Getting What We Don’t Deserve

Getting What We Don’t Deserve

Bible Blast: Read Matthew 27:15-22

He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:14

When looking at the story of Jesus’ crucifixion, it can be easy to overlook one very important person, Barabbas. You read his story in the Bible Blast today.

Do you want to know why Barabbas was in prison? You can find the answer in Mark 15:7. Basically, Barabbas had rebelled against the Roman government and had murdered someone. When the crowd chose to have Barabbas released and Jesus crucified, they were setting a murderer free and having an innocent man killed.

It’s impossible for us to know exactly what Barabbas thought about the whole thing. We can assume he was excited to be set free that day, but how did he feel about Jesus Christ, a man who had never hurt anyone, being executed in his place?

It was common for the people to watch when criminals were crucified. There’s a good chance Barabbas saw the entire thing. When Jesus spoke to the criminal hanging on a cross beside him, saying, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise,” was Barabbas thinking, Can my sins be forgiven too? When they put the nails in Jesus’ hands and feet, Barabbas would have known that the man on the cross should have been him. When they pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, maybe Barabbas laid his hand on his own side.

Jesus took all of our sin upon himself when he died on the cross (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). When he was nailed to the cross, so was our sin. For Barabbas, that was what happened, just as today’s focus verse describes. I wonder what Barabbas did after he was released.

When people choose to give their lives to Jesus, they need to understand that Jesus broke the power of sin and death when he died on the cross and rose again. When a person lives her life knowing she’s been forgiven and set free, she will impact the world around her in great ways.

Girl Gab: Are you friends with someone who doesn’t know Jesus nailed that person’s sins to the cross so he or she can be forgiven? Pray this prayer for him or her today: “Dear Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for my friend, _________. Please help him/her to understand that you took all the sin on your shoulders so that he/she could be forgiven and set free. Let him/her believe in you, live for you, and do great things because of you. In your name, amen.”