Sermon #86
Series: Matthew
Title: Barabbas - A Picture Of Substitution[1]
Text: Matthew 27:15-26
Readings: Office:
Rex Bartley Auditorium: Bobbie
Estes
Subject: Substitution
Date: Tuesday Evening - June 18, 1996
Tape # S-66
Introduction:
My subject this evening is Barabbas - A Picture of Substitution. Of
all the doctrines taught in the Word of God, none is so vitally important as
the doctrine of substitution. Men everywhere talk about the doctrine of
substitutionary atonement. They speak much about Christ, the sinner’s
Substitute. But their language is vague. And very few people understand what
the Bible teaches about substitution. It is for this reason that I want us to
look at the story of Barabbas. Here we
have a clear illustration of the nature of Christ’s death. It was a
substitutionary sacrifice and atonement. The innocent died in the place of the
guilty, and the guilty must go free.
You are all familiar with the story.
It is recorded by all four of the gospel writers. During the days of Israel’s
subjection to Rome, a strange custom was regularly practiced. On the day of the
Passover the Roman governor released a guilty prisoner. No doubt, this was
intended to be an act of benevolence on the part of the Roman authorities
toward the Jews. The Jews probably accepted it as a significant compliment to
their Passover celebrations. Since on that day the Jews were themselves
delivered out of the land of Egypt, they may have thought it a most fitting
thing for some prisoner to obtain his freedom.
Now since some prisoner must be
released on the Day of Atonement, Pilate thought that he now had opportunity to
allow the Savior to go free, without compromising himself in the eyes of his
superiors at Rome. So he asked the people which of the two they preferred, a
notorious criminal or the holy Savior. Without hesitation or dissension, the
crowd cried for the release of Barabbas and the death of Christ. Pilate’s last
effort to release Christ had failed - “And
so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and
delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified” (Mk. 15:15)
Who Barabbas
was we do not know. His name
signifies - “His father’s son.” Some mystics think that there is an indication
here that he was particularly and specially the son of satan. Others suppose
that it was an endearing name, a name given to him because he was his father’s
darling, a child indulged by his father, or as we would say his daddy’s boy.
These writers add this observation - Indulged, spoiled children are the most
likely persons to become injurious to society, griefs to their parents, and
curses to all around them.
Certainly,
there is a warning here for us. Looking at the cases of Eli’s two sons,
Absalom, and Barabbas, we are warned as parents not to be too excessive in the
indulgence and pampering of our children.
At any rate, Barabbas appears to have committed at least three crimes. He was
imprisoned for murder, sedition, and robbery. We might well pity the father of
such a son. This wretch is brought out
and set in competition with the holy Son of God! And the poor inhabitants
of Jerusalem were so hardened in their unbelief and sin, so thirsty for the
innocent blood of Christ that they prefer this obnoxious creature to the man
who is God’s own Fellow!
This fact is very significant. There
is more teaching in it than we might realize at first glance. In this act of freeing the guilty and
binding the innocent, we have a vivid example of salvation by substitution.
The guilty is set free and the innocent is put to death in his place. Barabbas
is spared, and Christ is crucified. We have in this striking event a display of
the manner in which God pardons and justifies the ungodly. He does it because
Christ has suffered and died in their stead, the Just for the unjust. We
deserve to die for the punishment of our sins; but a mighty Substitute has
suffered our punishment. Eternal death is our due; but a glorious Surety has
died for us. We are all in the position of Barabbas by nature. We are guilty,
wicked, condemned, and shut up under the law. But when we were without hope and
without strength, “in due time Christ
died for the ungodly.” And now God, for Christ’s sake, can be just and yet “the Justifier of him which believeth in
Jesus.”
In the Old Testament rite of cleansing lepers, two birds
were used. One bird was killed, and its blood was poured into a basin. The
other bird was dipped into the blood, and then, with its wings covered with
crimson, it was set free to fly into the open air. The slain bird typified our
Savior whose blood was shed at Mt. Calvary. And every soul that by faith is
plunged into the...
“Fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,
is
set free, owing its life and liberty to the Savior who was once for sinners
slain. This is substitution. It comes to this - Barabbas must die, or Christ
must die. You the sinner must perish, or Christ, the immaculate Lamb of God,
must be slain. Behold, the Incarnate God dies that we may be delivered.
Proposition:
The Lord Jesus Christ suffered in the place of sinners like
Barabbas, satisfying the wrath and justice of God; and like Barabbas all those
sinners for whom Christ made satisfaction must go free.
Divisions:
May God the Holy Spirit be our Teacher as we look into this
subject - Barabbas - A Picture of
Substitution. And may he grant pardon and salvation to guilty sinners by
Christ. I want you to see four things about this man Barabbas.
1. Barabbas was a man guilty of many offenses.
2. Barabbas was a prisoner under the sentence of the law.
3. A Substitute was provided to die in Barabbas’ place.
4. Because Christ died, Barabbas was set free.
I. The first thing I want you to see is this - Barabbas was a man guilty of many offenses.
We sometimes say that a man is “as guilty as sin.” Well
Barabbas was as guilty as sin. His life was a life of riotousness and sin. He
was tried in a court of law and found guilty of robbery, sedition, and murder.
As such he is a fair representative of all men by nature. We could all be named
“Barabbas.” We are all the sons of our father Adam. His image, his nature, and
his character is reflected in us all.
A. Like Barabbas, we are all
rebels.
Barabbas stirred up sedition. He was a revolutionary. That
is a modern name for rebels. He would not submit to authority. This is the
problem with our race. We are proud, self-willed rebels. We hate authority.
1. In our father Adam, we rebelled against God’s command.
2. We are born with a rebellious nature.
3. In pride and self-will, we rebelled all the days of our
lives against God’s throne.
4. We sinfully rebel against God’s holy law. Man acts like he
does, simply because God says, “Don’t do that.” Man sees the good and refuses
to do it, simply because God says, “Do it.”
5. And we are steadfast and persistent in our rebellion.
·
As children, we
rebelled against parents and teachers.
·
As adults, we rebel
against moral and civil authority.
·
Even as believers, we
have a nature within us that rebels against everything holy and good (Rom.
7:14, 15, 18).
B. And Like Barabbas, we are all
robbers.
It was Adam’s determination to rob God of his authority, of
his creation, and of his glory. And that is what man does by his sin.
1. We have robbed God of his glory, refusing to worship him.
2. We have robbed God of his honor, refusing to believe his
Word.
3. We have robbed God of his creation, stealing that which God
has made for himself and using it for ourselves, without regard to him.
4. We have robbed ourselves and our children.
·
Of the blessedness of
our original creation.
·
Of fellowship with
God.
·
Of the image of God.
·
Of true freedom.
·
Of the favor of God.
·
Of life.
Through our sin and rebellion our
race is reduced to nothing but emptiness and vanity. Once we were princes of
God’s creation. Now we are empty handed thieves.
Ephesians 2:11-12 "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called
Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by
hands; (12) That at that time ye were
without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the
world:"
C. Once more, like Barabbas, we
are all murderers.
In the course of his rebellion and robbery, Barabbas had
committed murder. So have we all. There is not a guiltless one among us.
1. We have all committed multiple murders in our hearts - Envy,
hatred, anger, wrath, and malice are in the eyes of God’s law equal to murder
(Matt. 5:21-22).
2. We have infected our children with the deadly disease of
sin. Sin is a plague of the heart. It is a family disease passed on from
generation to generation.
3. What is more, we are all guilty of the blood of the Son of
God. Yes we are guilty of slaughtering the Lord of Glory!
4. We must never to forget what we are by nature.
Matthew 15:19 "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders,
adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:"
There is not an evil deed, or
atrocious crime, or an infamous sin recorded on the pages of human history
which does not reside, in potential, in the heart of every man, woman, and
child in the world. Well could we all be named “Barabbas”!
·
We are all the
descendants of Adam.
·
We are all of our
father the devil.
·
We are all the
children of wrath, even as others.
Look to the book of God’s law. Read
every command of God. By them we stand judged. The verdict is guilty! Guilty!
Guilty! Like Barabbas we are men guilty of many offenses.
II. Now, in the second place, Barabbas was a prisoner under the sentence of the law.
Barabbas had been found guilty. The sentence was passed. Barabbas must die. On the day when the
Jews observe their Passover, two thieves will be crucified. And Barabbas will
be crucified in the midst of them, for he is the vilest of the three. Take him
away. Bind him hand and foot in the prison until the day of his execution.
Picture Barabbas in the prison. He
expected very soon to be taken out, nailed to a cross and hung up to die, as
the just payment for his crimes. He was held under the sentence of the law.
That is just the condition of every person in the world by nature.
John 3:36 "He
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."
Romans 3:19
"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to
them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty before God."
Galatians 3:10
"For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse:
for it is written, Cursed is every
one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law
to do them."
Galatians 3:22-23 "The scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the
promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. (23) But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be
revealed."
Ephesians 2:3 We all
"were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."
A. Man’s bondage is as cruel and
terrible as it is sure.
Men today like to boast of their independence and freedom.
We are told, “I’m going to do my own thing.” But they are only doing exactly
the same thing that men have been doing for six thousand years. Man is not
free. He is in bondage. He is in bondage to religious tradition, social custom,
and peer pressure. And man by nature is
in bondage to sin. He is in bondage to his own nature, and the lusts of his own
heart.
1. Man is in bondage to his sinful nature. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may
ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil” (Jer. 13:23).
2. Men are taken captive by Satan at his will (I Tim. 2:26).
3. Man by nature is prone to every kind of evil. It is only the
restraining grace of God that keeps you from that wicked thing that you pretend
to abhor.
4. Listen to me, you who are yet without Christ, you are bound
under the chains of darkness, and your will is held in captivity by the fetters
of iniquity.
You have resolved many times to change. You may have even succeeded in reforming your outward behavior somewhat. But your character, your nature, your will is in bondage.
·
You are in the
bondage of despair.
·
You are in the
bondage of helplessness.
·
You are in the
bondage of hopelessness.
Christ alone can set the prisoner
free! “If the Son therefore shall make
you free, ye shall be free indeed!” We were “such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in
affliction and iron.” Then we cried unto the Lord in our trouble, and he
saved us out of all our distresses. “He
brought us out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake our bands in
sunder! (Psa. 107:10-14). Oh imprisoned sinner, cry out for mercy. Christ
can make you free.
B. I tell you also that man’s
sentence is fixed and immutable.
“The soul that
sinneth, it shall die!” God has
spoken. There is no reprieve. There is no amnesty. There is no repeal.
1. God’s law says you must die.
2. God’s holiness says you must die.
3. God’s justice says you must die.
C. I tell you that man by nature is under the sentence and curse of God’s holy law.
The law of God demands your death. You are not on probation.
You are on death row. The God of heaven judges you to be guilty. Your own
conscience consents to the verdict. The sentence is passed. The only thing
lacking is the appointed day of execution.
1. We died spiritually in our father Adam (Rom. 5:12).
2. Physical death is the consequence of sin.
3. And every unbelieving sinner must die eternally, because of
God’s immutable law.
4. Every sinner out of Christ is dead at law.
Is there therefore no hope for a
sinner like Barabbas? Must all the guilty forever perish? Will God not have
mercy? Is there anyway whereby God can be faithful to his holy law and yet
pardon sin? Is there any means whereby God can both satisfy his justice and let
the sinner live? God will not show mercy at the expense of his justice. But he
will show mercy if justice can be satisfied in a Substitute. Blessed be the
name of the Lord, there is hope for sinners, for God has found a Substitute!
III. So mark this third fact and rejoice - A SUBSTITUTE WAS PROVIDED TO DIE IN BARABBAS’ PLACE.
The Roman soldier came and unlocked Barabbas’ prison door,
took off his shackles, and said, “Barabbas, you’re free to go. Jesus of
Nazareth is going to die in your place.” That, my friend, is real substitution.
Illustration: One room schoolhouse.
Now, beloved, that One who suffered
and died as Barabbas’ Substitute is our Substitute. His name is Jesus Christ,
the Lord. He is God’s own, well-beloved Son. He is the only Substitute God can
or will accept.
Romans 3:24-26
"Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus: (25) Whom God hath
set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of
sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; (26) To declare, I say, at
this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus."
2 Corinthians 5:21 "For he hath made him to
be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him."
1 Peter 2:24
"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that
we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye
were healed."
A. The sinner’s Substitute must
be a suitable person, able and willing to redeem.
1. Whoever undertakes to reconcile a holy God and sinful men,
must himself be both God and man.
a. He must be God, for only God is
able to make infinite satisfaction.
b. He must be man, for man must be
punished.
Behold, the God-man, our Savior.
Being God he is able to redeem. Being man he is able to suffer. Being the
God-man he is an all-sufficient Redeemer, both able and willing to save!
2.
In order to be a Substitute for others, our Redeemer must be perfect and sinless
- “He knew no sin.”
B. The Lord Jesus Christ suffered the just punishment due to our
sins, as our Substitute.
1. Christ was made to be sin for us - God imputed our sins to
his Son!
a. God took his Son without the
camp.
b. God hung his Son up in our place
between two thieves.
c. God forsook his well-beloved Son.
d. God killed his Son!
e. God buried the body that bore our
sin.
2.
And by a marvelous transfer of grace, God imputed Christ’s righteousness to us.
IV. Now, in the last place, I want you to see that BECAUSE CHRIST DIED IN HIS PLACE, BARABBAS
WAS SET FREE.
Jesus Christ took Barabbas’ place at Calvary. Therefore
Barabbas did not die. There is a glorious truth here. All of those for whom the
Son of God died at Calvary must be set free.
It is not possible for the law to
punish my Substitute and punish me too. Not one soul for whom Jesus Christ died
shall be found in hell. The cross of Christ can never be discovered a
miscarriage. The blood of Christ cannot be spilled in vain. “He shall see of the travail of his soul,
and shall be satisfied.” This is real substitution. Any doctrine that
teaches that God will both punish Christ and punish those for whom Christ died
is not substitution and is not the gospel.
Illustration: “Let these go their
way” (John 18:8).
From whence this fear and unbelief?
Hath no the Father put to grief
His spotless Son for me?
And will the righteous Judge of men,
Condemn me for that debt of sin,
Which, Lord, was charged on Thee?
Complete atonement Thou hast made,
And to the utmost farthing paid
Whate’er Thy people owed:
Nor can His wrath on me take place,
If sheltered in Thy righteousness,
And sprinkled with Thy blood.
If Thou has my discharge procured,
And freely in my room endured
The whole of wrath divine:
Payment God cannot twice demand,
First at my bleeding Surety’s hand,
And then again at mine.
Then turn, my soul, unto thy rest;
The merits of thy great High Priest
Have bought thy liberty.
Trust in His efficacious blood,
Nor fear thy banishment from God,
Since Jesus died for thee.
A. Understand this - The atoning death of Christ was a satisfactory substitution.
1. It satisfied the designs of his Father.
2. It satisfied the desires of his own soul.
3. It satisfied the demands of his law.
4. It satisfied the debts of his people.
B. And every guilty sinner for whom Jesus Christ died must be set free.
1.
For whom did Christ die?
a. He died for the ungodly.
b. He died for men who were without strength.
c. He died for men who were his enemies.
d. He died for his people.
2.
How does the Son of God set the prisoners free?
a. He gives them life.
b. He casts satan out.
c. He breaks the power of canceled sin.
d. He subdues their wills.
e. He silences the law.
f.
He gives them faith.
g. He promises the resurrection. We will die physically. But
the grave cannot hold Christ’s free men. He will raise these bodies to life and
immortality.
Oh may Christ open the doors of the
prison for you tonight and set you free.
Application:
1.
Listen to this preacher, you are under the sentence of God’s holy law and you
will surely die, unless you find a place of refuge in Christ, the Substitute
God has provided. Somehow, you must get to Christ. Christ alone can set you
free.
a.
How does a guilty sinner come to Christ?
(1. ) You must come as you are. - Naked - Helpless- Filthy -
Bound.
(2. ) You must come in submission.
(3. ) You must come by faith.
b.
What does Christ give those who come to him?
·
Life!
·
Freedom!
·
Righteousness!
·
Peace!
·
Joy!
·
Cleansing!
·
Pardon!
·
Sonship!
2.
Children of God, live as those who have been made free by Christ. You are
bought with a price, the price of the precious blood of Christ. Let us
therefore glorify God in our bodies and in our spirits. We are not our own. We
have been bought with the precious blood of Christ!