Sermon notes 👇

Barabbas is seen in all four Gospels.

It’s interesting to me that Barabbas’s name literally means “son of the father.”

So, when Pilate gave the crowd a choice between Jesus and Barabbas, they choice a violent man - a murderer - whose name meant son of the father.

Meanwhile, they were clamoring for the death of the true Son of God - the true Son of the Father.

It’s evil that Jesus was betrayed by a close friend.

It’s evil that the religious leaders sought to kill Jesus, and even more so in the name of righteousness.

It’s evil that Pilate overlooked justice for the sake of his own power.

It’s evil that an innocent man was murdered…while a guilty man was set free.

But there it is…

A guilty man was set free. The guilty man was pardoned, and the innocent man was condemned to death.

And we are all that guilty man set free by the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The Gospel of Barabbas is this: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)