It's Me! Barabbas

Matthew 27:15-25

You know me. I’m famous! I’m the guy who was on death row when Jesus stood in judgment before Pilate.

Unfortunately, my appeals were exhausted and a Roman cross had my name written all over it!

That is until Jesus took my place. That’s how I got free.

Yeah, I was guilty. I killed a few Romans. They all say Jesus was innocent though. I read later how Pilate’s wife even interrupted the trial to warn her husband:

While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man…"

I guess Pilate really wanted to let him go. Too bad for him though. The religious leaders stirred up the people and persuaded them to ask for my release instead.

Then they all cried out for Jesus to be crucified.

Pilate didn’t like it. He tried to argue with the crowd. I was afraid there for a minute they might change their minds. Lucky for me they were too worked up to think clearly!

That’s when Pilate called for a basin of water and washed his hands in front of the whole crowd – “I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!"

It was great! I got off scott-free!

Things worked out unexpectedly well for me, don’t you think?

Hey, what are you staring at?

Don’t you Christians believe He died in your place too?

Silence Of The Lamb

Matthew 27:11-14

Jesus is silent! First before the Sanhedrin and now before Pilate and those bringing charges against Him. Why?

Is it detachment? Acquiescence? Despair?

When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate asked him, "Don't you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?" But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.

Along with Pilate, we too are amazed. Why doesn’t Jesus defend Himself? At least win a few verbal rounds!

No way! Our Teacher is living out what He taught. Didn’t He say that we shouldn’t be anxious because our Heavenly Father knows what we need and will respond?

And we remember a sermon in which He said whoever tries to save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life will save it!

And then there was that about loving enemies and praying for them. And wasn’t there something else about agreeing with your adversaries and even turning the other cheek?

Everything Jesus taught is on the line! The Teacher chooses to stand by His ideals, proving they work, are viable, will stand up even in the worst of times. Otherwise, it’s all been for nothing!

And isn't this the silence glimpsed by the prophet Isaiah?

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

It’s an impressively splendid thing to behold – this silence of the Lamb.

Mission Impossible?

Matthew 26:69-27:10

Regrets – it’s impossible to live without having them! Things we said or didn’t say! Some things we should have done differently!

Here Judas and Peter both do something they very much regret. One betrays the Lord, the other denies Him.

Feelings of regret can be overwhelming. A deep mental distress and sorrow that clings to us – can’t seem to shake!

Unresolved regrets just keep chipping away at our life and bringing us down. If we don’t find the way to cope with them, they can even destroy us.

Dealing with regret was Mission Impossible for Judas.

“I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

Peter, on the other hand seems to successfully deal with his regret - And he went outside and wept bitterly.

This is the healthy response to regret. He properly grieves! Tears, self-recrimination, confessional prayer! All of that!

In time, the raw inflamed memory is soothed by Jesus’ forgiveness and Peter rises above regret to live and serve again.

Learning to get past regret is possible! Must be! For our regrets ultimately play a role in our destiny. If we hang onto them, they only serve as painful reminders of our failures and become stones in our hearts.

If we grieve and take them to Jesus, they can become valuable lessons in character-building, stepping stones on the way to fulfilling our destiny to become more like the Teacher.

Dealing with our regrets isn't Mission Impossible. With Jesus it is Mission Accomplished!

Kangaroo Court

Matthew 26:57-68

Of course, the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of Israel, has authority to judge an accused. But an illegal trial in the middle of the night?

This is a kangaroo court. Obviously, this proceeding isn’t about getting at the truth. The hastily assembled false witnesses reveal the court’s prejudice.

Finally, the high priest, exasperated by Jesus’ silence in the face of this farce, poses a direct question - I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.

Only then, Jesus breaks silence - Yes, it is as you say!

The undignified reaction of the court unmasks the true face of the proceedings. It’s merely a mob in disguise!

Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "He has spoken blasphemy!” "He is worthy of death," they answered. Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, "Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?"

Of course, it’s only blasphemy to say you are The Christ, if in fact you are not. Where is all the evidence in defense of His claim? The miracles, the signs, the teaching!

Oh yes, His teaching. This is really what’s on trial here. And the Teacher knows it. This explains His silence in the face of this travesty of justice.

He understands everything He taught and lived about truth, love, forgiveness, gentleness, humility and faith in God are now on trial!

That’s why Jesus must face these grueling tests armed only with His teaching!

To do otherwise will graphically demonstrate to the world they were only fine sounding speeches that don’t work very well when circumstances turn ugly – when your life is on the line!

If the Teacher expects His students to fully entrust their lives to Him - His teaching - then He must now rely upon them exclusively Himself.

Unarmed?

Matthew 26:47-56

The arrest of Jesus does not surprise Him. He saw it coming. He doesn’t hide. He rises from prayer in Gethsemane and goes out to meet the mob unarmed!

Yet, the manner in which He was arrested must have been a source of great disappointment. After all, He had simply been a Teacher - one who also cared for the needs of the poor and the sick.

Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me.

This Teacher didn’t lead an uprising! Seek an insurgency against the powers that be! His voice was never heard in the streets fomenting rebellion!

Even now, he says to His misguided student - Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword!

If He wanted to impose His will, there were better options available to Him - Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?

Instead, this Teacher seeks a revolution in every heart. A free and willing embrace of the loving principles He espoused and lived!

But there’s a question. How workable are His teachings? In real life? When life itself depends on them?

That’s why He is resolved now to face everything before Him, armed only with His teaching.

And He will do this virtually alone - Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.

This may not be all bad. If the Teacher stands alone armed only with His teaching, if the principles He taught are sufficient to sustain Him through His trials, if they really work for Him, then His students will clearly see and understand the power in them.

Cup of Suffering

Matthew 26:36-46

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane.

How fitting! The word Gethsemane means olive press. In such a press, under a large rolling stone, crushed olives gave up their precious oil.

Here on the Mount of Olives, Jesus endures a crushing weight of suffering - My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.

As the cross creeps closer, He prays - My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.

Is it only the prospect of losing His life that is pressing down on Him?

Crucifixion was an especially agonizing death. Anyone would recoil at the prospect of such a violent end.

But there is something worse than death pressing in on Jesus’ mind. For Him, the cross will be more than a painful way to die. At the same time He must also bear the sins of the whole world!

In some very real sense, Jesus would not only be dying physically. He would taste death for every person. The pang of the penalty of sin - separation from the Father!

Nobody understands what that really means. At least, not as deeply as Jesus when He fell on His face in lonely Gethsemane that night.

Only Jesus - one with the Father throughout all of eternity past - could even begin to understand the unfathomable pain of interrupting such a relationship. For Him, this must be the true horror and revulsion of the cross!

Here in the garden He anticipates the abandonment that will soon crescendo from the cross in the heart-rending cry – My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?

He is in the press! Crushed, His spirit yields the sweet oil of obedience - Yet not as I will, but as you will.

Best of Intentions

Matthew 26:31-35

"This very night you will all fall away on account of me…This very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times."

But Peter declared, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And all the other disciples said the same.

You have to love Peter and the others. They have the best of intentions. They pledge allegiance to their Teacher – You can count on us!

They sound like us sometimes, don’t they? We are not ashamed to be a student of Jesus. But then it happens.

We face people and circumstances hostile to Jesus. We hang back. Go along. Blend in.

It’s easy to stand up for Jesus during Sunday worship. The test comes on Monday around the water cooler. Or on Tuesday at the club meeting!

On Sunday we are ready to die for Jesus. On Wednesday we lose the courage to even speak His name. When it will cost us!

At church we easily sing, O’ How I Love Jesus, but on Thursday peer pressure causes us to say – Jesus who?

And on Friday, we still have the best of intentions.

Then it’s Saturday evening. Time to get ready for worship tomorrow!

We understand Peter and the others very well. Jesus does too. He doesn’t condemn them. He just warns them.

Jesus knows after His resurrection, they will renew their courage and stand up. Most will even give their lives for Him.

But until then - for now - they only have the best of intentions.