Dear Christian Friends,

Someone once asked if I could summarize the whole Bible in one word. I said: "I believe so. The word would be substitute." That word, that concept, looms large before us today as we visit another of the places of the passion, the courtroom of Pontius Pilate: a place for a substitute.

1. The crowd chose Barabbas as a substitute for Jesus

It was early Friday morning. The Jewish leaders had condemned Jesus in their own court, the place of an unjust verdict, declaring the Innocent One to be guilty. They had dragged him through the streets to Pilate's fortress, banged on the door, roused the governor, and demanded a death sentence.

I believe it's logical to assume that Pilate had heard of Jesus and knew that his teaching had something to do with the Jewish religion. In fact, it's altogether possible that Pilate wanted an opportunity to see and hear Jesus, but what happened was certainly not what he had hoped for.

Pilate could have called a halt to these shenanigans right then and there. He could have said, "Get out of here!" But he had plenty of political savvy and knew that "it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him" (vs. 10). So to curry favor, he said, "I'll check him out." After questioning Jesus, he was convinced that this preacher from Galilee was not a political activist. He was not a criminal. He was not a rebel. So Pilate had a problem on his hands. How could he appease the crowd and still preserve some semblance of justice?

His first move was to confront the people with the truth. "I find no basis for a charge against this man" (Lk 23:4). But the crowd would not stand for that. Next, the governor tried to pass the buck. King Herod was in town. Maybe he could find a solution. But that didn't work either. Herod had to agree. Jesus was innocent. "Now what?" Pilate thought. "Maybe if I have Jesus whipped, they will see his bloodied body, have a little pity, and be satisfied." But the leaders and people still weren't appeased. They still called for Jesus' death.

Pilate had one last ace up his sleeve. "It was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did. 'Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?' asked Pilate" (vv. 6-9). Some choice! Chalk up murder and revolution for Barabbas. Jesus had a clean slate. Pilate was sure the crowd would want Barabbas to stay behind bars. But he didn't bargain on its hatred against Jesus running so deep and flowing so fast and furious. "The chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead" (vs. 11). The crowd chose Barabbas as a substitute for Jesus.

"Bad choice," you say. "How could the crowd be so evil, so stupid, so insensitive? They should have chosen Jesus."

A woman says: "No one else understands how terrible my marriage has been. My husband gets so wrapped up in his work. He comes home exhausted and never has any time to listen to me. He even brings work home from the office. We never go on walks anymore. If we do go out, it's to a movie, and, of course, we can't talk there. But then I met this wonderful, gentle man at work. All he did was offer to listen. We just went to lunch a few times. I didn't expect to fall in love with him. What should I do?" That woman is choosing Barabbas as a substitute for Jesus.

"I don't know what it is, but I just don't feel good about myself. My grades in school aren't that great because I partied too much and didn't study. Now I've got an entry-level job while all my friends are moving up the corporate ladder. I'm glad they still invite me out, but when I'm at the bars, I try so hard to be cool and end up drinking too much. Last weekend I got pulled over and lost my license." That young man is choosing Barabbas as a substitute for Jesus.

"I'm so embarrassed. I can't even tell you what's bothering me because if I do, you'll think I'm horrible. My problem is that I just can't stop giving in to this one temptation. I always figure that I can quit tomorrow, but then I slip and do it again." That person is choosing Barabbas as a substitute for Jesus.

"You think George is weird? You should hear what Connie did. I'll call you after work and tell you all about it." That person is choosing Barabbas as a substitute for Jesus.

Should I go on? Would you like to sit here the rest of the afternoon/evening until I hit a scenario that matches your sin? Or are you so arrogant that you think you are above the crowd, above the crowd in Jerusalem who called for Barabbas instead of Jesus? My friends, this is Lent, and Lent is a tough season for you and me. It's tough because we are put in a position from which we can't escape. This sin business is serious, sad, dangerous, and damnable. You're in it, and so am I. This Lenten season we are visiting "Places of the Passion," and we have just entered the place for a substitute. But it's a place we're not too thrilled about because, whether we want to admit it or not, every time we sin, we are choosing Barabbas as a substitute for Jesus and sending the Son of God on his death march.

2. God gave Jesus as a substitute for us

Every year the key feature of our Lenten worship is to walk with our Lord Jesus to the cross. The primary way we do that is through the reading of the passion history and by giving certain portions of the passion history closer examination, explanation, and application through Lenten sermons. I don't know about you, but each time I hear the passion history, I find myself identifying with some of the characters-Peter who denied his Lord; John Mark who dropped his robe when Jesus was arrested and ran away; the women weeping at the foot of the cross. But there are some characters we shy away from. "No way am I a Judas, a Herod, a Pilate!" Then the preacher starts the inevitable application, reminding us of our sins, and, sure enough, we have to swallow hard and admit that inside our very own hearts is a Christ-betraying Judas, a miracle-mocking Herod, and a truth-ignoring Pilate. But there's one character we just can't be-Barabbas. Murderers we are not!

But wait! You know what's coming, don't you? Listen to this Bible passage: "Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him" (1 Jn 3:15). If someone videotaped your entire life and captured your every move and mood, do you think the tape would show a flicker of inappropriate anger-like when you gave the phys. ed. teacher a dirty look for making you do all those push-ups, or when the state trooper wouldn't accept your perfectly logical explanation for being in a hurry and handed you a ticket, or when your friend said something nasty and hurt your feelings? Don't try to hide it. You can't hide from God any more than Adam and Eve could in the garden. Not only are we all little Judases, Herods, and Pontius Pilates. We are all little Barabbases, waiting on death row for a sure and certain sentence of condemnation to be carried out.

But God takes us to this "Place of the Passion," to a place for a substitute. " 'What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?' Pilate asked them. 'Crucify him!' they shouted. 'Why? What crime has he committed?' asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, 'Crucify him!' Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified" (vv. 12-15). Jesus went to the cross as a substitute for Barabbas.

And here's the miracle: God gave Jesus as a substitute for all of us little Barabbases. So complete is that substitution that a few folks are shocked when asked the question, "Has God ever cursed you?" People are willing to admit that being cursed or damned by God is what they deserved, but they have to think twice to realize that God has indeed cursed and damned every one of us. He damned you to hell when he cursed his Son. That's how full and complete Jesus' substitution is. God condemned his beloved Son and, in doing so, condemned us. God now considers Jesus' suffering to be ours, Jesus' pain to be ours, Jesus' death to be ours. Yes, because of our sin, you and I are all little Barabbases, but God gave Jesus as a substitute for us all. Listen to this poem:

Barabbas in his prison cell, gazed on the heavens fair
And saw a pascal moon ascend in night's empurpled air.
The hours crept on; with awe and dread he waited for the morn;
He heard at last the soldier's tread and saw the bolt withdrawn.
"Barabbas," so the soldier spake, "I bring thee news of grace;
For Christ, the man of Nazareth, today shall take thy place.
Without the gate shall Jesus bear the cross prepared for thee;
Go thou to the atoning feast!" The man of crime went free.
Barabbas saw the darkened earth when came the hour of noon
And slept in peace when Jesus wept beneath the pascal moon.
O [Barabbas] man of sin in thee I see myself redeemed by grace;
The blood-stained cross that rose for thee took ev'ry sinner's place.

Those are the words of a poet. Now listen to the words of God: "Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed" (Isa 53:4,5). A place for a substitute-there's no better place to be. Amen.