The Invitation/ Sanctified/ Health - Salvation

Barabbas: The Sinful Son’ Freed

Lev 16:5-10 October 1, 2015

“… And when he (Pilate) had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in Him no fault at all.
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?
Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.” John 18:38-40

What an irony that this robber and murderer who stood with Jesus on that day, near the focal point of all creation, should have the name Barabbas. Barabbas, which literally translated means son (bar) of the father (abba), stood before the congregation of Israel on the same court as The Son of the Father. Soon the One in whom not only Pilate could find no fault but in whom God Himself was well pleased, would be delivered to the cross while the robber and murderer went free. How ironic, but God’s ways are not our ways. With God things don’t just happen by chance. Every event, every circumstance, and every nuance is carefully planned and precisely executed. Many of these events have a foreshadowing in the rituals acted out in the law. Barabbas was not there by chance on that day when atonement would be made for all the sins of man. God was in control and had even given us a glimpse as to what was taking place now, way back in the days of Moses.

“And he (Aaron) shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering
And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat (the goat let loose).
And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.” Lev 16:5-10

“And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:
And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel- and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:
And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.” Lev 16:20-22

On that original Good Friday, two kids of the goats were presented before the Lord for a sin offering. One was Jesus of Nazareth, without blemish or spot; the other, Barabbas, convicted sinner. The Lord’s lot fell on Jesus who was to be sacrificed and His perfect blood used for the atonement. The lot of “the scapegoat” fell on Barabbas who was to be released without having to pay the penalty for his crimes. The Innocent One would pay for the sins of the guilty. This is God’s way. When the Lord’s lot fell on Jesus, it was because He, being without sin, was the only acceptable sacrifice for the atonement of sin. No other sacrifice would ever do.

Barabbas, who just stood in for every man or woman that ever lived, and he was set free, even though he was guilty as sin (just as we are all guilty of sin). Just as the “scapegoat” had the sins of the congregation confessed upon his head by the high priest, when we stand beside Jesus and realize who it is that’s going to the cross, the Holy Ghost, like the high priest convicts us of our sin. We who are sinners go free, but Jesus who is innocent goes to the cross. No other price will ever atone for our sins. No amount of good works, no prayers, no hope in myths like purgatory or eternal security, no, nothing else will ever pay the price, provide the remedy. Only the Blood of the One on whom the Lord’s lot fell.

In the movie Barabbas, which is a wonderful illustration of the two goat kids. Barabbas spends the rest of his life wandering in the “wilderness” with the conviction on his head of the sinner that he is, knowing that Jesus went to the cross in his place. He tries once to make peace with his conscience by accepting the Master’s sign on his medallion but when it comes time to confess Him he fails. He tries again to make his peace with God by doing what he thinks is the Lord’s work, but again he fails. Many people are like Barabbas. They can never get their conscience cleansed from sin. Even in the church, this is true. There are many who do not fall back spiritually upon the “kid” that was slaughtered for the atonement. They wander in the wilderness that is the world knowing that Jesus died in their place but not ever being washed in His Blood. We, however, do not have to wander the wilderness that is the world with our conscience burning with sin. We can come to Jesus and receive the Blood He shed for us as the payment of all our transgressions. He shed His Blood for all the sins of the world but not everyone will receive it. Do not be among the ones that miss out.

Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There’s pow’r in the blood, Pow’r in the blood;
Come for a cleansing to Calvary’s tide;
There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.