GIVE US  BARABBAS
by Pastor Max Solbrekken

The Roman Governor stepped out on the balcony.  The atmosphere was tense and the air charged with hostility towards the lowly Galilean Rabbi with a crown of thorns on His head.

The blood had matted His hair and His beard had been yanked out.  His back was raw and bleeding from the cruel cat-o-nine-tails whip the occupying Italian soldiers had masterfully lain upon His back.

Although Jewish law forbad more than 40 stripes in a scourging, the Romans who had no such law scourged Jesus of Nazareth.  The only prerequisite was to keep the prisoner alive in order to die on a cross of wood.

The prisoner was a despicable sight, after spending all night long without sleep in one Kangaroo court after another!

Before Caiaphas the High Priest and Anna his corrupt predecessor and father-in-law who still wielded power behind the scenes. Then before King Herod who was more interested in pleasing Caesar than seeing justice enacted.

             JESUS’ TRIAL: A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE

No crier had gone through the city streets where the accused lived in order to give His defenders an opportunity to witness on His behalf!

The Bible says, “He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.” (Is. 53:8)

Pontius Pilate didn’t want to get involved in a Jewish religious argument.  But he didn’t want to see a miscarriage of justice either.

He had ordered Jesus of Nazareth to be scourged and he fully intended to release Him.  He didn’t want to execute an innocent man.

“Behold the man”, shouted the Governor as he sought to appeal to their benevolence.

“Away with Him”, cried the mob that had been stirred up by his enemies the self-righteous Pharisees.  He could tell they wanted blood.  “Behold your king”, said Caesar’s representative.

Pilate knew that for envy they had delivered him to be tried! They shouted, “We have no king but Caesar”.  They were rejecting their long awaited Messiah.  “If you release this man you make yourself an enemy of Caesar.”

THEY HAD TOUCHED A SORE POINT!

They were now applying political pressure.  No one in his right mind would go against Caesar Augustus, the Emperor! And yet the Roman Empire prided itself in their laws of justice and fair trial.

“He is innocent”, demanded Pilate to the crowd.  The angry mob of fanatics shouted back, “He is guilty, He has broken our laws, He has made himself God’ He must die”.

Every Passover the Roman government freed one prisoner as a token of good will.  He gave them the choice of Jesus the prophet from Galilee or Barabbas the murderer.

“Give us Barabbas” they chanted.  “We want Barabbas”, they shouted!  “What shall we then do with Jesus who is called the Christ?” asked the governor.

     “LET HIM BE CRUCIFIED”, roared the mob!

Then Pilate called for water to wash his hands.  “I am free from the blood of this innocent man”, stated the governor. “Let His blood be upon us and upon our children”, came back the answer.

They laid the rugged tree upon His bleeding back and Jesus staggered down the cobblestone streets of Jerusalem towards Golgotha, the place of a skull.

As He stumbled and fell, Simon of Cyrene was compelled to carry the cross of Jesus to Calvary’s hill. There they crucified Jesus of Nazareth between two thieves.  They nailed a sign over His head written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, “The King of the Jews”!

He looked down upon His accusers in love and prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”!

MEANWHILE BACK AT THE PRISON

The grim jailor opened the heavy doors with an oath.  He had no love for Barabbas the killer. He mused, “The religious Pharisees have certainly backed the wrong man, this time”.

Strange that they would crucify a prophet and let a murderer go free!

Barabbas snarled at the guard.  “Get up”, snapped the Roman.  He turned the key to unlock the shackles.  “OK, get out of here!  You’re free to leave”!

“What do you mean?” gasped the prisoner.  “I thought you were taking me out like the other two.”

“Have you heard of the prophet Jesus from Nazareth?” asked the jailor. “Yeah,” answered the prisoner!

“Well, He took your place.  He’s dying for you on the cross right now.  So you can go free!”

As the door swung open and Barabbas walked out of the dungeon as a free man, Jesus turned to another thief on the cross next to His and said: “This day shalt thou be with Me in paradise”.

The High Priest Caiaphas (John 11:50) had stated that Jesus had been foreordained to die to the sins of Israel.

     He was right!

Not only did He die for His own people the Jews, but also for the sins of the entire world.  He died for the thief on the cross, the Roman governor and the soldiers who drove the nails. He also died for Barabbas, as well as you and me!

GOD RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD!

Meanwhile at the cross, at high noon an angry wind began to blow and darkness covered the earth.  Thunder crashed and the lightning flashed and the earth shook violently.  Jesus cried out 'tetelestai', bowed His head and gave up the ghost.  At that moment the veil in the temple in Jerusalem was torn from its top to the bottom, opening the way to God through His Son’s vicarious death on the cross.

Then, on the morning of the third day – fulfilling the Holy Scriptures – God raised Jesus Christ from the dead as our Saviour and Lord of the living and the dead!

The word ‘tetelestai' comes from a Greek verb teleo, which has 3 essential meanings:

• To finish something

• To fulfill something

• To pay what is owed

Jesus Christ had just completed the plan of the ages, the salvation of the human race.  He had fulfilled every Old Testament Scripture that the prophets had written about the coming Messiah, and He had paid our sin debt in full so we could be saved!

     It’s no wonder the Roman centurion standing at the foot of His cross, smote his chest and said, “Surely, this is the Son of God”.