About this sermon
Peter denies Jesus three times and weeps, and the Sanhedrin hands Jesus over to Pilate. Before Pilate, Jesus makes the good confession that he is the King of the Jews, and Pilate finds no guilt in him. Pilate releases Barabbas, a murderer, and sends the innocent Jesus to the cross, and so Christ literally takes a guilty man’s place. Jesus is no mascot for any political cause, left or right, and he is the Redeemer King who died for sinners.
Sermon transcript
Amen. Please remain standing for the reading of God’s Word as we continue on in our consideration and study of the Gospel of Mark as we are nearing the end of Mark. My sermon text today is Mark 1, verses 1-15. I’m going to begin reading in chapter 14, verse 66 to kind of fill out the context a bit. The focus will be especially on chapter 15, verses one through 15. Dear ones, let us hear with reverence and awe the word of our God. beginning in chapter 14, verse 66, As Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, You also were with Jesus the Nazarene. But he denied it, saying, I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.
And he went out onto the porch. The servant girl saw him and began once more to say to the bystanders, This is one of them. But again he denied it, and after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean too. But he began to curse and swear, I do not know this man you are talking about. Immediately a rooster crowed a second time, and Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. And he began to weep. Early in the morning, the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole council immediately held a consultation, and binding Jesus, they led him away and delivered him to Pilate. Pilate questioned him, Are you the king of the Jews?
And he answered him, It is as you say. The chief priests began to accuse him harshly. Then Pilate questioned him again, saying, Do you not answer? See how many charges they bring against you? But Jesus made no further answer, so Pilate was amazed. Now at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. The man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. The crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. 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 handed him over because of envy. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead.
Answering again, Pilate said to them, then what shall I do with him whom you call the king of the Jews? They shouted back, crucify him. But Pilate said to them, why, what evil has he done? But they shouted all the more, crucify him. Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified. Dear friends, the grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of our God endures forever. Let’s pray for God to bless the preaching of His Word. Once again, Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have spoken to us, that You have revealed Yourself to us in Your Word. And we thank you that the word reveals the Lord Jesus Christ, the living word to us. We ask that by your spirit, you would be at work in our hearts as we consider this portion of your word.
And we ask that you would grant unto me, your unworthy servant, the grace to declare and speak forth your word with humility, with power, with strength, and with applicatory influence. We pray these things in Jesus’ name and all of God’s people said, amen. You may be seated. You’ll notice in your sermon outline there’s quite a number of words you can be listening for in the sermon if you find that helpful to help you follow along. The title of my sermon today is, The King of the Jews. Well, dear friends, Our passage for this Lord’s Day morning is a portion of Holy Scripture that we would do well to approach with a deep sense of reverence and awe, indeed, with a holy fear and trembling. For think about what’s going on in this passage of God’s Word.
Here in this passage of God’s Holy Word, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the very eternal Son of God incarnate, He is about to enter into the lowest depths of his estate of humiliation. Not only has our Lord been betrayed by his close disciple, Judas Iscariot, abandoned by his other disciples, and unjustly taken into custody. Not only has the Apostle Peter denied our Lord three times, Not only has our Lord been falsely accused during His religious trial in the presence of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin, and accused of multiple things, false accusations during highly irregular and questionable legal proceedings that had taken place during the night. But now, as our passage for today presents Mark’s record of our Lord’s civil trial before the Roman magistrate Pontius Pilate, we not only see our Lord Jesus continuing to endure false accusations from the religious authorities, we also see the crowds, the people, stirred up by their religious leaders, openly rejecting Jesus, openly rejecting the one who is the Prince of Peace. and rejecting him in favor of a man named Barabbas.
Barabbas being a violent insurrectionist, a murderer, one whom we might describe today as a terrorist. They choose the guilty criminal over the innocent, sinless Savior. They choose the violent terrorist over the gentle, humble Prince of Peace. They choose the unjust sinner over the just and holy one. As we approach this sobering text, let us seek to understand what the Holy Spirit is teaching us in this passage of His Word. This passage has much to teach us about the Lord Jesus Christ. And there are three aspects of Christ that I want to focus on as we make our way through this passage of God’s Word. This passage, first of all, presents our Lord Jesus as the Messianic King. This is the first point in your sermon outline. Beloved, behold Jesus, the Messianic King. Let’s look again at the first two verses of our passage.
It says, early in the morning, the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole council immediately held a consultation. And you may wonder, well, wait a minute. Hadn’t they already met during the night? Hadn’t they already tried Jesus? Well, yes. Remember that our Lord’s trial was actually in two phases. There was the religious phase of his trial held before the Sanhedrin, and then there was the civil phase of the trial. So again, as I mentioned, Mark is recording for us in this passage the civil phase of our Lord’s trial. And so the chief priests and the elders and the scribes, those are the various members of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin, they met early in the morning. It says that they immediately held a consultation. A consultation for what purpose? A consultation to draw up civil charges to bring before Pontius Pilate, civil charges against the Lord Jesus.
So it says, immediately they held a consultation. Remember that word immediately is one of Mark’s favorite words. And they bind Jesus and they led him away and delivered him to Pilate. In verse two, Pilate questioned him, are you the king of the Jews? And he answered him, it is as you say, or literally just you say, or you say so. Jesus is here revealed as the messianic king. Now what does that term Messiah mean? Children, what does the word Messiah mean? It means anointed one. The Messiah was God’s chosen, promised, anointed king, the one who would be anointed with the Spirit above measure. And Jesus indeed was the promised Messiah, the anointed divine prophet, priest, and king of God’s people. Jesus is the Messiah, or in the Greek language, the Christos, the Christ. When we compare Mark’s account of this trial with the other gospel accounts, it is clear that Mark is presenting us with a highly condensed summary version of our Lord’s trial.
Mark doesn’t go into all of the details, so it’s helpful to compare Mark’s account with some of the other gospel accounts, and we’ll be doing that throughout the sermon today. But in verse one, here we read of the Sanhedrin probably consulting each other, as I mentioned, in order to draw up civil charges against Jesus to present to Pontius Pilate. You might say, well, why were they gonna do that? They’ve already decided what Jesus was guilty of. They’ve decided that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy because Jesus claimed to be deity. to be God. And according to God’s law, according to the old covenant civil legislation, if you were guilty of blaspheming the God of Israel, you earned the penalty of execution. You were to be stoned to death. But friends, the religious crimes like blasphemy would have no standing in the eyes of Roman law.
And so since the Jews were under Roman occupation, they did not have the legal power to execute criminals. And that explains why they gathered together to draw up civil charges against Jesus and to bring Jesus before Pontius Pilate. And who is this Pontius Pilate? We confess in the Apostles’ Creed that he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. Well, Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea at that time, a position which he held from 26 AD to 36 AD. Pilate’s official residence was in Caesarea on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, but apparently Pilate is at this time temporarily staying in Jerusalem, staying there probably to help keep the peace. After all, Jewish high festival seasons like the Passover were times when Jewish nationalistic passions were more easily stirred up by Jewish zealots and would-be messiahs and others who sought to violently overthrow a Roman occupation of Palestine.
And so Pilate’s there to keep the peace. And notice in verse two, it says, when Pilate, the governor there, when he has Jesus before him in this legal trial setting, Pilate asks him, are you the king of the Jews? What is this title, king of the Jews? What does this indicate? Well, this indicates the civil charges that the Sanhedrin were bringing before Pilate against Jesus. What this title implies is that Jesus was a political revolutionary. He was seeking to overthrow the rule of Rome. He was seeking to become a king of the Jewish people and to separate the Jewish people from Roman rule. Again, the civil charge, this is the civil charge that was brought against Jesus. And again, since the Jewish authorities knew that charges of religious blasphemy would have no legal standing in a Roman court of law, they instead bring allegations of treason, of incitement of political insurrection against the Lord Jesus.
Now, and so Pilate hears this charge, and you know, as a Roman official, he needs to take this charge seriously. After all, it was his job to keep the peace and to make sure that no political insurrection occurs. And so Pilate asks him, are you the king of the Jews? But it’s important to understand that Pilate’s use of this title, king of the Jews, in this question was probably dripping with sarcasm. Now we can’t hear Pilate ask the question, we can’t hear the tone, but he probably asked the question something along these lines. Are you the king of the Jews? Come on, ridiculous, right? But Jesus answers essentially in the affirmative. He says, it is as you say. Now, Jesus does not come out and say, yes, absolutely, I’m the king of the Jews. But he does say, it is as you say.
In this answer, Jesus affirms that he is indeed the king of the Jews, that he is indeed the promised messiah, the messianic king. but not in the way that Pilate would have understood such a title. Pilate would have understood that title, King of the Jews, as oh, you claim to be a king, an earthly political king, in opposition to, in competition with Caesar, right? But Jesus makes it clear, no, I am the messianic king. Christ’s words here are likely an indirect way of him saying, yes, Pilate, I am the king of the Jews, but not in a political or military sense. Now here is where it’s helpful to compare Mark’s account with other gospel accounts. Let’s turn, for example, to John’s account of this trial before Pontius Pilate. John 18, verses 33 to 38. John chapter 18. verses 33 to 38.
John records it as follows. This is a Jesus here before John’s record of Jesus before Pilate. It says, therefore, Pilate entered again into the praetorium, a place where Jesus was being tried, and summoned Jesus and said to him, Are you the King of the Jews? Jesus answered, Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about me? Pilate answered, I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered you to me. What have you done? And then Jesus explains, look at verse 36, John 18, verse 36, Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm.
Therefore Pilate said to him, so you are a king. Jesus answered, you say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born and for this I have come into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” And then notice Pilate’s cynical response. Verse 38, Pilate said to him, what is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, I find no guilt in him.” Pilate’s assessment and judgment is that Jesus may be crazy in his view, this man Jesus might be a nut, but he’s not guilty of anything criminal. It’s interesting, the passage I read for you earlier in the service from 1 Timothy 6, the Apostle Paul in that passage interprets this interchange that Jesus has with Pilate as our Lord’s good confession of his own messiahship before Pontius Pilate. as Paul urges Timothy to persevere in his good confession of Christ.
And I know I read this earlier, but let me again ask you to turn to 1 Timothy 6, and let me just read again and comment on verses 12 through 15. As Paul wraps up his epistle to Timothy, he says, fight the good fight of faith, take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God who gives life to all things and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the proper time. He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords and so forth.
Well, beloved, what can we learn from this? What can we take away from this? We learn here, among other things, we learn that Jesus is truly and indeed King of God’s people. But He is not merely King of the Jews. He is King and Lord over all. As Paul wrote in that passage in 1 Timothy 6, Jesus is King of kings, Lord of lords. Have you, dear listener, bowed in your heart before Him in faith and repentance as your King, your Sovereign, your Lord? God in His gospel calls you and me to repent of sin and trust in Jesus, to trust in Jesus not only as Savior from hell, but Savior from sin, and that involves trusting Him to reign in your life as Lord. upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.” We also notice that Jesus confesses his identity as the Messianic King and as the Lord before Pontius Pilate.
Let us also, beloved, hold fast our confession of Christ. There are many pressures today to deny the Lordship of Christ, if not in word, at least in action and in fact. but we are urged in the scriptures to hold fast to our confession. Indeed we are told in places like Romans 10 verse 9 that if you confess with your lips Jesus is Lord or the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you shall be saved. And remember what we are told by the author of Hebrews in Hebrews chapter 4 verses 14 through 16. And you’re welcome to turn there if you would like. Hebrews 4 verses 14 through 16. The author of Hebrews writes, Therefore, since we have a great high priest, that’s Jesus. He’s not only our king, he’s our priest and our prophet.
We do not have a high priest, I’m sorry, verse 14. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us do what? Let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So let us hold fast our confession, the good confession, that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, the Lord, the Messianic King. But also, in this passage, this passage makes it clear that many false accusations and slanders were brought against the Lord Jesus during the process of his trial.
And I would have us reflect on the fact that if Christ’s enemies brought false accusations against the sinless, spotless, innocent Son of God, let us not be surprised if the enemies of Christ and of Christianity hurl false accusations against us. In fact, Jesus told us to expect that they would. You know, sometimes because it’s, comparatively speaking, it’s relatively easy to be a Christian here in America. We don’t have to worry about overt, formal, violent persecution, at least not yet. Things might be changing. But nevertheless, when we face actual repercussions or pushback or mockery or slander or even persecution for our faith in Christ, we’re surprised. You know, how can this be happening? But Jesus makes it clear that, hey, This is kind of the ordinary lot of being a follower of Jesus Christ. Consider, for example, what our Lord Jesus says in John chapter 15, verses 18 to 21.
In that passage, the Lord Jesus says this, You know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, a slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. So let us be aware of that. Let us not be surprised if persecution comes our way. I’m not suggesting that we welcome it or invite it or seek to provoke it, but nevertheless, if and when it comes, let us realize that this is the lot of Christ’s followers in this present age.
And so Jesus is here presented as the messianic king. But next I would have you to notice that Jesus is also presented as the innocent king. Jesus is here presented as the innocent king. Look at verses three through five. It says this, the chief priests began to accuse him harshly. Then Pilate questioned him again saying, do you not answer? See how many charges they bring against you? According to the scholars and commentators that I consulted in preparing this sermon today, in the Roman legal setting, if you were accused of something and you didn’t answer your accusation, it was sort of a way of saying, hey, I’m guilty. It’s a way of admitting guilt, or at least that was the assumption. If you didn’t respond to the accusations, the assumption is that you are guilty of that which you are accused of.
And this is what really blew Pilate’s mind, because Jesus was facing a horrible death, crucifixion, if he didn’t defend himself. Verse five, but Jesus made no further answer. Pilate was amazed. Pilate was amazed, and then skip down to verse 11. But the chief priests stirred up the crowds to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. Answering again, Pilate said to them, then what shall I do with him whom you call the king of the Jews? They shouted back, crucify him. And what does Pilate say? Verse 14, Pilate said to them, why, what evil has he done? Pilate’s examined him, he can’t find anything criminal or evil in this man, Jesus. But they shouted all the more, crucify him. Again, our Lord’s silence in the face of this onslaught of false accusations. Why does Jesus do that?
Well, this is in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 53, verse 7. Turn to Isaiah 53 and look at verse 7. I know that you folks are familiar with this passage of God’s word, but sometimes we hear things so often that we kind of ignore them. Hear this again with fresh ears. Isaiah 53, verse 7, this is a prediction of Jesus, the suffering servant. It says, he was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers. So he did not open his mouth.” Jesus did not open his mouth to defend himself because by this action he was showing himself to be the suffering servant prophesied by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 53. Verse seven.
And so Jesus is here shown to be the suffering servant and the innocent king. And again, notice how amazed Pilate is that Jesus would say nothing in his own defense, even though the threat of suffering a horrible death by crucifixion hangs over his head. Pilate doesn’t get it. Why would you not defend yourself? Don’t you realize that I have power to crucify you? Again, let’s go back to verse three. The chief priests began to accuse him harshly. That’s how it’s translated here in the New American Standard Version. The ESV translates it as many things, that the chief priests accused him of many things. In other words, they bring many false accusations against the Lord Jesus. What kinds of false accusations? Well, Luke’s gospel gives us three specific accusations that they brought. Let’s look at Luke 23, verse two.
Luke 23, verse two. It says this, and they began to accuse him, saying, we found this man misleading our nation. Accusation number one, this man, Jesus, misleads our nation. Number two, forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar. That was an obvious, blatant lie. Jesus never discouraged the paying of taxes to Caesar. And number three, saying that he himself is Christ a king. Well, that’s true, but not the kind of king that would be a threat to Roman rule. And so these are the kinds of accusations they’re bringing against him. And think of it, friends. Here is Jesus, the sinless, spotless, holy Son of God, the Lamb of God, accused falsely by wicked men. And even Pilate, Pilate though he himself was a godless pagan, a wicked man, a corrupt career politician, even Pilate was not buying their accusations as implied in verse 14 and also implied and made clear in other gospel accounts where Pilate makes it clear to the crowds that I find no guilt in this man.
Again, Luke 23, verses 13 to 15. Luke 23, 13 to 15, it says this, Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers of the people and said to them, you brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion. And behold, having examined him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against him. nor has Herod, for he sent him back to us, and behold, nothing deserving death has been done. Therefore I will punish him and release him.” That’s what he wanted to do. Pilate didn’t wanna deal with this man. And so Pilate, in other words, Jesus was publicly, openly declared by the legal authorities of his day to be legally innocent of the charges that had been brought against him. And by the way, that would be a very important point for the Gentile readers that Mark was writing this to.
That would be very important to them, to know that this Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, was legally innocent in the eyes of the Roman authorities. Jesus is indeed the king of the Jews, but he is the innocent king. He’s not a violent political king seeking to overthrow the yoke of Rome. Now, let me ask you, have you ever been falsely or unjustly accused of something? I think we’ve all faced that in one way or another at one point in our lives or another. Friends, when we are falsely, unjustly accused of something, what is our first instinct? What is our natural, impulsive first reaction to false accusation? Our natural instinct in the face of false accusation is to get defensive. Getting defensive in the face of being falsely accused of being something or doing something that you haven’t been or done That’s not fragility, that is not a sign that you’re really, really guilty.
Oh, you’re getting so defensive, that must mean that you really are guilty. No. When we are falsely accused, our natural response is to vigorously defend our good name and to vehemently refute the false accusation. And indeed, there are obviously times and circumstances when doing that is perfectly appropriate, even godly. It’s a godly thing to want to defend and maintain your good name and reputation. But here is the Lord Jesus Christ standing before the secular authority represented in the person of this wicked pagan, Pontius Pilate, and having to endure a flood of completely false, unjust accusations. And again, how does our Lord respond? He responds with a calm, dignified, almost serene silence. No wonder Pilate was amazed. Think about it. Wrap your brain around this. Why does our Lord Jesus do this? Well, not only to fulfill Isaiah 53 verse 7, but I think from the text we can clearly infer that Jesus was silent because He was confident that His Father would eventually vindicate Him and would eventually show him to be cleared of these false charges brought against him.
In fact, that vindication would happen in short order. It would happen three days later when Jesus was raised from the dead. Our Lord’s bodily resurrection from the dead was, among other things, God the Father’s vindication of his son’s innocence and victory. Since God the Father vindicated His Son, we who are united to Christ are already vindicated in Him.” That’s good news. We are the guilty ones, but in Christ we are forgiven, justified, vindicated. And on that great judgment day, we who by grace have trusted Jesus Christ as our very own Lord and Savior, we will be openly vindicated before all of gathered humanity. In the words of our shorter catechism, on that day of judgment, we believers will be openly acknowledged and acquitted on the judgment day. We’ve already been acquitted before the throne of God. in the courtroom of heaven.
In our justification, the gavel of God the Father has already gone down. He has already declared us to be righteous in his sight, not because of our own righteousness, but because of the righteousness of Christ credited to us, received by faith alone. And so you’ve already been justified. But that was a secret declaration made in the courtroom of heaven on judgment day. That which God had declared secretly is now openly declared to gathered humanity, an open acknowledgment and acquittal, an open vindication. It is coming, brothers and sisters. And therefore, let us also, like our Savior, let us not be fazed by the world’s false accusations. Let us not fret because of evildoers. Let us not get so worked up by the false accusations of the world. There is a time to stand up for ourselves and to defend our good name and reputation, but there’s also a time to say, you know what?
I’m not gonna sweat this. My father in heaven has already justified me in Christ and he will vindicate me in the end. And I just have to wait for his timing. So let us calmly trust our sovereign Lord to vindicate us in the end. So Jesus is here presented as the messianic king. He is presented as the innocent king. But finally, I would have you have us notice that Jesus is here presented as the Redeemer King. Jesus is presented as the Redeemer King. Again, beginning at verse six, we read these words. Now at the feast, he, Pilate, used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. This was apparently a policy or a custom that Pilate observed to kind of keep the Jews under control, to keep them, to placate them and what have you.
And then we read about this man named Barabbas. Verse seven, the man named Barabbas had been imprisoned and rightfully so. It says he’d been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. The crowd went up and began asking him, asking Pilate to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. Pilate answered them saying, do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews? For he was aware that the chief priest had handed him over because of envy. Pilate knew what was going on. He knew that these were false charges that were being brought against Jesus. He knew it. And answering again, he says what, verse 11, it says, but the chief priest stirred up the crowds and asked him to release Barabbas for them instead.” And indeed that is what ends up happening.
Verse 15 says, wishing to satisfy the crowds. Notice, not wishing to do what is just and good but wishing to satisfy the crowds because Pilate didn’t want to get in trouble He didn’t want the Jewish authorities to lodge a complaint against him to the emperor. He didn’t want to lose his position of authority and prominence as a governor of Judea. So wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them. And after having Jesus scourged, and scourging there was a violent, horrible torture. Many victims of Roman scourging would die from the treatment. Having scourged Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. Now I must credit for some of the points in this, some of the insights of this point, I must credit the late great evangelical Anglican Bishop J.C. Ryle. And as Ryle points out in his expository thoughts on the Gospel of Mark, in his words, this passage presents us with a powerful picture of God’s Gospel plan of salvation.
How does this give us a picture of God’s gospel plan of salvation? Well, it gives us a picture of that because it gives us a picture of vicarious substitutionary atonement. God’s gospel plan of salvation is a plan that involves vicarious substitutionary atonement. Again, to quote from Ryle, the guilty is set free and the innocent is put to death. The great sinner is delivered and the sinless one remains bound. Barabbas is spared, and Christ is crucified. Because Jesus, who was unjustly sentenced, submitted to the sentence, because Jesus went to the cross, Barabbas, who deserved the cross, Barabbas goes free, because Jesus took his place, took his punishment. Now regarding Barabbas, in verse 7 it says the man named Barabbas had been imprisoned and so forth. He was an insurrectionist. According to a variant reading of Matthew 27, 16 and 17, the full name of Barabbas is Jesus Barabbas.
Jesus was actually a very common name back then among the Jews, sort of like Jim is a common name in our world today. Jesus, Yeshua, Joshua is a very common name in first century Palestine. So it wouldn’t be surprising if Barabbas’ full name was Jesus Barabbas. But think about that. If this is the case, if Barabbas’ full name was Jesus Barabbas, then what this means is that the crowd chose a violent, revolutionary, military Jesus over the peaceful, spiritual, soul-saving Jesus, the true Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. But that’s not done today, is it, Pastor? Well, I think a similar thing is done today when people today choose a revolutionary or political version of Jesus over the biblical Jesus. This is done, for example, in liberation, so-called liberation theology, which is basically, as I understand it, a Marxist ideology that cloaks itself in Christian theology.
It’s also done when it comes to the social justice Jesus of the political left or, on the other hand, the culture warrior Jesus of the political right. In fact, brothers and sisters, I would contend that we blaspheme the real biblical Jesus when we use him as a mascot to support our own political or ideological causes. Now, don’t get me wrong. Certainly, our faith does have cultural, political, and social ramifications and implications to it. But Jesus, remember, let us remember, beloved, that Jesus, the real Jesus, the messianic king of the Jews, is not an earthly political king, offering earthly health, wealth, political peace, and prosperity, political influence and power, no. The real Jesus, the biblical Jesus, is the Redeemer King who died on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of wretched sinners like Barabbas the terrorist.
Wretched sinners like me, Jeff Willauer. Wretched sinners like you. Praise God that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was willing to go to the cross as the suffering servant in order to take our place. in order to redeem us from our sins. As the scriptures say, Jesus didn’t die to make an angry God loving. It was God’s love that led him to send Jesus to pay the penalty for sin. to satisfy the demands of his own holy justice. As it says in the scriptures, God demonstrates his own love for us in this, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Let us receive him, rest upon him, and then out of gratitude for his gift of salvation, let us gratefully obey him as our King and Lord. Amen, let us pray. Our Lord and Father in heaven, we praise you and thank you for Jesus, our Redeemer King, our great prophet, Priest and King.
And we praise you, Heavenly Father, for the gospel, the good news that in Christ we are forgiven, in Christ we are justified, in Christ we are and ultimately shall be vindicated. We ask, O Heavenly Father, that this good news would resonate within our souls and take deep root in our hearts today. And we pray that you would grant us the grace to make the good confession of Christ before others. that others might come to know Jesus as their gracious Redeemer King. In His name we pray, and all of God’s people said, Amen. As we reply and respond to the preaching of God’s Word, let’s rise and sing together number 456, Jesus, What a Friend of Sinners, 456.
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