. Which means Barabbas was widely known for his bad behavior. He was widely known in the community. He was widely known by those in authority in the area. And especially this latter group--they widely knew him, I believe, because, the verse says, Barabbas was a "notorious prisoner." Which seems to imply, at least to me, this wasn't the first time Barabbas was found in jail in our story. He'd been there before. The "cops" knew him all too well. My friends, Barabbas was the kind of person with a "rap sheet" a mile long. Have you ever known anybody like that? They're not very nice people to know. Barabbas was "notorious," first of all--a "notorious prisoner." *** And secondly, we learn something else about Barabbas in the Gospel of John. I want you to turn now to John 18 and v. 40. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. *** In John 18 and v. 40, the second part of the verse, we learn something else about Barabbas and his past. Notice, it reads--the second part of v. 40--just five words... Now Barabbas was a robber--Now Barabbas was a robber (Jn. 18:40). *** Mark tells us Barabbas was a murderer. But here in John, John says he was a robber. So which one is it? Was Barabbas a murderer or was he a robber? Or could it be that the gospel writers were confused when they were writing and they made a mis-take? *** Well, certainly the answer to this latter question is "No" because Mark and John couldn't possibly be confused when they were writing their Gospels. They couldn't possibly make a mistake. Because how many of you know holy men of old were moved of the Holy Spirit and that's how the Scriptures came about in the first place (2 Pet. 1:20-21)? The Holy Spirit who moved Mark and John to write what they wrote is perfect because He's God. And so the Scriptures are correctly written and infallible. They contain no mistakes. *** And so there isn't an error in that Mark states Barabbas was a murderer and John says he was a robber. And so there has to be another answer. And there is another answer, my brothers and sisters. And it's really a quite simple one. You probably figured it out. The answer as to whether Barabbas was a murderer or a robber is: He was both. Barabbas was both a murderer and a robber. Did you figure it out? (Pastor, we're not that dumb.) Barabbas was both a murderer and a robber. *** And I'm convinced Barabbas was a robber first before he was a murderer. I just mentioned how Barabbas had likely been in jail before--it wasn't the first time in our story. And I believe when he was in jail before, it was for the crime of robbery that Barabbas was there. I'm going somewhere with all this. The place I'm going is to the truth we're reminded of here. I was thinking that we're reminded of how smaller sins lead to bigger sins. Isn't that the case? *** Oh, but he's only stealing a pack of gum from the grocery store. What's the big deal? She's only smoking pot. Well, the big deal is smaller sins lead to bigger sins. Beloved, how many of you understand that a young person doesn't just wake up one morning and decide to go and shoot up his high school? It doesn't work that way. A young person must be sinning in other ways to begin with--whether it's in the area of harboring grudges or anger or resentment. Or maybe it's manifesting in physical ways in his life--in tantrums or after-school fights or something else. The bottom line is a young person doesn't just wake up and go shoot somebody. He must work his way up to that point from smaller sins. The same is true for those who shoot bosses and co-workers in the workplace. Barabbas worked up to murder and it was through robbery that he did it. "Now Barabbas was a robber," John 18:40 says. *** And now if you could please turn with me to the Gospel of Luke and chapter 23. I want to read v. 19 as we're considering how much of a bad guy Barabbas was. *** Luke 23 and v. 19 says--notice... (He (Barabbas) was one who had been thrown into prison for a certain insurrection made in the city, and for murder) (Lk. 23:19). *** And certainly this verse in Luke is a parallel verse to Mark 15 and v. 7 ("And the man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection"--Mk. 15:7), except that here it adds that it was a "certain insurrection" Barabbas was a part of and it took place "in the city." Do you see that in the verse? *** An insurrection, as you know, is "[an uprising] against established authority; [a] rebellion" (Webster's 315). It's important to note this as I'm going to be making a point about it in just a moment as regards us--we've all got insurrection in our blood. I'll develop this further in just a moment. But let me just say before I do that when you think of Barabbas, I don't believe it's a stretch to think of him as a political fanatic who just very well might have murdered a political figure in the revolt that took place "in the city." That might have been the mur-der Barabbas was in prison for. And so Barabbas quite possibly could be thought of in terms as being akin to the likes of John Wilkes Booth (Lincoln's assassin), Lee Harvey Oswald (JFK's killer), James Earl Ray (assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr.), Sirhan Sir-han (shot Robert Kennedy), etc., etc. Barabbas could be thought of as akin to these. Barabbas was a bad guy. And I've been trying to emphasize that here. I hope I've done it. I've been trying to show Barabbas in the light of who he really was. Because I'm convinced, my brothers and sisters--listen--I'm convinced Barabbas is a picture of each of us and who we are as sinners--we're bad. Each of us--we're bad in our sinful condition. We've got insurrec-tion in our blood. I said it once. Insurrection--it's running through these veins of ours. We won't have God as our authority. We won't have Him. We're bad in our sinful condition. *** And lest someone might think, "It may be true that I've rebelled against God. But at least I haven't murdered anybody like Barabbas"--lest someone might think that I thought I ought to read these words of our Lord. Jesus said in Matthew 5:21-22... "You have heard that the ancients were told, 'You shall not commit murder' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry (somebody say, "Angry")--everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother, 'Raca,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever shall say, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell" (Mt. 5:21-22). Have you ever been angry with somebody, my friends? Are you angry with somebody today--this very moment? *** It's a hard pill to swallow, but it's the truth. The Bible equates being angry with murder. My brother, my sister--if you're mad at somebody right now, I counsel you to deal with it--your anger. Because you're not only harming the other person with whom you're upset (which is bad enough!), but you're harming yourself. Deal with your anger. Don't let the sun go down this evening before you do (Eph. 4:26b). *** And so we've not only got insurrection in our blood like Barabbas but we've got that other thing, too, anger which is equal to murder. We're bad. *** And let me just read you a couple of other verses that further emphasize this. It's not that I don't think you've gotten the message. But Isaiah talks about our "badness" in this way and I want you to be reminded of what he says. In Isaiah 64, Isaiah says... For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment . . . (Is. 64:6a). And then there's Paul in the book of Romans--he puts an exclamation point on our "badness." In Romans 3 and v. 10, Paul states--you know the verses... "There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, Together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one" (Romans 3:10b-12). This is us, beloved, as described in Romans 3:10-12. This is us of which Barabbas is a picture. We're bad. *** And let me just go a bit further than that here as well. We're bad like Barabbas and we deserve to be condemned and executed just like he deserved to be condemned and executed ("The Life And Times Of Jesus The Messiah" by Edershiem, Vol. 2, pg. 576). In our condition of sin, we deserve the same thing. It's another hard pill to swallow, but it's also true. *** II. Barabbas Was The Object Of God's Favor. Which brings me to the second point I want to make this morning regarding Barabbas. Surely he was a bad guy as I've been very careful with detail to emphasize. And yet it was this very same bad guy--this ought to encourage us--that was the object of God's favor. It was this very same "bad guy Barabbas" who was the object of God's grace. If you could please turn with me back to the Gospel of Mark now so we can pick up the story again there. You're turning back to Mark 15. We've ventured off into the other three Gospels for a time this morning, but we're coming back to Mark now. I want to read v. 6 again of Mark 15. *** Notice v. 6 again--it reads... Now at the feast [Pilate] used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested (Mk. 15:6). And then v. 8 goes on--we're skipping v. 7--look at v. 8--it goes on... And the multitude went up and began asking [Pilate] to do as he had been accustomed to do for them (that is, to release a prisoner) (Mk. 15:8). And we realize it was Barabbas who was decided upon to be in the running for freedom. You talk about being fortunate, my brothers and sisters, I was thinking. You talk about "luck." That's what many in our society would call it, "luck." *** While as believers--how many of you know we don't live life with that kind of "chance" mentality? Rather, we know things happen for a reason. We know there's a God behind it all that causes this and that to take place and allows this and that or disallows it. We, as believers, don't live thinking it's by chance that things happen. You're not here in church today by chance. Surely it's by choice--your choice. But it's also because God's been working on you that you're here--some of you. Others of us, God worked years ago and drew us to Christ. None of us is here by chance today. And neither was Barabbas chosen to be in the running for freedom in Pilate's court that day long ago--by chance. It was by design instead. It was by design that Barabbas was chosen. God wanted Barabbas there. It was because God wanted Barabbas set free. *** And isn't that what God's favor and grace is all about, my friends? *** For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God--it is a gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast (Eph. 2:8-9). God's favor--God's grace--it's all about people being chosen for freedom from sin not based on who they are or what they've done in the past, but rather based on because God's love has decided for it to happen (Rom. 5:8). *** God had decided that Barabbas should go free though he was a "notorious prisoner"--though he had insurrection in his blood--though he had robbed and murdered. Despite all that, God had decided that Jesus would die in Barabbas' place (our place!) so that Barabbas (we!) could go free. Isn't this amazing, the story we're afforded in Barabbas today, my brothers and sisters? Like I've already said, his is really a story about you and a story about me. *** III. Barabbas--So Whatever Became Of Him? And I'd like to look now at v. 15 of Mark 15 and then I'm going to close. Notice, my friends--again it says... And wishing to satisfy the multitude, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he delivered Him to be crucified (Mk. 15:15). *** And so Barabbas walked away "scot-free" while Jesus went to the cross. The last point I want to make in my message this morning has to do with a question--so whatever became of Barabbas? Where did he end up after his release? What kind of life did he lead in the days that followed? Have you ever wondered about that? Maybe you have. Maybe you haven't. But let me just tell you that the Bible is silent on what happened to Barabbas, first of all. And not only is the Bible silent, but history is also silent. I read in a Bible Encyclopedia that "Nothing is known concerning the subsequent history of Barabbas" (ZPBE Vol. 1, pg. 472). And so it's a mystery--the answer to whatever became of Barabbas. Nobody knows. And yet I'd like to offer you a couple of scenarios of what might have happened to him though we don't have evidence for it. It's just my conjecturing, but I think either scenario might be close to the truth. The first scenario of what became of Barabbas in my mind is he was so struck by the turn of events that had accompanied his release that his attention was gotten and he sought for a change in his life. And quite possibly--hopefully!--that change he sought included asking God for forgiveness of sins, becoming born again, and then living for the Lord. Could Barabbas have been among the 120 in the upper room when the Spirit fell (Acts 2)? He could have been there. Why not if he'd accepted Christ? It's just conjecture--this first scenario of mine. Whether you agree with it or not, this could have been what happened to Barabbas. *** And then there's scenario number two. Do you know what I'm going to say? Barabbas went right back to his old life upon being set free. He robbed again. He took part in insurrection-type activities again. And could it be that he even murdered again? Might Barabbas have ended up back in prison, condemned and awaiting execution a second time? This just might very well have been how Barabbas ended up. And after all that God had done for him to bring about his release, I was thinking, this would be a saddening turn of events indeed. And certainly I've been only conjecturing about what became of Barabbas here. But by doing so, we've really been afforded what are the two responses that any person can make towards what Christ has done that he might be set free from his sins. #1: a person can respond by surrendering his life to God to follow and obey Him. Or #2: a person can go on living like he's been living--apart from the Lord--apart from freedom--even though Jesus has made it so he can be free. The choice is each of ours to make. How will we go on living when we realize that Jesus has secured our release? ***** I need to stop right there.