GIVE US BARABBAS

 

Matthew 27:21-22 (NIV)
"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor. "Barabbas," they answered. "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked. They all answered, "Crucify him!"

               I am preparing this week to preach on Good Friday. Good Friday is a day to reflect not only upon what Jesus did for us, but also upon what our response is to Jesus.

               If you are familiar with the story of Holy Week, it began with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. They people hailed Jesus as a king. They expected him to clear out the Roman invaders and re-establish the political nation of Israel. Things started out promising, as Jesus cleared the Temple of the people who were taking advantage of the common people. But as the week went along, and people watched, Jesus quietly slipped back into the role of Rabbi, teacher. The people had to be wondering when Jesus was going to make his move. Jerusalem was packed to overflowing. If there ever was a time for a successful revolt it was now.

               By the end of the week even one of his own disciples had lost hope. Judas, maybe as a way to force Jesus’ hand, agreed to turn Jesus over to the religious leaders for 30 pieces of silver. As the week began to draw to a close, the sentiment of the crowds shifted away from Jesus.

               Jesus was arrested and put on trial by the Sanhedrin. Although they could not find any legitimate reason to condemn Jesus, they did anyway, out of fear and hatred. They took Jesus to Pilate and demanded that Jesus to executed as a rabble rouser. Pilate was puzzled and bewildered by all of this. He tried several times to let Jesus go, but the Pharisees and chief priests kept putting pressure on him.

               Finally, Pilate tried one last tactic. He would allow the people to chose one prisoner to be released. He knew that the Pharisees had brought Jesus to him out of jealousy. He expected the common people to side with Jesus. But when it came to a vote, the crowd chose Barabbas. For Jesus, they chose death.

               As I reflect upon that event, I am drawn to the events of our current day. Barabbas represented what the people wanted, a political leader. Someone who would take charge and accomplish what they wanted by force. I don’t think anything has changed. Today, people are still choosing Barabbas over Jesus.

               Even some who call themselves Christians are rejecting the way of Jesus in favor of the more robust and aggressive way of Barabbas. Our society as a whole approaches this Easter, not with Jesus’ name on their lips, but with the name of Barabbas. Political power and force have replaced love and compassion.

               If we look back at the outcome of the crowd’s decision, we see that those who chose Barabbas lost in the end and those who stood with Jesus won. The religious/political leaders who called for Jesus’ crucifixion were soon displaced by the very power they appealed to. But Jesus won the victory. Three days later, He rose from the dead, triumphant. He accomplished by His death on the cross what political power never could. Jesus conquered sin and death and offers eternal life to all who will place their faith and trust in Him.

               As we near Good Friday, and even look forward to Easter Sunday, the question we have to ask ourselves is who are we turning to for our salvation. Are we still calling for Barabbas or are we calling upon Jesus.

John 1:10-13 (NIV)
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

John 3:19-21 (NIV)
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

 

THE SUFFERER’S PSALM

 

Psalms 22:1 (NIV)
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

               In preparing for Good Friday, I have been struck again by Jesus’ cry from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” His words come right out of the first verse of Palm 22. As it happens, in my devotions today I was directed to read Psalm 22. In addition to that, I have been reading Philip Yancey’s book, Where is God When It Hurts, which dovetails with Psalm 22.

               The big question that we all struggle with when pain and suffering come into our lives is why? It hangs in the air over our head demanding some kind of an answer. Yet, the answer rarely comes. We might get a partial answer. I had a heart attack because I allowed my cholesterol to get too high. In one way that answers the question, but it isn’t very satisfying. The real question we are asking is, why did God allow this to happen to me? It is the question at the heart of the book of Job and it is the question on the minds of a majority of people, whether they believe in God or not.

               I had a friend who claimed to be an agnostic. He suffered from clinical depression and was on permanent disability. He challenged me with the age-old question, if there is a good God, why would he allow me to suffer like this?

               Neither the book of Job nor Psalm 22 answer that question. Instead, they both point us beyond the why question to call us to examine our response to our circumstances. Jesus literally brought all this together on the cross.

               When Jesus cried out those words on the cross, he was directing us not to His despair, but to his response. If we look carefully at Psalm 22, we can see two things. We can see a foreshadowing of Jesus’ death on the cross. In graphic terms, the Psalm depicts what Jesus endured on the cross. It is as if the Psalm writer were standing by recording Jesus’ experience.

               Jesus often pointed back to the Scriptures to show that they were speaking about him. He did this both before and after his death and resurrection. His cry on the cross was one more example of Him saying, look! This fulfills what was predicted long ago. Jesus’ cry of desperation would not have been lost on the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. They would have instantly recognized those words. They were an indictment against those who sought to silence Jesus.

               But I think there is something else here. Something we can hang onto in our times of suffering. Jesus is giving us a pattern to follow. A path through suffering to faith.

               When we suffer, the first place we should take our suffering is to God. We often complain loudly about our suffering and imply that God is not fair, but do we talk with God about it? Complaining to others is not the same as taking our suffering to God. It is both okay and right for us to express what we are suffering to God. He understands and He can handle it. Jesus experienced our suffering on the cross. He stands with us in our suffering.

               As we unburden our hearts to God, we need to remind ourselves of God’s faithfulness in the past. The Psalmist remembers that God helped the people of Israel in their time of suffering and that God had been present in his life from the beginning. When we face suffering, we need to remind ourselves of God’s faithfulness in the past. We can look back at times when we faced a challenge and God got us through, even though it was hard. It is easy to forget that in the midst of suffering, but it changes our response to suffering when we remember.

               This brings us to a critical choice. Will we trust God in the midst of this situation or not? The Psalmist pleads with God to be present in the midst of his suffering, but he also expresses his trust that God will indeed act on his behalf. Psalm 22 ends with a call to praise God for who He is. The Psalmist is confident that God will act on his behalf.

               Jesus was honest about His suffering, but He was also confident that the Father would not abandon Him. According to the Gospel of Luke, the last words of Jesus before He died were, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Jesus died in the confidence of the Father’s love even in the midst of great suffering.

               In our times of suffering, we can choose to become bitter and turn away from God or we can choose to turn toward God and seek comfort from Him. The path of bitterness only leads to more pain and suffering. The path of faith, although it may not alleviate the immediate pain, will lead to hope and comfort.

               We live in a fallen, broken world. It is a world filled with pain and suffering because of sin. Paul places our suffering in the context of living in a broken world.

Romans 8:18-28 (NIV)
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

               Jesus gave us a reality check and a promise regarding our life on this planet. "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NIV)

               Jesus lived out Psalm 22 on the cross for us. He fully entered our suffering so that He could comfort us in the midst of suffering. Pain and suffering throw us off balance. Faith in God can restore that balance if we will have the courage to trust the one who gave His life for us.

Job 13:15 (NIV)
Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.

 

OUR CHOICES MATTER

 

Joshua 24:14-15 (NIV)
"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

               One of the things that sets humanity apart from the rest of creation is our ability to make choices. Animals live according to their instincts. Plants live according to strict boundaries. But humans have the ability to choose their course of action. It is a significant part of being created in the image of God.

               God, in His sovereignty, chose to give humans free will. Our free will opens up all kinds of possibilities for us. We are not bound to follow one course of action. We are free to choose among many. But ultimately our free will confronts us with the most important choice. We can choose to follow God or to do our own thing.

               The choices that we make every day shape our lives and our character. Our choices may be subtle or dramatic, but each choice is shaping us into a particular kind of person. At the end of our life, that is the person we will carry into eternity.

               C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, articulates the significance and the enormity of our choices.

“People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God says, ‘If you keep a lot of rules I’ll reward you, and if you don’t I’ll do the other things.’ I do not think that is the best way of looking at it. I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowing turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war with God, and with its fellow-creatures, and with itself. To be one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at this moment is progressing to one state or the other”

               I read this passage recently in my daily devotions and it caused me to stop and take stock of my own choices. We make so many choices every day that we do not give much thought to. Out of habit or convention, we follow a path that has been made for us by our choices. We do not necessarily think about the eternal impact of the choices that we make. Yet, as Lewis states, each choice is shaping us for eternity.

               When a person is in rebellion against God, his or her choices are dictated by their sinful nature. Although they think they are free to do their own thing, they are really slaves to sin. They cannot help themselves. It is their nature.

               When a person comes to faith in God through Jesus Christ, they are set free from their slavery to sin. At that point they really do have the option to choose. But that does not mean that we always choose correctly. Often, we slip back into old, sinful patterns. By God’s grace, we can be forgiven and set right again. But those choices still shape our character, the essence of who we are. It is worth contemplating.

               In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he grapples with this idea that our choices matter. Just because we are under grace, and no longer under the law, that does not give us the right to continue to go on sinning.

Romans 6:1-2 (NIV)
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

               Paul goes on to remind us that we have a choice daily to follow Christ or to yield to sin. We are not powerless to choose. We have an obligation to choose.

Romans 6:11-14 (NIV)
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

               One of the heresies of the past was the idea that only the spirit was good and the body was evil. Therefore, a person could do with their body whatever they liked. This led to two extremes. On one side of the equation were those who mistreated their physical body, denying it normal pleasures, and even abusing it, as a means of purifying their soul. On the other extreme were those who openly indulged their physical body because it didn’t matter anyway. Both extremes are wrong. As Paul makes clear, we are honor God with our physical body. We are to care for it and not abuse it. But we are not it indulge it either. We can choose how we treat our body, whether for good or for evil.

               The Bible tells us that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. Tim Keller makes the point that we often limit sin to breaking the rules. But sin is so much more than that. Sin is placing anything in our life in the place of God. Because we were created to worship, we will either worship God or we will find something else to worship. When we worship anything other than God, we sin. The choice that is before us every day is who will we serve. Either we will serve God or we will serve sin. The choice is ours to make, and it matters for all of eternity.

Ephesians 5:15-16 (NIV)
Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

LIVING IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

                We are living in very uncertain times. The war in Ukraine has entered its fourth year. The recent attacks against Iran have reinflamed the Middle East. There is internal upheaval within our own country as ICE continues to arrest immigrants. As followers of Jesus, how should we respond?

               It is easy for us to get caught up in all of the rhetoric and political upheaval. If we are not careful, we will respond in ways that undermine our faith and our witness in the world. Unfortunately, many people who claim to be Christians have chosen to endorse this negative path. We need to take a step back, away from all of the political rhetoric, and try to view things from a biblical perspective.

               First, we should not be surprised by what is going on. Jesus warned us that we should expect exactly what we are seeing. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. Matthew 24:6-8 (NIV) Jesus’ message is don’t panic. In fact, He gave us an assurance that we can weather this storm.  "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NIV)

               Here in America, we have lived in relative peace and prosperity for quite a while. We have come to expect this as the norm. That norm is being challenged every day. We are surprised and shocked by the events of our world, yet Jesus warned us that this is what we should expect.

               Knowing this does not make what is happening right or easier to handle. But it should put things into perspective so that we can approach things from a godly perspective. When we are overly anxious about events, we are off balance and find it hard to respond in appropriate ways. We live in a sinful, fallen world and we should expect people to act in sinful, fallen ways.

               Second, don’t buy into the blame game. The pattern of this world is to blame others for what is wrong; to condemn them and demonize them. It is right to point out things that are wrong, but it is wrong to put ourselves in the seat of judgement. Jesus warned us to refrain from a judgmental spirit.

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Matthew 7:1-5 (NIV)

               We often judge others to make ourselves feel better or to justify our actions. We need to remember that we are all sinners in need of God’s grace. Buying into the blame game only makes our situation worse, not better.

               In the midst of all that is going on, we need to have the courage to live out our faith in practical ways. We have been called to be salt and light in our world.

               When we look at the big picture, we can feel overwhelmed and helpless to make a difference. That sense of helplessness can immobilize us. That is exactly what Satan wants to happen.

               The early church lived in a chaotic, violent world, even more so than the world we live in. Yet, they transformed that world by showing compassion and kindness to those who God brought into their circle of influence. We can do the same. If we want to turn things around in our world, we need to commit to living lives of compassion and kindness where we are. We can all make a difference in our world, one person at a time.

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.          1 Peter 2:11-12 (NIV)

               Remember who we are. Our citizenship is in heaven. We are only aliens and strangers in this world. There is an old hymn titled This World is not My Home. It expresses the attitude we should have as we face the challenges of life. One warning! This does not mean that we are to circle the wagons and hold on until Jesus comes. We have been called to be actively involved in the affairs of this world in order to be God’s presence. God is our King and no other. Not only that, we are His beloved children. He cares about us. We can trust Him.

               Finally, we need to strengthen our trust in God and His Sovereignty. Ultimately, God is control of this world and He will accomplish His purposes through it. God can and will take all of the things that are going on and use them for our good and His glory. Especially when we can’t understand what is going on, we need to hold onto our faith in God.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah Psalms 46:1-3 (NIV)

               What can we do to make a difference in the face of unsettling circumstances? Here are a few practical suggestions.

1. Pray for God’s will to be done.

2. Pray for those in power that they would have wisdom and discernment to know what is right and to the courage to do what it right. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 (NIV)

3. Refuse to get caught up in all of the political rhetoric.  Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Psalms 146:1-4 (NIV)

4. Guard against letting anxiety take control of your thinking. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Philippians 4:4-8 (NIV)

               We are living in very challenging times. There are many things that discourage and even frighten us. We feel helpless. What we feel is real. But we serve a God is not helpless. God is ultimately in control of this world, even when we cannot see His hand at work. God can and will use these circumstances for His glory and ultimately for our good. We can trust Him.

 

I lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip-- he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you-- the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm-- he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Psalms 121:1-8 (NIV)