Barabbas (John 18:33-40)
Rev. Peter Heckert
03/30/22

+ Grace to you, and peace, from God our heavenly Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. + Amen.

William Jefferson was a congressman from the state of Louisiana. In 2002, he used the resources of an organization designed to encourage people to vote to ensure that his daughter would win an election to the Louisiana State House of Representatives. In 1998, 2002, and 2006, Jefferson used this same organization to make sure that his sister would win elections as a city official for New Orleans. A few days after Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, Jefferson used a National Guard detachment to recover personal belongings from his home. When the truck they were in got stuck in mud, Jefferson called in a National Guard helicopter to help them out. All this happened while rescue operations were still going on in other parts of the state. 

In March 2005, a company named iGate sent William Jefferson $400,000 to ensure that he would help its business by persuading the army to purchase iGate technology. The final straw came in August 2005, when the FBI raided Jefferson’s home and found $90,000 in cash in his freezer. Is William Jefferson innocent? No way! William Jefferson is guilty, beyond guilty! In 2007, Jefferson was sentenced to thirteen years in federal prison—the longest sentence ever given to a congressman for bribery. William Jefferson will go free on August 30, 2023.

Today, continuing in our Lenten series, we meet Barabbas. There’s a trial going on and, as in any trial, there are three key ideas—innocent, guilty, and free. 

Innocent—that’s Jesus. And that’s not my idea, it’s actually Pontius Pilate’s! He tells the crowd, “I find no guilt in Him.” Pilate didn’t think Jesus deserved the cross. A stern lecture, a lashing maybe, but not the cross. The question is, why does his opinion matter? Twice in John 18:28, Pilate is called “the governor.” He sits on the judgment seat and has imperium, supreme power or absolute dominion. In Judea, Pilate decides formal death-penalty cases. You live or die according to his word, and he declares that Jesus is innocent. He had no idea just how right he was; the New Testament witness says Jesus is absolutely and perfectly innocent. Hebrews 4 says that Jesus is without sin, and 2 Corinthians 5 says Jesus knew no sin. Simply put, Jesus never sinned. Ever. In any way. Completely innocent. That’s Jesus.

Guilty—that’s Barabbas. Barabbas was as guilty as William Jefferson—and then some! Pontius Pilate poses this question to the people: “‘Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?’ They cried out again, ‘Not this man, but Barabbas!’” John finishes that verse with the words, “Now Barabbas was a robber [lestes].” A lestes is a marauding, violent outlaw who finances his lawlessness through what he plunders and steals. It’s the same word used in the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10, where Jesus says, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.” A lestes is the worst kind of outlaw. A lestes won’t just rob you. A lestes will rob you and kill you!

Mark 15 gives us a little more information: “Among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas.” Barabbas was probably the leading lestes among the insurrectionists, anti-Roman rioters who belonged to a political group called Zealots. These Zealots had one agenda: get the Romans out of Judea, and they would do anything necessary, including slit a few throats, to see that happen.

So don’t think that Barabbas was a petty thief, a nobody meant to add insult to injury. Rome wouldn’t condemn a small-time crook to crucifixion. But they would lynch a lestes. Barabbas was judged guilty and condemned to die. He would be crucified by noon. Dead by sundown, at the earliest. His only future was a cross, three nails, and a prolonged, agonizing death.

Innocent—that’s Jesus. Guilty—that’s Barabbas. Guilty—that’s us. We’re all born “dead in the trespasses and sins.” We are blinded by the god of this world and hopeless. Our finest deeds are unclean rags. You and I may not be murderous brutes leading an insurrection; all the same, just call us “Barabbas.”

Paul says as much in his letter to the Roman Christians: “Wretched man that I am!” Not “I was a wretch.” No. “I am a wretch!” Present tense! Right now, today, as a believer, truth be told—I’m still a wretch. Still a sinner. Sin isn’t a regrettable lapse or an occasional stumble. Sin stages a rebellion against God’s rule, storming the heavens, laying claim to God’s throne. And that is all of us. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way.” You have your way. I have my way. Your way may be accumulation. Her way may be intoxication. His way may be flirtation. We all have turned to our own way. Just like sheep. I don’t like to confess it, but I’m Barabbas. I’m guilty of my sin, and “The wages of sin is 
 death.”

Innocent—that’s Jesus. Guilty—that’s Barabbas. Guilty—that’s us. Free—that’s Barabbas. Can you imagine being in his place? Hearing the Roman guard coming with the key, unlocking the cell door, swinging it open, thinking your number’s come up, but hearing instead, “Barabbas! You’re free to go. The crowd chose you.” Stumbling out into the light of day, shackles gone, crimes pardoned 
 free!

That’s Barabbas, for sure, and thanks be to God, that’s us too. How? Christ endured not just the Roman nails, the mockery, and the spear, but also the gears of God’s grinding justice. He doesn’t overlook sin. He doesn’t say, “Hey, no big deal.” That’s not how it works. God is holy, righteous, sovereign, and perfect. God can’t overlook sin. He must punish it 
 and that’s why He placed all our sin on Jesus. It’s accurate, therefore, to say, “Christ substituted Himself for the world.” It’s life-changing, however, to say, “Christ substituted Himself for me. My sins? They are many. God’s mercy? It is more. I’m free!”

Psalm 146 says, “The LORD sets the prisoners free.” Romans 8 says, “The law of the Spirit of life has set you free.” Galatians 5 says, “For freedom Christ has set us free.” Revelation 1 says that Jesus “has freed us from our sins by His blood.” There are millions of ways to become a prisoner, but there’s only one way to be free: Jesus.

The Savior’s liberating power sets us free from the condemnation of our sin, free from the pain of our past, free from worry about our future. No one can take this freedom from us. No law can stop it. And no power on earth or hell can destroy it.

Innocent, guilty, free—the most important words in any trial. For those who trust Christ, it is the last word that has the final say. “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” That’s us! By faith, we are forever free!

+ In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. + Amen.