BARABBAS NOW HAS A CHOICE

BARABBAS NOW HAS A CHOICE!

Reading: Matthew 27:16-22

John 18:39-40

39 But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?

40 Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

           Pilate found no fault or guilt in Jesus and wished to release him but the Pharisees were determined to destroy Jesus. Barabbas was chosen specifically because his life and the life of Jesus were so glaringly different. Barabbas was a robber but Pilate said of Jesus “what evil hath he done?” Barabbas therefore represents me and you!

           I have often wondered what Barabbas thought as he watched Jesus endure his whipping and his crucifixion. Did he cackle with glee that justice had been so horribly miscarried or did he gaze with wonder at the man who died in his place?

           Barabbas now has a choice. He can continue to live as a robber and risk another arrest, trial, and execution or he can live as the freed man he had become. We too have a choice as to how we live our lives as the redeemed. We can “walk worthy of our calling” (Ephesians 4:1) or we can revert to our old ways.

Dear Lord, let me today live as a condemned man set free. Let me gaze in wonder at the One who died in my place. Let me choose to live as one redeemed. AMEN