In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

As I read these words, one word comes to my mind: substitution. Sports fans know what a substitution is. One player comes out of the game and one player goes in to the game as a substitution. A substitution is when one person takes the place of another. As ponder our Savior's passion we need to see

{15-18} Now it was the governor's custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. {16} At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. {17} So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" {18} For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him. Pilate realized that Jesus was innocent. He knew that the Jewish leaders were jealous of Jesus. Jesus had been very popular with the common people and they didn't like it. The Palm Sunday procession was only one example of Jesus' popularity. Pilate was looking for a way to release Jesus, but he was also trying to satisfy the gathering crowd. We learn of this custom he had of releasing a prisoner at the time of the Passover feast. This time, Pilate purposely gave them an unfair choice. Barabbas was a "notorious prisoner." He was guilty of rebellion, robbery, and murder. He was a real criminal, a bad guy, a terrorist. Pilate expected that the crowd would choose Jesus and that would give him a way out of this mess.

{19} While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him." Meanwhile, Pilate's wife sent her husband an urgent message. She had suffered in a dream on this very day. This is all we know for sure about this episode. The other gospels do not record it. What was that dream? We cannot know. But, she knew that Jesus was "innocent." And she knew that there must have been some reason why she suffered so much in this dream. So, she urged her husband to have nothing to do with Jesus. Later tradition claims that Pilate's wife became a Christian. The Greek church calls her Claudia Procula and regards her as a saint. But the Bible is silent about this information, if it is true. I find it very interesting that both Pilate and his wife regarded Jesus as "innocent."

{20-21} But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. {21} "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor. "Barabbas," they answered. Somehow, the Jewish leaders convinced the people to ask for the criminal, Barabbas. They chose to release a murderer so that Jesus would be killed. Just imagine if you had a choice between an innocent man and Charles Manson? The crowd chose Barabbas, the bad guy.

{22a} "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked. Pilate did not know what to do now. So, he did a very foolish thing. He asked the gathering crowd of people what he should do? Now, what judge ever does that? What judge would ask bystanders such a question? Four times, Pilate had announced that Jesus was innocent. But now, he left the decision up to the crowd. "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked.

{22b} They all answered, "Crucify him!" They called for death by crucifixion. {23a} "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. He knew that there was no crime. {23b} But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!" And their shouts prevailed. They had no facts, just volume, and that was enough to win the case for them. No evidence. No crime. They just shouted louder and louder, "Crucify him!"

{24} When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" An "uproar was starting." Pilate wanted to calm everything down. He would let them have their way. He knew it wasn't right, but he thought it was more important to keep the peace. So, he washed his hands of any of the responsibility, and said that he was innocent of Jesus' blood. Of course, it is not that simple. It was his responsibility. He would have to give the order for Jesus to be crucified. He was vacating his position and was certainly not innocent. He tried to declare himself innocent, but he really wasn't. You know, many people today want to declare themselves innocent too. They want to say, "I meant well. I didn't mean to sin. So I'm innocent." But that's not how it works. God is the one who decides. Pilate sinned. I have sinned. And you have sinned. Whether you think so or not, it's true. We are not innocent of Jesus' blood either. He was going to the cross because of our sins!

{25} All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" This is the big, bad passage that the Jews and others complained about in Mel Gibson's movie. But that's exactly what "ALL the people" said. "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" Later, Jerusalem would pay the price. In 70 A.D. Jerusalem would be utterly destroyed. And that's not all. On the Last Day, they will see Jesus as their Judge. They will wish they hadn't rejected Jesus. But on that day, they had their way.

{26} Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. So, the substitution was complete. Barabbas would go free, and Jesus would go to the cross. But first, Pilate "had Jesus flogged." That movie, "The Passion of the Christ," shows a pretty accurate, vivid and memorable picture of what flogging really was. That was some awful torture! That was one of the most memorable parts of the movie, I think, because most people didn't have a clue what was involved in this flogging. The victim was tied to a post with his back bared. Each of the Roman soldiers used a special whip with multiple leather straps called a scourge. Attached to these straps were jagged pieces of metal to tear the skin on each stroke. There were usually two soldiers, one on each side, and they would whip with all of their might. Each stroke would tear valleys in the victim's flesh flowing with blood. The actor who played Jesus in that movie, Jim Caviezzel, accidentally received one stroke of the scourge for real. It got through the wood and the padding and knocked him to the ground. He had trouble getting up after only one of these strokes. Jesus received them again and again. Often, the victim died from that alone. The bleeding would be horrible. The flogging would expose muscle and bone, and sometimes even a person's intestines. People complained about all the blood in the movie, but if you were walking by in Jerusalem that day, you would have seen this happening. It was not a pretty picture. Do we really appreciate how much Jesus suffered for sins we committed so easily! Flogging was bad enough. But then, Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified. Jesus went to the cross as your Substitute, my Substitute, and the whole world's Substitute. The Lord had laid on him the sins of us all! Jesus had lived a perfect life. He had no sins of his own. But the Lord laid on Jesus the sins of us all, and so when he went and died on the cross, it was as though he had committed every sin every committed. It was as though he was the one and only sinner there. And on that cross of Calvary, Jesus paid for all of your sins, and my sins, and the sins of the whole world to win forgiveness for us all. [+] So, then, believe in the Lord Jesus, your Substitute and Savior, and you have eternal life.

In coming days, let us follow our Savior as he makes his way to the cross and the empty tomb. There is a reason why "We preach Christ crucified!" Our forgiveness was won there! Like Barabbas, we are guilty! Like Barabbas, we are set free because Jesus went to the cross in our place. There is much speculation and some ancient tradition about what happened to Barabbas after this. We don't know for sure, but let me ask you this. Now that you have been set free from eternal condemnation because Jesus went to the cross in your place, how will you live? With the eyes of faith, watch your Savior go to the cross. He went there as OUR SUBSTITUTE. Thanks be to God. Amen.