Jesus or Barabbas? Part 1

Introduction and Review of Jesus' Ecclesiastical Trial

0:05 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, November 5th, 1989, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:17 Now will you follow, please, in your own Bibles as I read, first of all, from that portion in the Gospel of Mark that will be the focus of our continuing expositions in that Gospel, and then also a passage in the Gospel of Luke, a brief consideration of which will be part of the introduction to our study in Mark's Gospel. Mark chapter 15, and I shall read in your hearing verses 6 through 15. Mark chapter 15, beginning at verse 6.

0:58 Referring to Pilate, Mark writes, Now at the feast... ...used to release unto them one prisoner whom they asked of him.

1:09 And there was one called Barabbas lying bound with them that had made insurrection men who in the insurrection had committed murder. The multitude went up and began to ask him to do as he was wont to do unto them. And Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you...

1:34 ...to the king of the Jews?

1:36 For he perceived that for envy the chief priests had delivered him up. But the chief priests stirred up the multitude that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. And Pilate again answered and said unto them, What then shall I do unto him whom ye call the king of the Jews?

2:00 They cried out again, Crucify him! And Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out exceedingly, Crucify him!

2:18 And Pilate, wishing to content the multitude, released unto them Barabbas, and delivered Jesus when he had scourged him to be crucified.

2:33 And now from the 23rd chapter of Luke's Gospel, Luke chapter 23, Luke chapter 23, verses 6 through 12. We pick up the reading in the parallel passage to the opening five verses of Mark 15, in which the first appearance before Pilate is recorded. And we read in Luke 23, 6, But when Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man were a Galilean. And when he knew that he was of Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him unto Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem in these days.

3:18 Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad, for he was of a long time desirous to see him, because he had heard concerning him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by him. And he questioned him in many words, but he answered him nothing. The chief priest and the scribe, stood vehemently accusing him. And Herod with his soldiers set him at naught and mocked him, and arraying him in gorgeous apparel, sent him back to Pilate.

3:57 And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before they were at enmity between themselves. Now as we return this morning to our rest, we will have a reverent attempt to trace out the events leading to the actual crucifixion of the Lord of Glory. Let us seek to recall the major categories of those events as we have thus far studied them from the Gospel of Mark with an occasional incident brought in from the witness of the other Gospel records. After the night-time arrest in Gethsemane, our Lord was taken bound as a common criminal to what is commonly called the three parts of his ecclesiastical trial. There was first of all the brief arraignment before Annas, the high priest emeritus as recorded in John 18 verses 12 to 14. Then the second part of his ecclesiastical trial was that sham trial. trial before Caiaphas and the rest of the Sanhedrin, which was carried out in the middle

5:23 of the night, or as we would say in common vernacular, in the wee hours of the morning, long before the rising of the sun. And it was on that occasion that our Lord was charged with the capital offense of blasphemy and judged worthy of death. This is recorded in Mark 14, verses 53 to 65. Then the third part of his ecclesiastical trial occurred when the sun arose and the full Sanhedrin came together again and repeated its charade of the earlier nighttime trial, and this is recorded in Psalm 51, verses 53 to 65. And in greater detail in Luke chapter 22, verses 66 to 71. And it was at this time, in this daybreak trial, that he was handed over to the Roman authority embodied in the person of Pilate, who was the procurator or the governor of that area of Palestine. This then completed his ecclesiastical trial in its three parts. Now in the hands of the Roman

The Interlude: Jesus Before Herod

6:48 authorities, who alone have the power of executing capital punishment, our Lord first of all appears before Pilate. And in our previous exposition two weeks ago, this Lord's Day, we considered the details of that first appearance before Pilate. And in our previous exposition two weeks ago, this Lord's Day, we considered the details of that first appearance before Pilate. And in our previous exposition two weeks ago, this Lord's Day, we considered the details of that first appearance before Pilate. And in our previous exposition two weeks ago, this Lord's Day, we considered the details of that first appearance before Pilate. And in our previous exposition two weeks ago, this Lord's Day, we considered the details of that first appearance before Pilate. And in our previous exposition two weeks ago, this Lord's Day, we considered the details of that first appearance before Pilate. And in our previous exposition two weeks ago, this Lord's Day, we considered the details of that first appearance before Pilate. And in our previous exposition two weeks ago, this Lord's Day, we considered the details of that first appearance before Pilate. And in our previous exposition two weeks ago, this Lord's Day, we considered the details of that first appearance before Pilate. And in our previous exposition two weeks ago, this in verses 6 to 15 in the same chapter of Mark's gospel, in order to place this second appearance before Pilate in a proper biblical context, we must pause briefly to consider the data that is given to us in Luke's gospel that I read in your hearing, which I have chosen to entitle the interlude and the prelude to the passage before us. So by way of introduction, consider

7:53 with me the interlude to the narrative before us and the prelude to the narrative before us as they are recorded in the 23rd chapter of Luke's gospel. And we shall merely underscore the barest facts with very little comment, saying, only as much as is necessary to put this second appearance before Pilate into a proper biblical perspective. First of all, then, the interlude to the narrative before us. An interlude is defined as a play, acts of a larger play. And as Mark is guided to write the account of the trial of our Lord, he chooses to omit the interlude. incident of the brief appearance before Herod. The larger narrative of Mark focuses upon the trial of our Lord in the presence of, and so it is, lesser play between the scenes of the larger.

9:05 It is the interlude that is highlighted by Luke in chapter 23. And here in this interlude, according to verses 7 to 12, we are informed that Herod, who had the jurisdiction of the Galilean area in the northern part of Palestine, happened to be in Jerusalem at this Passover season. We are further told that Herod had often heard of Jesus. One could not be a dweller up in Jerusalem. He had performed many and most of his mighty works. Furthermore, we are told that Herod had for some time hoped to see Jesus in order that what he had heard about him, he might see with his own eyes. According to Luke's record, he had hoped to see a miracle, a sign, a mighty work. Furthermore, in this interlude, we are told that Jesus'

10:17 question by Herod with many words. Verse 9 of Luke 23. But in response to that pressing Herod, it is said that our Lord Jesus was utterly silent before him. And that silence was met by the vehement accusation of some of the Sanhedrin who obviously were present when he appeared before Herod.

10:48 Therefore, in verse 10, we are told that the chief priests and the scribes stood vehemently accusing him. But in the midst of all that accusation, there was obviously nothing that convinced the judgment of Herod that Jesus was in any way a threat to the establishment of Rome's rule in Palestine, that there was nothing in Jesus worthy of death. And so, basically, what Herod did was to accuse him. And so, in the midst of all that accusation, there was obviously nothing that convinced the judgment of Herod that Jesus was in any way a threat to the establishment of Rome's rule in Palestine.

11:20 on conflict between the faith-friendly and the Rohingya movement. And so, what Herod does, with his accompanying guards, is he makes light of this whole affair. The text says that Herod with his soldiers, more likely his bodyguards, mocked him and, I'm sorry, set him at naught and mocked him. Every day, they took the words and Recht 64 told them when they charged him for an inf supporter, and taught them the story before Him.

11:41 In other words, they regarded Him and this whole incident as a plaything. An occasion for a joke. And so they set him out not and mocked him. And the blindเอ resides there is208a.

The Prelude: Pilate's Declaration of Innocence and Compromise

11:47 Mort 가 Casin 1926 and In Vaccium 1927. êt They array him in a gorgeous kind or another, and they send him back to Pilate. And we are told on that occasion, Pilate and Herod, who had been at enmity between themselves, struck up an accord of friendship on the occasion of the trial of Jesus. Now that's the interlude that is described, but then there is also a prelude to the passage before us, and that's recorded in verses 13 through 15. These are words given to us by Luke that are omitted by Mark, but are crucial if we are to understand and appreciate this second appearance before Pilate. Interlude. Jesus is returned to Pilate, Sanhedrin to himself, and essentially does two things.

13:00 Luke 23, 13. And Pilate called together the chief priests and the rulers of the people, language describing the Sanhedrin, and he said unto them, He brought unto me this man as one that perverteth the people, and behold, having examined him before you, found no fault. Fault in this man touching the things whereof you accuse him. No, nor yet Herod.

13:29 For he sent him back unto us, and behold, he has done nothing worthy of death. Therefore chastise him and release him. So in view to the passage before us in Mark, we find that Pilate receiving Jesus back from Herod does two things. First of all, he made a joint declaration of the innocence of Jesus.

14:04 He says that to both,

14:10 that he is innocent of the charges you have laid against him, and secondly, he is innocent of having done anything worthy of death. From the mouth of this unprincipled pagan comes a complete vindication of the perfect innocence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus, he is innocent of the charges you have brought against him, and that in Herod's judgment as well as my own. He is innocent of anything worthy of death.

14:46 But then he does a second thing in this prelude. He proposes a compromising expedient. If indeed Jesus had no him that would stick, what should a righteous judge do? This.

15:06 The criminal free. Dismiss the king. Your evidence is unworthy of further consideration. I didn't.

15:28 That's what a principled judge would do. But in this sign that Pilate, not being a principled man, proposes a compromising expedient, having said something of the depth of the venomous hatred to Jesus. He's afraid to. He's afraid to pronounce what justice demands.

15:57 And so he thinks to that venomous hatred while at the same time sinning Jesus and thereby avoiding the execution of capital punishment. And so the expedient that he proposes is, will therefore chastise him, him to undergo probably a mass flogging, not the full, which in which he later, received us to the point in Mark's gospel chapter 15. Now, please turn with me.

The Custom Described: Paschal Amnesty

16:50 Having sought to grasp the barest acts of the interlude before Herod's return to Pilate. We now come to our text verses six through 15, and we shall study it under these three heads. Custom described in verse six, the custom implemented, verses seven to 14, and the custom culminated in verse 15. First of all, describe verse six, the feast or at a feast or from feast to feast might be a good paraphrase to catch the sense of it. He used or he was accustomed to release unto them one prisoner whom they of him. Now, according to John 18 and verse 39, this custom described implemented only at the Passover feast once a year.

18:08 It was not implemented at any of the other stated feasts when the males were required not to appear at Jerusalem, but only Passover. And it came to be designated as the Paschal. And we understand from the account of secular writers that in Roman period in human history, two kinds of amnesty were in existence. First of all, there was the acquittal of a prisoner not condemned.

18:50 And that was called. And so Jesus was in line with the amnesty of Abilitio in which a criminal could be released at the Passover time. And then there was a second form of this Paschal amnesty. And that was one in which a pardon was given to a prisoner all condemned.

19:25 And that was called Indugentia. Indugentia was given to someone like a Barabbas, who had always in common ordinary part in a state like Florida on death row, awaiting. Execution. And I do not say that to mock the death penalty, but to commend those who govern in Florida.

19:56 Now no one knows for certain the origin of this custom, but it had become so fixed at this time as to be fully affected by the mass of the Jews that were at Jerusalem, and also by the Roman curator Pilate. The custom came to be, we do not know. But our text. Now as he was accustomed to release unto them one prisoner whom they was initiated. How long it had been in place. We can say to marvel at the wisdom of sovereignty and plan of God. In that part of Palestine,

21:04 a non biblical custom is so servants in the plan of God. Number one, it provides framework for Jesus to be delivered up to death. Exactly as he predicted in order to save his people. For he had predicted that he would set by a in which he would be lift on chapter three.

21:47 And again in later chapters of John's gospel. It was this. The sacred text. The sacred text and in secular history.

22:11 Jesus can be handed over to the Jewish authorities. Handed over to the Roman authorities and executed. And then secondly it provided a framework in which the men responsible for their act of demanding his death. While vindicating the innocence of Jesus.

22:42 That is the child of God. That is the most direct ingredient of God's creation. And the only human being to have used the word of God. To use Christ.

The Custom Implemented: Principal Parties

23:21 To use Christ in a very different way in the Bible. So. In other words. the material found it helpful to think of the custom implemented under these two major headings the principal parties involved its implementation and then the specific details implementation first of all the principal parties involved in its implementation there is first of all innocent jesus passover time with reference to the past amnesty of all the declared

24:21 jesus from luke 23 is crucial begins to be pressed for the relief which one they don't want whoever by both pilot and herod and then the second principal party was the legally declared guilty barabbas verse seven there was one called barabbas saying bound erection men who in the erection had committed

25:29 murder now this man named barabbas and it mostly referred to the fact that he was probably the son of a rabbi and a well-known member jesus said the and the pharisees and their scribes of a reverential almost superstitious adherence to their pronouncements and their scribes of a reverential almost superstitious adherence to their pronouncements so he could well have been the son of a well-known but what we doubt him for certain is that according to matthew 26 16 he was a notorian matthew describes that day would immediately

26:46 come to mind mark gives us the details of his crime his in conjunction with others had made in search and in that insurrection had committed murder we would call freedom fighters and the

The Custom Implemented: Specifics of Implementation

28:14 belt and uh rifle guns at his side and wherever he went people feared and trembled for he would shoot and kill to obtain whatever he desired that's the picture the picture of the kind of murder that he was committing by dealing with the people that he loved and he was murdering of this man Barabbas. Death row and had committed murder and probably as Passover feast was over he would have been taken by Roman soldiers to the place of execution and there to death. Are the principal parties involved in the implementation of this custom described in verse six. Now the second subheading as we consider the custom implemented is the specifics of its implementation and all you need do in your bible I will read and just occasionally make a comment that we might make our way through with some measure of orderly thought. There is first of all the initial action of the multitude verse eight and the multitude went up that is approached Pilate.

29:37 And began to ask him to do as he was want or accustomed to do unto them. You see it was the multitudes who come to a real who has already remember our prelude now not innocence of Jesus but is also expedient and let him go. Custom is set in concrete and they fully accept that he will manifest the grace and large of a dignified and that he will do what amnesty. Relief into that is the initial action of the multitudes response of pilot verses nine and ten and eyelid answer them saying who the king of the Jews he perceived that for N B the chief priests

31:00 have delivered him up to the initial entreaty and action of the multitude the initial response of pilot is described in two ways his action and his motive. His action was to ask a question, as it were, to guide them into their response. Will you release unto you the king of the Jews?

31:31 Do you see nothing in this man that is in any way a threat to me? In some way a great champion? Then surely you would have me release him, would you not? Will you that I release unto you your potential champion?

32:00 Oh, sneering under his breath, though he is no champion to threaten me. Will you release unto you the king of the Jews? That was his outward action, a question, which gave from then the response, yes. Though he is not officially condemned, he is held in custody.

32:23 Release him.

32:25 But he had an inward motive for that action. And it is described in these words, For he perceived that for, The chief priest had delivered him up. In other words, though the chief priest said, To all of that sham,

32:51 Envious that Jesus had become popular with the crowd, That the chief priest and the scribes and the leaders were losing their following.

33:06 Who had been,

33:10 He had received word from his guard, And the cohort that were there at a Passover time, Whenever Jews were gathered in concentrated groups, They always, The military prince, To keep, Down an insurrection. They would not have been ignorant of the multitudes who were pressing into the temple the week before, When Jesus was answering the questions of the chief priests or of the scribes, And their Pharisees and their doctors of the law. And so he makes this direct appeal to the multitudes, Saying, Will you that I release Jesus, your king? You, the multitudes, seem to be flocking to him, Rendering him support.

33:54 You are the multitudes, The two that went before him, Saying, Hosanna to the son of David.

34:04 That envy was the real motive of his official accusers. Those who with their false witness could not agree, He knew that all of his were trumped up. The bottom line was stealing there,

34:25 That will owe the desire of these envious chief priests. So he responds by saying, That I release unto you the king of the Jews. For he perceived that for envy the chief priest had delivered him up, Now there is the second request of the multitude. The initial action, the response of Pilate.

34:49 Now the second request of the multitude, verse 11, But the chief priest heard of the multitude, That he should rather release Barabbas unto them. And obviously in Mark's account, Though these things can be read in a matter of seconds, They didn't happen like this. This is the question, Will you that I release unto you, The king of the Jews? He leaves the question with them.

35:19 And then there is a stirring, And the leaders mingle and move amongst the crowd, And Mark says, The chief priests were at the forefront of doing what? Stirring up the multitude. There's a chief priest standing here, Speaking to as many as will come within the sound of his voice, And just where his decibels die out, There's another one speaking from another place, And they're seeking to stir up and foment, To respond to the question of Pilate, Asking not for the release of Jesus, But for another. The chief priests shut the multitude, That he should rather release Barabbas unto them. And so they convey their mind to fall on Jesus. We wanted to fall on Barabbas, The convicted, Notorious, Murderer, Actionist, This brigand, This desperado, Not the innocent Jesus. And then in verse 12, We have Pilate's response to this request.

36:42 And Pilate again answered and said unto them, What then shall I do unto him who must gain these masses? And so, What then shall I do unto him whom ye call the king of the Jews? Perhaps hoping that they would cry, For a double amnesty to be shown. Perhaps hoping, If they are set for some reason with the release of one, Who was championing their cause against Rome, That there would be a little room in their hearts, For another whom they said, Was a threat to Rome.

37:41 What then shall I do unto him whom ye call the king of the Jews? And the reaction of the crowd, Question verse 13, And they cried, I quote again, Punishment, Impenetrable, Instrument of exhibition of the most shameful, Painful sort, No! And then in verse 14a, We have the shocked response of Pilate, And Pilate said unto them, Pilate is not totally disillusioned, Not totally cured in his conscience, And when the cries from this stirred up mob, Even he is led now to take the place, Not of a judge, But an attorney, Who is representing Jesus, Pleading the cause of the Son of God,

39:04 Saying what is the cause of death? What is the cause of death? Hath he done worthy, But generical? Hath he done worthy?

39:25 The response of the multitude is recorded in verse 14b, But they cried exceedingly, They only had one answer, And that was to turn up the decibels of the cry, That shocked even this more ascetic man, Crucify. And if any of you have seen the cry, And if any of you have seen the cry, And if any of you have seen a Middle Eastern mob, When it all begins to chant, Or when they all begin to chant in one voice, You've seen the tapes of some of the uprisings in the Middle East, And it is frightening when a mob of people, With what they feel is a just and religious cause, Are whipped into a frenzy, And begin to chant a short, terse slogan. There's something frightening about it. And the chill of their sound, And the chill of their sound, And the chill of their sound, And the chill of their sound, And the chill of their sound, Coming into his ears with deafening force.

The Custom Culminated: Pilate's Decision and Scourging

40:48 And we therefore now, Having looked at the custom, Describe the custom implemented, To the custom culminated. Verse 15, And Piet wishing to content the multitude, Released unto them Barabbas, And delivered Jesus, When he had scourged him, To be crucified. You see why I term the custom, As my organizing principle, Because verse 6 begins, At the feast he used to release unto them one prisoner. Verse 15 concludes with the words, And Pilate released unto them Barabbas. Here is terminated in three things, Set before us in verse 15. The central action is this, And Pilate released unto them Barabbas, And delivered Jesus. That is the central action.

42:03 He released, But delivers Jesus to be crucified. In other words, The declaration of Jesus, He delivers Jesus to be crucified. That is the central action. But then the text tells us the internal motive.

42:44 Verse 15a, Pilate wishing to content the multitude. The frenzied mob filled him with fear, And his word to question, Well, his own sin would be threatened. Therefore, in order to save his own high, And to promote his own political career, To content the multitude. Matthew 27, 24 states it a bit differently.

43:29 We read, When Pilate knew nothing but rather that a truth was arising. So this was of something to content them. He saw that which would break Into total social disarray was on his hands. And to quell it, He then hands over Barabbas to them, And Jesus to be delivered.

44:12 But then there is also an accompanying action which he mandated. His own action, Matthew 27, 24, One of the most pathetic things recorded in all of scripture. The accompanying action of releasing Barabbas, And delivering Jesus out of this motive to quiet the mob, And maintain civil order. It was accompanied by an action with reference to himself, And then with reference to Jesus.

44:45 With reference to himself, what did he do? And one can only restrain one's imagination. Or to let the imagination run loose, Is to find one's stomach turned and to be nauseated. Against all the dictates, Against all the words of the Bible, Against all the words of God, Against all the words of the Word of God.

45:10 And that's what Barabbas was doing. He was showing him this, Showing him what he could do to bring peace and to protect the people of Israel, Be in full sogenstance. And, That, That is what Barabbas did. For it was written in a scene that he was in the midst of a bustle.

45:34 It was in this scene that Barabbas was in the midst of a bustle, And upon our children then released he unto them Barabbas. But Jesus he scourged and delivered to be crucified. Here is a man that by salvation he can free himself from guilt. Before the power of almighty God when he couldn't even free himself from guilt.

46:05 In the theater and in the court of his own conscience. This was the man whose wife had come to him in the midst of these proceedings saying. I have nothing to do with this right.

46:18 I suffered many things in a dream because of him.

46:33 Into the blood of this righteous man. Another open affirmation of the utter innocence of Jesus.

46:46 But then there was not only an accompanying action toward himself. But there was an accompanying action to Jesus. According to Mark stated very simply. In these words.

47:01 Released unto them. Barabbas and delivered Jesus when he had him. When he had to be scourged it is to be spanked. Either you've been sanctified from your mother's womb and made sinlessly perfect.

47:31 Or your parents are not doing your job. If you can't say oh I know what it is to be spanked. I sure do.

47:39 I'm having a shift every few minutes here this morning. I got my bottom warmed yesterday.

47:46 But you know a scourging has nothing to do with a spanking children. You know what a spanking. Is a spanking is the principled application of non full pain in order to develop your character. It's when mom and dad under the principles of love and of the word of God apply pain to the nerve endings of your behind.

48:13 In a way that is not destructive or harmful in order to implant principles. Principles of character the same way the doctor when he takes the needle to give you a shot that you don't get a certain disease he inflicts non destructive principle temporary pain so that you don't get. Dictheria smallpox some other disease but a scourging was not that and I wrestled with how much I should say about scourging I have in my possession a transcript. Of a study done by a medical doctor.

48:57 Who researched all he could from responsible sources doctor Gary ruled his reddit. And said from a medical standpoint it is sound in its description. I bypass reading that I don't know if I could make it through the reading. And I have chosen rather to give just the simplest facts as they are recorded in one of the commentators on what this means that he was.

49:23 Scourged I read from Lenski the Lutheran commentator just these two relatively brief paragraphs. When pilot failed in his scheme with Barabbas he did not yet give up from Luke twenty three sixteen we learned that in the beginning pilot had offered the compromise to scourge Jesus and to let him go. Now he reverts to this idea and he has Jesus scourged it is quite unwarranted to read to scourging into the record. Mark and Matthew.

49:53 You have only one word having scourged him John has the regular term and then the Greek word is listed now what happened when Jesus was scourged we can be certain almost to the minute details from the records left to us in the annals of history by Josephus. He is quoted by Lenski and from other historians stripped of clothes. The body of the man to be scourged was bent forward across a low pillar. The back stretched and exposed to the blows in order to hold the body in position the victim's hands must have been tied to rings in the floor at the base of the pillar in front and his feet to rings behind. We cannot agree that the hands were tied behind the back for this would place them across the small of the back where many of the blows were to fall. And would shield the ribs where the whiffens were to lacerate the flesh.

51:01 The Romans did not use rods as did the Jews each rod making only one stripe and cutting only the back they used short handled with speech of one each one of which had several leather lashes or thongs ugly acorn shaped pieces. Of lead or lumps of bone fastened to the end of each. Short. lash. The blows were laid on full force. The officer often shouting, to get more vigor from the lictors.

51:44 Two whips were applied, one from each side. The effect was horrible. Skin and the flesh were gashed to the very bone in every direction, and deep bloody holes were torn where the armed ends of the lashes struck. I say no more. The accompanying circumstance of this Asian, following the Jewish custom, was that our Lord Jesus, you'll understand why a short time later he cannot even carry the piece of the cross that is laid upon him. The one whose body was strong for that ministry that he undertook, made so in those years in a carpenter's shop. But it was not uncommon for people to die from the scourging and never make it to the place of execution

52:50 upon a cross. Often the tongues with their pieces of lead would rip down beneath the subcutaneous flesh and lay bare left in sausage leaves.

53:19 The customs, implementation,

Application: The Heart of the Gospel

53:27 consummation. What do we say before all of this? Well, as my time is limited, I want to bring just one vital application this morning, and God willing, next Lord's Day, three other vital applications. But I want to bring just one.

53:46 And I'm so glad I can bring this one this morning. That in the face of what I trust has been an honest unadorned treatment of the text of Scripture, we are to see in this account of this second appearance before Pilate, what Mark has held before us from his opening words, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And what I ask you to do with me, boys and girls and men and women, is this, to behold this entire action that we've studied this morning with its intense action. Behold this action, a most vivid picture of the very heart of the gospel of the grace of God.

54:46 The innocent ones of His God, the truly innocent, one stands condemned as a common guilty criminal.

55:46 The proven guilty one is set free as though he were utterly innocent.

55:55 Barabbas, no death, you said. Mark, feed his own hungry belly in the pursuit of his unrighteous and illegal cause. The truth, as though he were innocent.

56:41 And my friends, that's the gospel. That's the gospel. The gospel that you, and I, the truly distraught, lie but against the throne, enmity against God, language of every

57:52 heart, repentance and faith wins the truly guiltless one, treated as the guilty one in our room and in our stead. This is why Peter can say in 1 Peter 2, 25, you were sheep going, but are now the shepherd, ship of your soul,

58:53 whipping posts, and I wonder what went through his mind. I wonder if it found an entrance even in his hardened criminal's conscience when he heard the whistle of the thongs and the sickening sword of the Son of God that backed and tore open his flesh. I wonder if it got to him to the place where he went with every blow, said that blow belongs to me. He's taking that for me. That's being taken in my place. Whatever Barabbas thought, only God knows. But this much I know.

59:50 You and I must consciously take that place if we would be saved. We must look upon the immolated, condemned, innocent Son of God, now laning of the Father with the sins of his people and beholding him accused, condemned, Jesus, all the pain you bore, the blood you shed. You bore and you shed for me. I belong under the lash not of a Roman lictor. I belong to be in that place called hell and out of dark. But Lord Jesus, you took my place. Your strife in your the just suffering

61:12 and there is forgiveness. Oh God, you may be just and the justified of him that believes on Jesus. My friends, that's the gospel and that's the only gospel that can bring a sinner to the place where he faces these two great realities.

61:53 There is a way of even for the truly guilty from the truly holy and just God and it is this Christ tied the just for the unjust. He bore our sins in his own body up to the tree. He was made a curse for us. He who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Dear boys and girls, men and women, that's the only gospel that can do your sin sick guilty soul any good. It's the gospel of an immolated Christ bruised and beaten true that we might be forgiven. But unless you turn from your sin own the reality of what God says you are and flee to Christ placing all your hope in him. I say it reverently, but it's the truth.

63:06 It is as though Christ never lived nor died as far as you're concerned.

Call to Repentance and Faith

63:14 He will do you no good till you go to him and you've got to go to him. In the reality of what you are for you will never know the blessedness of what he is as a savior of sinners. Dear people of God, as we seek to prepare our hearts through the afternoon hours to come to the Lord's table tonight, may I urge you to go back over this passage and meditate upon it and pray to me the blessed wonderful truth which is my only hope in life and death. Judgment. None but Jesus can do helpless sinners.

64:02 Let us pray. What can we say when we have upon that which intimidates us, humbles us,

64:27 that you would ever so love us as to send your only begotten son to secure us in the way in your word. But we do believe. We do embrace. We do bow. We do can only hope is in that which your son has done for needy sinners. Bring some this morning, Lord, who till now have perhaps never, never seen the way of salvation. May they stand as an altar Barabbas, gazing upon Christ, bearing in the room instead of sinners such as they are. And, oh, that they may run to such a Savior and find forgiveness in him.

65:27 And may we who have come and continue to come to him, oh, that we may love him as we've never loved him before, as we behold the depths to which he was willing to go out of love for us. Seal then your word to our hearts, we pray, in his dear name. Amen.