Sunday Sermon

"The King of the Jews or Barabbas"
[Mark 15:6-20]
November 19, 2006 Second Reformed Church

Today is Thanksgiving Sunday; this Thursday, we will celebrate Thanksgiving. Why will you be thankful? Will you be thankful that someone else is cooking? Will you be thankful that you have family and friends around? Will you be thankful to eat certain foods that you only have or associate with Thanksgiving? Will you be thankful that you have the day off from work and your usual routine? Why will you be thankful?

Let me suggest, this morning, that our Scripture gives us the ultimate reason to be thankful on Thanksgiving. The Scripture that was just read is the reason for the season -- for the holiday -- of Thanksgiving. Let us consider what we have just heard read.

Jesus was in prison, and the Roman Governor, Pilate, had interviewed Him, and found no legal precedent for putting Jesus to death. He thought it must be that the priests were jealous of Jesus -- that Jesus had a following that was growing day by day, and He criticized them, and they just didn't like it. Now, history tells us that Pilate was a ruthless and arrogant man -- he enjoyed putting people to death and seeing them suffer, but he was a Roman, and Romans had to have a reason to inflict suffering and death. Pilate was unimpressed by this silly argument they had brought him about their religion.

And Pilate thought he found a way out: it had been his custom during the feast of the Passover to let one of the prisoners go free. It was a good faith act -- to show that the Romans were a kind and generous occupier of Israel.

There had been a rebellion, a terrorist plot against the Roman government. Romans had been killed, but the terrorists had been caught, and Israel was being punished . Their leader was a murderer named Jesus Barabbas. And Pilate came before the crowd and said that he would release either Jesus Barabbas -- the great terrorist who had so recently caused bloodshed in Israel -- or the silly rabbi, Jesus, the King of the Jews -- Who so upset the priests.

And the crowd cried out, "Give us Barabbas!" And Pilate said, "Then what do you want me to do with the one you call, the King of the Jews?" And they cried out, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" "But He hasn't done anything wrong." "Crucify Him!" "I need a reason." "Crucify Him!"

Pilate realize it was a no win situation for him: he had to order Jesus' crucifixion, or risk his governorship and his authority over Israel. So he set Barabbas free -- he set the terrorist free -- the terrorist was saved, pardoned -- and Jesus took his place among the crucified.

But Pilate wasn't just going to have Jesus crucified. Oh, no. If they were going to force his hand, his hand was going to come down hard. So he ordered Jesus to be flogged -- to be whipped with a whip of many tails, that had pieces of glass and broken pottery tied onto it, so when it hit flesh, it dug in and tore out. And Pilate knew that Jewish Law did not allowed a person to be whipped more than forty times, so he ordered thirty-nine lashes for Jesus.

And the soldiers were having so much "fun," taking out their blood-lust on Jesus, that Pilate allowed them to take Jesus away with them for a time -- to "play" with Him before the crucifixion. And they mocked Him mercilessly. They put a purple robe over Him, dressing Him like a King. And they fashioned a crown of thorns and pressed it down into His Head. And they took a stiff reed, and pretended it was a scepter, as they took turns beating Him over the head and spitting on Him. And they cried out, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And fell to their knees in false veneration. And when they got tired of their "games," they tore off the robe, and led Him off to be crucified.

This was part of the pain He suffered. This was part of the humiliation He bore. This led Him to become the curse for us, because the Scripture tells us that anyone who is put to death by nailing or impaling, is cursed of God -- and we remember Jesus received the Wrath of God on that Good Friday.

And this, we should be thankful for. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that "when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies them for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Hebrews 9:11-14).

The writer of Hebrews reminds us that God requires blood to be shed in order for sin to be forgiven. And He says that Jesus, acting both as High Priest and Sacrifice, offered Himself on the altar "for the sins of many" (Hebrews 9:28b). And, if God allowed the blood of an animal to cover the sin of a person, how much greater a sacrifice, and how much greater a forgiveness -- in fact, an eternal forgiveness -- will we find in the Eternal God Himself, becoming enfleshed, and offering Himself up for our sins?

That's something to be thankful about, isn't it? Jesus died and received an eternity of Hell and God's Wrath that everyone who believes in Him might be saved, reconciled to God, and forgiven.

Consider how we come into the world, as God told Israel, "You have never heard, you have never known, from old your ear has not been opened. For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously, and that from before birth you were called a rebel" (Isaiah 48:8). Over and over in the Scripture, it is explained to us that we are born in sin, we are born sinners. We are born rebels, we are born terrorists. Cosmic terrorists in rebellion against God. That is how every mere human being has come into the world since Adam.

We talk about the terrorists in the Middle East, even some "homegrown terrorists," and terrorists cannot be allowed to continue their terror. Not in the Middle East, not in the United States, not in Ancient Rome, and not in this sanctuary. The debt of the terrorist must be paid. And God says, "You are a born terrorist. And so are you. And you." And I was born a terrorist, too. Every one of us. Isaiah tells us, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6). Did you hear that? In the midst of being told that we are born lost and doomed, God reveals that He has always had a plan to redeem His people.

"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:4-5).

Jesus Barabbas was on death row as a terrorist, yet in the Sovereign Plan of God, Jesus, the King of the Jews, took his place. I was on death row, a terrorist against the Almighty God, but in His Mercy, Jesus took my place. Each mere human being born on this earth is on death row as a cosmic terrorist, unless Jesus, the King of the Jews, takes his place. If you have believed in Jesus Christ Alone for your salvation, then your sin and your terror and your rebellion has been forgiven, because Jesus has taken your place. He has suffered and shed His Blood and died for each one who believes in Him. And much more than that. His is risen to the Right Hand of the Father and is coming again.

Why will you be thankful this Thanksgiving? I pray it will be because you have been forgiven and set free and Jesus has taken your place.

Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You that before the foundation of the world, Your Planned for the Son to be incarnate and take our place that we would be made right with You. We thank You for this substitutionary atonement that Jesus has made on our behalf. May we be truly thankful. In Jesus' Name. Amen.