Insightful Musings on the Scriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Greetings, dear people.
I mentioned the other day that I would try to stick on a photo of our dog, Daisy, with her cast and little kid's boot that I attached to the end of the cast. So I'll put one on as an attachment. I think she has less than two weeks left for the cast.
Have a great rest of the day.
Love and prayers. Dad/Ray
27 April 2010
Passage: Mark 15:1-20
Focus: “But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.” Mark 15:11.
Barabbas. I think it’s very likely that we will meet him in heaven.
There is a good deal of evidence that Barabbas was something like “public enemy number one” in Jerusalem at this time. Being guilty of murder and trying to stir up a revolution, he had violated both Roman and Jewish law. For Pilate, it was inconceivable to believe that these Jewish leaders would want such a notorious criminal released instead of Jesus. So he proposed it, probably thinking this was the perfect solution to this difficult problem on his hands. What a shock when the Jews demanded the death of a clearly innocent man and the release of a clearly guilty man.
No doubt it was a shock for Barabbas too. Up till now all he had to look forward to was a terrible death for his crimes. We can only imagine how he must have felt when the head guard announced to him that he was free and then ushered him out of the prison. If the full impact of exactly what was taking place ever came to weigh on his mind, I find it hard to believe that he could very easily have returned to a life of crime. The very thought that Jesus was to die on the same cross that had been prepared for him would have to be a very heavy thought indeed.
Your name is not Barabbas. And you may have been a follower of Christ for a long time. But this story needs to have heavy impact upon your own heart and mind too. Think of it. If our theology is straight, Jesus was mocked, abused, and crucified for YOU. He really did die in YOUR place. It’s evidence that God really does love YOU. And if that truly grips you like it should, there is no way you can conscientiously go out there and return to a life of crime against the law and love of God.
“Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden—but it is forbidden because
it is hurtful.”