Good Swap or Bad Swap

Maybe to get us going, have a think is what we need to think about.

When was the last time that you did a swap?

Maybe it was Pokemon cards.

Maybe it was your packed lunch.

And that's just the adults, kids, isn't it?

When was the last time you did a swap?

You know, Thursday night in our house is date night.

Sometimes Alex and I go out for food.

And this is the swap that I think of every time.

Every time we go out, I'm just waiting for that point in the meal

when Alex will inevitably turn to me.

And I know what's coming because I've seen the food envy in her eyes

that's been there for the moment the waiter brought it out.

She'll turn to me at some point in the meal and say,

how would you feel about a swap?

I'll be honest, we've married for nearly 16 years.

And to this day, I'm still not quite sure what I make of that request.

But have a think about it, right?

When was the last time you did a swap?

And here's the further question for you.

You should think about that swap.

Good swap or bad swap?

Yeah?

Good swap or bad swap?

That's the question I want us to ask tonight.

As we meet this man in this passage,

you'll see him there at verse 18.

Barabbas.

Fun fact for you.

The only time Barabbas is mentioned in the Bible is in this episode.

But so important is it that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all record this episode.

And why that's surprising is that Barabbas, if you noticed it,

if you look at it there,

the guy doesn't even make an appearance.

He's mentioned by name two times.

Do you see with me verse 18 and 19?

And there's one kind of subtle reference to him there at verse 25.

As you take him in there, here's the thing to notice.

The man doesn't utter a single word.

He could not be more passive in this drama.

And yet, here's the thing we're going to take in.

He so profoundly represents all of us.

So we're introducing him there.

Do you see it?

Verse 18.

What do we learn about him?

We learn that this guy's notorious.

Right?

Now, if you Google notorious people, what comes up are names like Jesse James,

that American bank robber, Pablo Escobar, the Colombian drug lord, Lance Armstrong, the cyclist.

You get it.

Notorious people.

People who have a reputation, a bad reputation,

and the whole world kind of knows about it.

Okay?

Notorious.

That's Barabbas.

Notorious.

Everyone knows that he is one of Jerusalem's bad guys.

So think about it.

Okay?

He's the kind of guy you don't want to come across in a dark alley at night.

The kind of guy you're hoping your daughter doesn't bring home and say,

Mom, Dad, meet my new fiancé.

Learn in the text that Barabbas is a zealot.

So he's a Jewish freedom fighter who's got one aim in life.

And it's to see that the Romans, who are the occupying force of the day,

it's to see that the Romans are kicked out of Jerusalem.

And that's probably the reason that he's in prison in the first place.

Do you see verse 19?

Luke wants us to know, and we get this detail twice,

that Barabbas has been involved in an insurrection.

So that's just someone who riots and plots in order to take down the ruling authorities.

You can kind of think it's like Guy Fawkes.

Barabbas hates the Romans.

He hates them with a passion.

And he's likely committed murder in the process of carrying out his hate.

So this is a guy with a lot of hate in his heart.

This is a guy with a lot of rebellion in his heart.

This is a guy with a lot of anger in his heart.

This is a rebel of the highest order.

So try and picture Barabbas.

You've got to use your imagination here tonight.

Okay, try and picture him.

He's sitting in that dingy prison cell.

He knows he's there because he's guilty.

The guy has no rights.

There's no appeal system that he can use.

There's no legal aid that he can apply for.

There's no, you've got one phone call.

And I don't even imagine with all of that that this guy gives two hoots.

The only thing that's in his diary

is my death.

He doesn't know when it's coming.

All he knows is that it is coming.

And it's a death by crucifixion.

That barbaric Roman form of execution reserved for the worst of people.

This is Rome's way of making a public statement to the watching world that says,

if anyone, anyone dares to try and set themselves up as a king,

they want to rebel against Rome's king,

then this is the fate that's going to await them.

They're sending a message, sending a signal to the watching world.

Don't you dare.

Because that's what's going to happen to you.

Now, use your imagination to picture this scene, right?

Get inside Barabbas' shoes.

Maybe he's in his cell.

And from his cell,

he hears this crowd

baying for blood,

screaming.

See it in the text, verse 20.

Crucify him.

Crucify him.

Crucify him.

Crucify him.

And he hears this in his cell.

And he thinks,

this one must be for me.

Let's put on a brave show for the people.

Let's go out a defiant hero.

The adrenaline starts pumping in his body.

And he thinks,

vive la revolution.

That's what I want to happen here.

I'm going to go out.

I'm going to go out with a bang.

And all of a sudden,

he hears the clinking of keys.

And the guard,

the one who's probably utterly delighted

to see him behind bars,

shouts his name,

Barabbas.

And he's told to his utter astonishment,

not,

it's time to go.

He's told,

you're free to go.

So up he gets.

And he's probably shoved out.

And he covers his eyes

because he's not seen the sun in days.

Forgot what the smell of fresh air is like.

And as Barabbas is led away to life,

he sees another man passing him,

going in the opposite direction,

who's being ushered away to his death.

And it dawns on Barabbas

that that man,

as he goes,

going in the opposite direction

to the one that I'm going in,

that man has taken my place.

And I wonder whether Barabbas,

he keeps on walking

because he doesn't know

what to do with himself, right?

And he finds himself roaming the streets

of Jerusalem as a legally free man.

I wonder if he grabs somebody

who was in that crowd in this scene

and he asks them,

what on earth?

What on earth?

Happened back there?

Now what did happen back there,

let me just try and get you

into the history behind this.

It's widely understood

that there was a custom

that had developed over the years

between the Romans and the Jews.

One that took place

every Passover festival in Jerusalem.

I guess this is kind of like

a goodwill gesture

from the Romans

to the Jews

to try and keep them sweet.

And the deal was

that every year

the people were presented

with two Jewish prisoners.

Prisoner A, prisoner B.

And they got to choose

one of them

to be released.

The Romans, as it were,

saying to them,

because we're nice people

deep down

and we kind of want you

to tolerate us,

but we're kind of going to give you

one of yours back

to keep you sweet.

That's what's going on here.

And on this particular Passover day,

the choice

was Barabbas

or Jesus.

The notorious Roman killer

with blood in his hands

or

the innocent

Jewish carpenter.

And I wonder if you picked it up,

I even just noticed

that there

as we were having

that Isaiah 52

reading for us

that no deceit

was found in his mouth.

Did you pick that up?

The prophecy

about who Jesus will be.

And I think to myself,

why was no deceit

found in his mouth?

Well, of course,

no deceit

was found in his mouth

because there was no deceit

in his heart.

Totally innocent,

totally blameless,

and yet here he is,

Barabbas

or Jesus.

Now, we use that phrase

in our culture,

don't we?

It's a no-brainer.

When we speak about

a really obvious decision

that's

right in front of us,

well,

this would seem to be

your

no-brainer.

And what's more,

if you start piecing this together,

Pilate,

the Roman governor

overseeing this whole transaction,

he's not neutral

on this one,

right?

It's not like he's still

to make up his mind

who he would want

to see released.

He wants Jesus off the hook

and so he's probably

picked the worst prisoner

he can possibly imagine

that he knows he's got

in the prison

in the form of Barabbas

to go up against Jesus

as if to say,

come on.

I mean,

Barabbas isn't just

the underdog in this fight.

He's not even

the Leicester City

500 to 1

outside shot.

Surely Barabbas

as he goes up

against Jesus

has got absolutely

no hope.

However,

Pilate's

hugely

underestimated

just how

much hatred

and hostility

there is

towards this man

Jesus.

So imagine Barabbas,

we're back in his shoes,

he's still hearing

this report

of what happened

from the guy

in the street.

Remember he's gotten

by the scruff of the neck,

what on earth

happened back there?

He's hearing all this

from him.

The guy says back to him

he was got by the

scruff of the neck,

he says to Barabbas,

what happened

is that Pilate

asked the crowd

which one of these men

do you want me

to release to you?

That's what Pilate

asked us

and after some

strong arm

persuasion

from the religious

leaders

against all the odds

the crowd

chanted back

not Jesus' name

they chanted back

your name Barabbas

they wanted to see

you released

they wanted you

to go free

and so

the crowd

we made

our feelings

crystal clear

to Pilate

and Pilate

in a stunned tone

said

he was just

going to punish

Jesus

but we weren't

satisfied with that

because we got

ourselves going

at this point

and although

we could tell

by the tone

of his voice

that he thought

this was deeply

unfair

verse 23

regardless

with loud cries

we kept

insisting

angrily

we kept

insisting

crucify him

send Jesus

to the cross

because he's

the real rebel

and if you look

at it in the text

here this is

what they're

trying to do

they set

Jesus up

as the real rebel

against both

Rome and God

and that's a

double whammy

and so we just

kept on shouting

we shouted

crucify him

crucify him

and then Pilate

gave the order

to release you

and to condemn

Jesus

here's the long

and short

of it Barabbas

the cross

the one that

had your name

written all over it

guards tripping

over each other

to be the first

to bang the nails

into your hands

and to say

good riddance

they put Jesus

on that cross

instead of you

and at that moment

I'm sure it becomes

crystal clear

to Barabbas

that this man

Jesus of Nazareth

physically took

his place

the rebel

declared to be

innocent

and the innocent

declared to be a rebel

so

good swap

or bad swap

well

as is so often

the case

in the bible

friends

there is

glorious

depth

to this

to be honest

I haven't really

seen them

until recently

and here it is

Barabbas' name

means

son of the

father

so

bar son

abba father

Barabbas

right

Barabbas

is

the son

of the

father

and in

Jesus

we have

a son

of the

father

so the

choice

here

really is

between

two

sons

and for

all

intents

and purposes

as you

consider

this

whole

chaotic

scene

I mean

it is

utter

bedlam

here

isn't

it

utter

bedlam

it

looks

like

they've

condemned

the wrong

son

but

here's

what we

need to

see

and I

think

it's

the

thing

that

Luke

wants

us

to

see

despite

all

this

chaos

despite

all

this

noise

and

commotion

and anger

and rage

and injustice

even though

the Jews

and Pilate

put forward

the wrong

one

God

put forward

the right

one

because it

looks like

Pilate

the one

in the

earthly

seat of

power

has

totally

lost

control

of this

situation

however

the

Lord

the one

who sits

in the

place

of all

power

the heavenly

seat

of power

in contrast

is in

total

control

as the

one

who so

loved

the world

that he

gave his

one and

only son

that all

who would

believe in

him would

not perish

but have

eternal

life

and so

see verse

25

somewhat

mysteriously

Luke just

kind of

drops in

that detail

right at

the end

there that

Pilate

surrendered

Jesus to

the crowd's

will

and that's

kind of the

view from

the street

level

however

the view

from

3000 feet

what's

actually

going on

is Jesus

wholeheartedly

surrendering

himself to

his father's

will

in pursuit

of his

people

Barabbas

is the

one man

in history

who can

say that

Jesus

literally

took the

cross that

was reserved

for my

wrongs

Jesus

bore the

guilt

the shame

the curse

that he

deserved

and he

received the

release

freedom

and life

that Jesus

deserved

but this

man Barabbas

so profoundly

represents

all of us

and we

might not

share his

life

but we

certainly

all share

his sin

and shame

and because

we share

his sin

we share

his sentence

rebels

guilty

awaiting

death

and couldn't

care less

totally

helpless

totally

passive

when it

comes to

this cosmic

drama

and yet

Jesus

took our

place

he gets

what we

deserved

and we

get what

he deserved

and that's

why Martin

Luther

the famous

reformation

individual

looked upon

the cross

of Christ

and he

called it

the great

exchange

the greatest

exchange in

all of history

Jesus gives up

his life so

that all who

would come to

him in faith

and trust

in him

can by

faith

know the

joy of

forgiveness

of sins

past

present

and future

we can

go free

and we

can live

as sons

and daughters

of the

living God

we can

live our

lives

as the

sons of

the father

loved

forgiven

ransomed

!

adopted!

This is

the glory

of the

cross

how

marvelous

and yet

how horrific

is this

place

that God

the father

sent God

the son

who willingly

came to

die for

people like

Barabbas

and people

like us

and he

holds out

his nail

pierced hands

tonight and

says would

you come

would you

come and

see that I

died in

your place

for your

sin for

your forgiveness

would you

have faith

in me

friends good

swap or

bad swap

the words

of Charles

Wesley

and can

it be

that I

should

gain

an interest

in the

saviour's

blood

died he

for me

who caused

his pain

for me

who him

to death

pursued

amazing love

how can

it be

that thou

my God

should die

for me

so just

in a few

moments we

are going

to sing

and then we're

going to move

into a time

of communion

together but

why don't we

just be

silent and

be still

before our

God

bring before

him our

anxieties

our worries

our sins

run to him

knowing the

forgiveness

that is found

in this man

who took

our place

and then I'll

pray and

we'll stand

to sing

God made

him

who had

no sin

to be sin

for us

so that

in him

we might

become

the

righteousness

of God

and so

father we

praise you

this evening

for sending

your son

Jesus

to rescue

us through

his precious

blood shed

on the cross

thank you

for the

forgiveness

and the

peace

and the

newness of

life

that we

have in

him

lord help

us

savor it

more

father for

those of us

here tonight

lord and we

feel distant

we feel

far

lord would

we be

reminded that

by our

faith we

are connected

to the

most loving

and strong

of saviors

father for

those of us

maybe here

tonight we're

not sure what

we make of

all this

stuff

would your

spirit be

taking the

message of

the cross and

be applying it

deep into our

hearts

convince us of

the truth that

there's none

like him

and so be

with us now

lord as we

sing and as we

take communion

together we

pray all of

these things in

jesus's precious

name amen