I am Barabbas
And they all cried out at once, saying, “Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas”—Luke 23:18
This is one of the clearest scriptures about what Jesus came to do. He came to the world to save sinners and He did that by trading places with them. On the day Jesus was crucified, the people were offered a choice. They could let Jesus go or they could free the well-known criminal, Barabbas. Barabbas was a sinner for sure. He deserved the punishment he was scheduled to get, but Jesus stepped in and took his place. It doesn’t look like Jesus had a choice, but He most certainly did. He could have prayed to His Father and God would have given Him more than twelve legions of angels to protect and rescue Him. (See Matthew 25:53) Jesus chose to pay Barabbas penalty for his crimes the same way He chose to pay the penalty for my crimes.
He did it for you too. I like to call it the great exchange. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that He became sin so I could become His righteousness. Jesus took my sin, your sin and the sin of the whole world and in exchange, He gave me a right relationship with God. He opened the door for me to enter into the presence of my Father in heaven so that I could walk in spend time with Him each day and walk out my life in His wisdom. Jesus died to set me from the bondage of sin and the prison of a sinful lifestyle.
Barabbas was free to go back to his life before prison the day Jesus took his place. It’s the same for you. The day Jesus died was the day He made provision for your life of freedom, you only need to invite Him into your life and enter the door He opened to have a right relationship with the God and Father that created and loves you!
Today I want to encourage you to consider the choice Jesus made to free you from the grip of sin. Recognize that He traded places with you and paid your penalty for being a person far from God. Thank Him for bridging that gap and opening the door for you to enter into salvation and press into you Father in heaven to walk out the blessed life He planned for you before the foundation of the world, before the world fell under the curse of sin.
If you have never received this great exchange of Jesus blood for your sin, do it today by praying this prayer from your heart. Jesus will come into your heart and into your life and you will know the truth and it will make your free: God in heaven, I know I’m a sinner and I need a Savior. I want to turn away from my sinful life to the life You have planned for me. Please forgive my sins, cleanse me from my past, and make me new today. I know Your Son, Jesus died for me. I believe in my heart that You raised Him from the dead. At this very moment, I accept, confess, and proclaim Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior . . . to be Lord of my life from this day forward. I now have a right relationship with God my Father through this salvation in the blood of Jesus. I thank You for giving me Your Holy Spirit to guide me and to empower me to accomplish the things You have planned for my life in Jesus’ name, Amen
Today’s scripture reading: Luke 23:13-25
13 Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people,
14 said to them, “You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him;
15 no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him.
16 I will therefore chastise Him and release Him”
17 (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast).
18 And they all cried out at once, saying, “Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas”—
19 who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.
20 Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them.
21 But they shouted, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”
22 Then he said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go.”
23 But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.
24 So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested.
25 And he released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will.
The Daily Dose 