WHO ARE YOU TRUSTING TO SAVE YOU?

Mark 15:6-11

⁶ Now at the feast he usually released for them one prisoner for whom they asked. ⁷ And there was a man called Barabbas among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection. ⁸ The crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do what he usually did for them. ⁹ And answering them, he said, “Do you want me to release for you this King of the Jews?” ¹⁰ Because he had figured out that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. ¹¹ But the chief priests motivated the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead.

Barabbas instead

Barabbas was just a man, and probably an evil man. The religious officials did not like Barabbas, but were absolutely against Jesus, refusing to believe his words, and demanding that he be killed. But try to imagine what this world would be like if the crowd had asked for Jesus to be spared, and the just punishment went to Barabbas instead. Barabbas’ death would have only paid the wages for his connection with Adam. Anyone’s death will only do that. And, after dying because we are in Adam, we each (including Barabbas) still have the wages for our own sins to pay on judgment day. In other words, we owe the penalty of two deaths.

Enter Jesus. He did not have to die, because he never sinned. Only he could pay the price to keep us from the permanent death of judgment day. Don’t trust your eternal destiny to any other. Only Jesus is the answer.

LORD, we trust in only your Son to bring us eternal life.