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“Barabbas, Part II:” by Romans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSxocnIaN0A
Tonight, in preparing this Installment of our Discussion about Barabbas, I want to credit the book that I have repeatedly used in preparing Bible Studies. I refer to “The World's Bible Handbook,” written by Robert Boyd, a gold mine it its own right of Bible Study materials. I will be using – as well as adding some of my own thoughts and Scriptures – his article, “I Am What I Am,” from the section on 1 Corinthians 15. There Mr. Boyd compiles a list that describes the fuller picture of what we, as Christians, are, that Barabbas was not.
Barabbas, whose name we know so well, symbolically and prophetically represented each one of us in that he deserved to be punished for his lawlessness, yet he was summarily released, and Jesus, repeatedly declared “Innocent,” was nailed to, and died on, the cross intended for the guilty Barabbas, whose name meant “son of the father.” When you become aware of that fact, the spiritual significance of Barabbas' representing us increases exponentially.
Tonight we are going to examine all that we, as the literal adopted children of the Father, are, that Barabbas was NOT. When it comes time for us to stand before The Judge of the Universe, Christians have already been chosen to be released, unpunished. Jesus died the death penalty that we deserved to suffer! As He did for Barabbas, Jesus Christ gave His Life in my place, and your place. Jesus' Name and “crime” were written and nailed to the cross, while my name, and your name was written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
The only reason that my name, and the names of each of you, came to be written in the Book of Life, because of the cross... because of Jesus' laying down His Life... because He was and is the Lamb of God, slain from the Foundation of World. We must never forget Jesus words, “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself” (John 10:17-18).
In this Part 2 of “Barabbas,” we will be looking at, and picking up where Barabbas, Part 1 leaves off. We will be looking at what we are as Christians, and what Barabbas was not. Mr. Boyd, the author of The World's Bible Handbook, has compiled a list of those differences that, seeing it all in one place, is more inspiring than anything I have ever seen before. His list also serves to powerfully point out the stark difference between how the world writes us off as fools, compared to how God provides for us, and has welcomed us into His Family. So, let's begin...
When the mob called for Barabbas instead of Jesus, Barabbas was free to go. But he was not free. He was not free as Jesus frees those who answer His call, and accept His sacrifice in their place. Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:34-36).
Albert Barnes writes, “If the Son ... - The Son of God - heir of all things - who is forever with God, and who has therefore the right and power to liberate men from their thraldom {or, subjugation}.
Shall make you free - Shall deliver you from the bondage and dominion of sin.
Free indeed - Truly and really free. You shall be blessed with the most valuable freedom; not from the chains and oppressions of earthly masters and monarchs, but from the bondage of sin.”
Barabbas was merely released back into the mob, and he disappeared into that crowd, and into history, never to be heard from again. He was guilty, and chosen to be released without punishment... just as we are...
But unlike Barabbas, we are forgiven. Do you realize that? Barabbas was never forgiven. Pilate never even so much as pardoned Barabbas for his many crimes. In stark contrast, we read of our experience in Romans 4:7: “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.”
Matthew Henry writes, “The nature of forgiveness. It is the remission of a debt or a crime; it is the covering of sin, as a filthy thing, as the nakedness and shame of the soul. God is said to cast sin behind his back, to hide his face from it, which, and the like expressions, imply that the ground of our blessedness is not our innocency, or our not having sinned (a thing is, and is filthy, though covered; justification does not make the sin not to have been, or not to have been sin), but God's not laying it to our charge.”
That, my friends, is who we are, that Barabbas was not: Blessed, because we are forgiven. Barabbas was merely released and unpunished. Pilate did not pardon him or wipe out his criminal record. His crimes and guilt remained. His sinful nature, his worldly attractions, along with his willingness to fulfill those attractions and addictions and lusts all remained. He was merely released, not forgiven. We are also forgiven!
There was no admonition to Barabbas from Pilate about turning his life around. We, in contrast, are told in Romans 12:1-2: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
The word “transformed” in verse two is translated from the Greek word, “metamorphoo,” (pronounced: met-am-or-fo'-o) from which we get the English “metamorphosis.” We apply it to the radical change that takes place when a lowly, ugly, creep-crawly, earth-bound caterpillar changes into a beautiful, colorful, airborne butterfly. That is how radical the change is that God looks to take place when we embrace His Son, His Holy Spirit, His Way, and every facet of His Plan of Salvation.
Barabbas was not transformed in this way. He merely left the Judgment Platform to resume his old ways. The Bible is utterly silent about any conversion of any kind on his part. Not so with us...
We are a new creation:
2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
We are crucified with Christ:
Romans 6:6: “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:”
Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
Albert Barnes writes, “I am crucified with Christ - In the previous verse, Paul had said that he was dead. In this verse he states what he meant by it, and shows that he did not wish to be understood as saying that he was inactive, or that he was literally insensible to the appeals made to him by other beings and objects. In respect to one thing he was dead; to all that was truly great and noble he was alive. To understand the remarkable phrase, “I am crucified with Christ,” we may remark:
(1) That this was the way in which Christ was put to death. He suffered on a cross, and thus became literally dead.
(2) In a sense similar to this, Paul became dead to the Law, to the world, and to sin. The Redeemer by the death of the cross became insensible to all surrounding objects, as the dead always are. He ceased to see, and hear, and was as though they were not. He was laid in the cold grave, and they did not affect or influence him. So Paul says that he became insensible to the Law as a means of justification; to the world; to ambition and the love of money; to the pride and pomp of life, and to the dominion of evil and hateful passions. They lost their power over him; they ceased to influence him.
(3) This was with Christ, or by Christ. It cannot mean literally that he was put to death with him, for that is not true. But it means that the effect of the death of Christ on the cross was to make him dead to these things, in like manner as he, when he died, became insensible to the things of this busy world. This may include the following things:
(a) There was an intimate union between Christ and his people, so that what affected him, affected them;
(b) The death of the Redeemer on the cross involved as a consequence the death of his people to the world and to sin. It was like a blow at the root of a vine or a tree, which would affect every branch and tendril or like a blow at the head which affects every member of the body.
(c) Paul felt identified with the Lord Jesus; and he was willing to share in all the ignominy and contempt which was connected with the idea of the crucifixion. He was willing to regard himself as one with the Redeemer. If there was disgrace attached to the manner in which he died, he was willing to share it with him.
He regarded it as a matter to be greatly desired to be made just like Christ in all things, and even in the manner of his death. This idea he has more fully expressed in Philippians 3:10, “That I may know him, (that is, I desire earnestly to know him,) and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Christ liveth in me - Christ was the source of all the life that he had. Of course this cannot be taken literally that Christ had a residence in the apostle, but it must mean that his grace resided in him; that his principles actuated him: and that he derived all his energy, and zeal, and life from his grace. The union between the Lord Jesus and the disciple was so close that it might be said the one lived in the other.
So the juices of the vine are in each branch, and leaf, and tendril, and live in them and animate them; the vital energy of the brain is in each delicate nerve - no matter how small - that is found in any part of the human frame. Christ was in him as it were the vital principle. All his life and energy were derived from him.
And the life which I now live in the flesh - As I now live on the earth surrounded by the cares and anxieties of this life. I carry the life-giving principles of my religion to all my duties and all my trials.
I live by the faith of the Son of God - By confidence in the Son of God, looking to him for strength, and trusting in his promises, and in his grace. Who loved me, etc. He felt under the highest obligation to him from the fact that he had loved him, and given himself to the death of the cross in his behalf.”
We are dead with Christ:
Romans 6:8: “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:”
We are buried with Christ”
Romans 6:4: “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death:”
Romans 6:6-7: “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.”
And then we are raised with Christ:
Colossians 2:12: “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;”
Romans 6:3-8: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:”
As I said earlier, unlike Barabbas, we are forgiven. And, as a result of being forgiven, Paul goes on to tell us in Ephesians 4:32: “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.” But being forgiven is just the beginning of our new lives in Christ...
Being a Christian means that we are not of this world:
John 15:19: “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”
John 17:15: “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”
We should also remember that, as Barabbas, we were once without Christ:
Ephesians 2:12: “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:
John Gill writes, “That at that time ye were without Christ,.... Or separate from him: they were chosen in him and were preserved in him, and were redeemed by him before; but they were without any knowledge of him, faith in him, love to him, communion with him, or subjection to him, his Gospel, government, laws, and ordinances; and particularly they were without any promises of him, or prophecies concerning him, which were peculiar to the Jews;
strangers to the covenants of promise; to the covenant of circumcision given to Abraham; and to the covenant at Mount Sinai, made with Israel; and to the dispensation of the covenant of grace to that people, sometimes called the first covenant and the old covenant, and which peculiarly belonged to them, Rom_9:4 one copy reads, "strangers to the promises of the covenant"; which is natural enough; the Vulgate Latin version joins the word "promise" to the next clause, and reads:
having no hope of the promise of the promised Messiah: "having no hope"; of the Messiah and salvation by him, of the resurrection of the dead, of a future state, and of eternal life; none that is sure and steadfast, that is purifying, and makes not ashamed; or which is a good hope through grace, is the gift of God, the fruit of his love, and the effect of his power.”
The Bible does not speak of Barabbas' hopeless condition ever being changed. He only went from being a convicted criminal, to an unpunished convicted criminal. He very likely immediately returned to that life of crime and rebellion.
Peter tells us in his first epistle, that we should expect our friends to be flabbergasted by our radical change from what we used to be, to the new creature in Christ that we have become. He writes in 1 Peter 4:3-4: “For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:”
I have no reason to believe that Barabbas' old cronies ever thought anything strange about him after his release. They witnessed, I am quite sure, the same old Barabbas, hatching plots to steal and murder and wreak havoc among the people. Barabbas' only change was from a caught caterpillar that was about to be killed by its captor, to a released caterpillar. And nothing more.
Unlike Barabbas, we read of our radical change in status from alien to citizen in Ephesians 2:13, “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” Then Verse 19: “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;”
We are justified:
Romans 5:1-2: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
Matthew Henry writes, “The precious benefits and privileges which flow from justification are such as should quicken us all to give diligence to make it sure to ourselves that we are justified, and then to take the comfort it renders to us, and to do the duty it calls for from us. The fruits of this tree of life are exceedingly precious.
I. We have peace with God. It is sin that breeds the quarrel between us and God, creates not only a strangeness, but an enmity; the holy righteous God cannot in honour be at peace with a sinner while he continues under the guilt of sin. Justification takes away the guilt, and so makes way for peace. And such are the benignity and good-will of God to man that, immediately upon the removing of that obstacle, the peace is made. By faith we lay hold of God's arm and of his strength, and so are at peace.
There is more in this peace than barely a cessation of enmity, there is friendship and loving-kindness, for God is either the worst enemy or the best friend. Abraham, being justified by faith, was called the friend of God (see James 2:23), which was his honour, but not his peculiar honour: Christ has called his disciples friends, (in John 15:13-15).
And surely a man needs no more to make him happy than to have God his friend! But this is through our Lord Jesus Christ - through him as the great peace-maker, the Mediator between God and man, that blessed Day's-man that has laid his hand upon us both. Adam, in innocency, had peace with God immediately; there needed no such mediator. But to guilty sinful man it is a very dreadful thing to think of God out of Christ; for he is our peace, (as we read in Ephesians 2:14), not only the maker, but the matter and maintainer, of our peace.”
Barabbas very likely rejoiced when he was released. He was a dead man walking, and he knew it. When he woke up that morning, he knew it would be his last day on earth as a cross with his name literally on it, was waiting for him. But his release did not provide for him what God provides us: We have peace with God, and we are able to rejoice in the hope of the Glory of God. Barabbas knew of no such peace, rejoicing, or hope or glory.
We are declared to be righteous:
Romans 3:25: “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; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
Jesus is said, here, to be our propitiation. We have all heard this word I am sure, but what exactly does it mean? Here is the definition from the Online Merriam Websters dictionary: “to gain or regain the favor or goodwill of...” Synonyms include “appease” and “pacify.” It means that God was pacified to not punish us with the deserving death penalty that we brought on ourselves by breaking His Laws. Jesus' own blood, shed for us, and in our place, pacified and appeased God.
Let's apply this word to a common situation: There were two people arguing. One is apologizing for some offense, and trying to put things right with his friend. Maybe he borrowed an item, and broke it. His apology is not enough. So he next offers to pay for it. That payment is the propitiation that appeases the one whose item was broken. Jesus' blood is the propitiation that satisfied the Justice of God. We are saved by our faith in that propitiation.
But Jesus did not merely pay for our sins... He did not merely take away our sins... we read the astounding verse in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For he {God} hath made him {Christ} to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Think of what this verse is saying! God made Christ to be sin for us... that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. No matter how many times I read this verse, I cannot fathom or comprehend the depth of love God has for us to have done such a thing.
Albert Barnes writes, “For he hath made him to be sin for us - The Greek here is, ‘for him who knew no sin, he hath made sin, or a sin-offering for us.’ The design of this very important verse is, to urge the strongest possible reason for being reconciled to God. This is implied in the word (γὰρ gar) “for.” Paul might have urged other arguments, and presented other strong considerations. But he chooses to present this fact, that Christ has been made sin for us, as embodying and concentrating all.
It is the most affecting of all arguments; it is the one that is likely to prove most effectual. It is not indeed improper to urge on people every other consideration to induce them to be reconciled to God. It is not improper to appeal to them by the conviction of duty; to appeal to their reason and conscience; to remind them of the claims, the power, the goodness, and the fear of the Creator; to remind them of the awful consequences of a continued hostility to God...
to persuade them by the hope of heaven, and by the fear of hell, and to become his friends: but, after all, the strongest argument, and that which is most adapted to melt the soul, is the fact that the Son of God has become incarnate for our sins, and has suffered and died in our stead. When all other appeals fail this is effectual; and this is in fact the strong argument by which the mass of those who become Christians are induced to abandon their opposition and to become reconciled to God.”
We are sanctified (which means, set apart for Holy use):
Hebrews 10:10: “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
After filling two verses naming a variety of sinners including fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, drunkards, etc who wold not inherit the Kingdom, Paul then writes in the next verse in 1 Corinthians 6:11: “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” As far as we know, for Barabbas there was no such transformation in his life. He continued to be the Barabbas that brought him to the brink of crucifixion until the day he died.
We are children of God by adoption:
Romans 8:15: “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:”
Abba is the MiddleEastern equivalent of our English word, “Daddy.” This is how the Father wants us to understand the relationship He is trying to establish with us. As close and affectionate a picture that is painted by the phrase, Father and child, Daddy and child is just so much warmer and loving and intimate.
As we continue in this study, I hope you see and appreciate the greater and greater distance from Barabbas we are getting as we leave him in the dust. Yes! It was indeed profound that the name Barabbas meant, “son of the father.” And that, even though he was guilty, he was released without punishment. But for us, our experience goes far beyond the mere meaning of a name. God's presence in our lives literally impacts what He would have us become, and what we do become!
There is so much here for us to see and realize that we will need yet another Installment to this Series. God willing, I hope to see you all right here next week so I can share with more of the stark differences between us and Barabbas in the form of blessings which God has poured out on us as His adopted children.
This concludes our Discussion, “Barabbas, Part II.”
This Discussion was originally presented “live” on April 24th, 2019.